Padron cigars are often hard to find in any shape or any style. Whether the standard Padron series, the much-heralded 1964 Anniversary Series or the 1926 Series, all are much-appreciated and much in demand.

But now and again, there’s room for improvement, or for a special item at holiday time. For 2006, Padron has two:

• A lucky few will enjoy a remarkable cigar: the Padron 1964 Anniversary Series “A” with a maduro wrapper!

This is a giant cigar of 8 3/4 inches and 50 ring gauge, just a wee bit shorter than the magnificent Padron Magnum (9 x 50). “We included it a few years ago in our sampler packs,” noted Jorge Padron, but now we came out with it for our regular retail customers.”

Made of all-Nicaraguan tobaccos and featuring the famous full-bodied Padron Aniversario flavor in a box-press format, it’s offered in of 10 priced at $320.00, not including any local tobacco taxes. It’s not for everyone, as this monster will take you a good 2 1/2-3 hours to enjoy to the end.

Only 1,000 boxes were made and when they’re gone, they’re gone.

• Sharp-eyed reviewers will note that the packaging of Padron cigars has changed slightly.
“It’s a permanent change,” said Jorge. “We changed the wood used in our boxes for the regular Padron line; it’s not cedar anymore.

“There’s a moratorium on cedar cutting in Nicaragua, so we went to 26 cigars in our boxes of Padron only. The 1964 Anniversary Series and 1926 Series will stay the same (as they are now).”
By moving to 26 cigars, the cigar blocks used to fill the last position in the bottom row of each box can be eliminated. The price goes up, of course, but you get another cigar!

It also creates an interesting relationship between the lines and the number of cigars per box. The standard line now comes in boxes of 26, the 1964 Anniversary Series in boxes of 25 and the 1926 Series in boxes of 24!

Padron’s cigars and boxes are made in what are essentially duplicate facilities in Esteli, Nicaragua and Danli, Honduras. After so many problems resulting from political instability in the region, the Padrons are taking no chances and make cigars from all Nicaraguan tobaccos on both sides of the border. Jose O. Padron, now 80, told the New York Times in a September story that he estimated total production from the two factories at about 5.5 million cigars for 2006. It appears he and his family will have customers for every one of them.