Piloto Cigars Inc.

File:Padron.png

Logo for Padrón Cigars

Background

Padrón Cigars (a.k.a. Piloto Cigars, Inc.) is a company that produces cigars from Nicaragua. The company was founded September 8, 1964 in Miami, Florida by José Orlando Padrón. Padrón had moved there from Cuba. In 1970, Padrón moved the company to Esteli, Nicaragua.

Padrón Cigars is managed entirely by the Padrόn family, under the leadership of Marcos Soto Padrón, José O. Padrón and Jorge Padrón. The company controls all aspects of cigar production, including tobacco growing, sorting, processing, cigar manufacturing, and distribution.

History

Demaso Padrón, Jose Orlando Padrón’s grandfather, immigrated to Cuba from the Canary Islands in the middle 1800’s when he was a boy. As was designated in those days, the islanders or “isleños” were made to work in the tobacco fields. With what little money they had, the Padrón family brought a small farm in the Pinar del Rio region of Cuba, Las Obas. At that time they made $7 every 100 pounds of tobacco they cultivated in Cuba. From there, the Padrón family continued to by farms around the Pinar del Rio region including a factory in Piloto, where the name of Jose’s company, Piloto Cigars, is taken from.

Jose Orlando Padrón was born in 1926 in Cuba and grew up near the Pinar del Rio region, famed for its tobacco. His family has been working in the tobacco industry since the 1850’s, and, when Jose moved from Cuba in 1961 after his tobacco farm was nationalized by Fidel Castro, went to Spain, then New York, and then he brought over a century’s worth of tobacco knowledge to Miami. In Miami, Jose earned $60 every month from government aid to Cuban refugees. After a friend gave him a small hammer, Jose obtained a carpentry job. It was this job that enabled him to raise the $600 dollars to start his own cigar brand and business. To this day, the little hammer has been a symbol of Jose’s start as a cigar blender and manufacturer.

Padrón produced 200 cigars a day, made in typical Cuban rolling style, with one torcedor. Padrón then came to the idea of making a new cigar, the “Fuma”. Made from completely Connecticut Broadleaf tobacco, many bought this cigar for its curly head cap, which resembled the traditional cigars from Cuba.

It soon became very limiting to deal only with Connecticut broadleaf tobacco because of its long curing process. Padrón was approached by a man from a tobacco company in Nicaragua touring around for potential buyers, who asked him to inspect his tobacco for its quality. Padrón thought very well of his tobacco and told him to come back after his trip to Europe so he may travel to Nicaragua and inspect the tobacco and the fields. There, in the Jalapa valley of Nicaragua, Padrón found the tobacco he would use for his cigars.

Jose Padrón began using the Nicaraguan tobacco in 1967, but due to inability to meet the demands of his consumers, he moved his company to Estelí, Nicaragua in 1970; a country with numerous political troubles at the time. Padrón tried to remain apolitical during his stay in Nicaragua however, after riots broke out and Padrón’s factory was burnt down, Jose began to search for another location for his business.

The factory in Nicaragua was rebuilt soon after the disaster, and another factory was created in Honduras. After the Sandinista rebellion and take over, there was much uncertainty at the Padrón factory as to what the workers were to do. Padrón asked them to continue working, and eventually Padrón returned to Nicaragua where he spoke to a Sandinista official, who promised him there would be no more problems with his factory.

A new problem arose for Padrón after making peace with the Sandinistas; the US blockade enacted by President Reagan on Nicaragua, and Nicaraguan products. Padrón scrambled to move as much tobacco and cigars from Nicaragua to Tampa, Florida during the 5 days allotted before the blockade took effect. He was later granted an extension by the U.S. government to continue to move his product for another 6 months, then, whatever stock he had left in Nicaragua, remained there. After the blockade lifted, Padrón shifted his main operation back to Nicaragua, where it still remains today.

Now, both Jose Orlando Padrón and his son, Jorge “George” Padrón, run the family business. As President, Jorge is moving into the director’s position for the company; making more trips to visit the factories in Estelí and working on the business end of the company. It is the intent of the Padrón family that George will eventually take over the company one day.

Awards/Recognition/Ratings

• 1926 Serie No. 9 was designated one of the 25 Best Cigars of 2007 by Cigar Aficionado magazine.
• 1926 Serie 40th Anniversary was designated one of the 25 Best Cigars of 2004 by Cigar Aficionado magazine.

Padrón has received numerous awards and high ratings from many respected cigar critics, connoisseurs and aficionados. The Thousand series has received over sixty one ratings, the lowest being an 88 and the highest being a 94 on a one hundred point scale. The Padrón 1964 Anniversary blend has received sixty two ratings, the lowest being a 90 and the highest being a 95 on a one hundred point scale. The Padrón 1926 Serie blend has received twenty seven ratings, the lowest being a 90 and the highest being a 97 on a 100 point scale. The special release Padrón 1964 Anniversary “A” received a rating of 91 twice, while the newest Padrón 1964 Anniversary “Millennium” has received no ratings.

Description

The Padrón cigar company makes three different blends of cigar, all with their own unique flavor points and sizes. As a business, Padrón Cigars tries to cater to all their customers, and that means catering to all price points as well.

Regular Production

Examples of Padrón's three most common production series: a standard Padrón cigar (top); an Anniversary series (middle); and a 1926 Serie (bottom).

Padrón Series

There are (14) fourteen vitolas in the Padrón series. Each is available in a natural and a maduro wrapper. With the exception of the Corticos, the band for all of the vitolas is brown with "Padrón" and "Handmade" in white lettering. The wrapper, filler, and binder leaves are all sun-grown habano from Nicaragua, aged two-and-one-half years.

Name	Vitola	Length (in.)	Ring Gauge
Delicias	Corona Extra	4 7/8	46
2000	Robusto	5	50
Londres	Corona	5 1/2	42
3000	Robusto	5 1/2	52
5000	Robusto	5 1/2	56
Palmas	Corona	6 1/2	42
4000	Double Corona	6 1/2	54
Panatela	Panatela	6 7/8	36
Ambassador	Lonsdale	6 7/8	42
Churchill	Churchill	6 7/8	46
Executive	Churchill	7 1/2	50
Magnum	Giant	9	50
7000	Toro	6 1/4	60
Corticos		4 1/4	35

Padrón 1964 Anniversary Series

In 1994, Padrón introduced the 1964 Anniversary Series, in celebration of the company's 30-year anniversary. Like the regular Padrón series, these cigars are made entirely from Nigaraguan-grown tobacco, and are available in both natural and maduro wrappers. The series is limited in its production. To assure authenticity, the company labels each individual cigar with its own 6-digit serial number.

Name	Vitola	Length (in.)	Ring Gauge
Diplomatico	Double Corona	7	50
Piramide	Pyramid	6 7/8	52
Exclusivo	Robusto	5 1/2	50
Monarca	Grand Corona	6 1/2	46
Superior	Lonsdale	6 1/2	42
Corona	Long corona	6	42
Principe	Corona extra	4 1/2	46
Imperial	Toro	6	54
Torpedo	Torpedo	6	52

Padron 1926 Serie

The third and final cigar blend that Padrón offers is the Padrón 1926 Serie, created in 2002 in honor of Jose Padrón’s 75th Birthday. Consisting of 7 vitolas, each cigar features either a sun-grown habano natural or Maduro wrapper, and contains Nicaraguan tobacco aged for no less than five years. Just like the Padrón 1964 Anniversary blend, the Padrón 1926 Serie is box pressed and has 6 digit security codes on their bands to ensure against counterfeiting.

Name	Vitola	Length (in.)	Ring Gauge
No. 35	Rothschild (short Robusto)	4	48
No. 6	Robusto	4 and ¾	50
No. 2	Belicoso	5 1/2	52
No. 9	Robusto	5 and ¼	56
No. 1	Toro	6 and ¾	54
40th Anniversary	Torpedo	6 and ½	54
80th Anniversary	Figurado	6 and ¾	54

External links

• Official website