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| Pedro Martin Platinum Series M |
Last year, Pedro
Martin cigars were launched and got a lot of attention in the industry. The parent company, “Martin Family of Cigars” was started by Maria Martin, the daughter of
the late renowned blender Pedro Martin. Martin, who was formerly
with Camacho has integrated several of her father’s blends into the
cigars that have been launched. The Gold Series consists of 3 cigars and the common denominator in this series is use of corojo tobacco. At the 2011, IPCPR we began to hear word of a new series called the “Platinum Series”. This series expands the line of cigars by Pedro Martin while keeping to the brand’s foundation in Corojo tobacco. The Platinum Series began to make it to retailers earlier this year. In this assessment, I’ll take a look at the “M”. Overall, this wasn’t a bad cigar, but it is going to have a tougher time competing in the ultra-competitive world of maduros in the market.
There are three cigars in the Platinum Series. The “Royal” is intended to be a mild to medium offering, while the Fiera is ia maduro ntended to be a fuller offering. “M” could stand for medium as this is the medium offering in the Platinum Series. It could also stand for “Mexican” as it uses a Mexican wrapper. It could also stand for “maduro” as it also is a maduro. The name could not fit any better.
Let’s take a closer look at the Pedro Martin Platinum Series “M” and see what this cigar delivers.
Blend Profile
As mentioned above, this cigar utilizes a Mexican Maduro wrapper. I’m thinking we are now past the days where Mexican tobacco is considered taboo. Most cigar enthusiasts are recognizing it makes good wrappers and is very adaptable to the maduro process. Corojo tobacco still is a part of the filler.
Note: Additional sources for this blend profile provided via an article in the National Cigar Examiner.
Wrapper: San Andreas Mexican Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan Maduro
Filler: Nicaraguan Corojo
Vitolas Available
The following are the vitolas available for the M.
Pequeno: 4 1/2 x 40
Robusto: 5 x 50
Toro: 6 x 52
Torpedo: 6 1/4 x 52
Churchill: 7 x 48
Lancero: 7 1/4 x 38
Goliath: 7 x 70
Appearance
San Andres tobacco makes some of the finest looking maduro wrappers. The Pedro Martin M is no exception. For this cigar assessment I went with the Churchill vitola. It is a classic dark brown maduro with some visible darker spots. There are some wrapper seams and veins that are also visible. The wrapper itself is also somewhat oily.
The band features a design consistent with the other Pedro Martin cigars, but with a different color scheme. The color scheme for the “M” is gold, silver, black, and white. The Pedro Martin “PM” logo is toward the center of the band in white cursive font on a gold background. It is surrounded by a silver oval. Over that oval it says “Pedro Martin” in black font. Under it is says “Cigars” – also in black font. There is another oval design on the lower part of the band. That oval is also gold and has the “M” name in white font lying over it.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
For my Pedro Martin M Churchill vitola, I placed a straight cut into the cap and commenced with a pre-light draw. The dry draw notes yielded notes of leather and wood. There was also a sweetness that had notes of cherry. Overall, it wasn’t the most exciting pre-light draw, but it wasn’t bad. At this point, I was ready to light by Pedro Martin M and see what the smoking experience would deliver.
Flavor Profile
The start to the Pedro Martin M was similar to the pre-light draw. It featured notes of leather and cherry sweetness. There also were some chocolate notes that surfaced very early. The chocolate notes got deeper earlier on and moved into the forefront. At the same time, some baker’s spice joined the leather and cherry in the background.
Later in the first third, the chocolate dialed back and the Pedro Martin M settled into a combination of chocolate, cherry, and baker’s spice. The sweetness also diminished as the smoke progressed. I found the second half of the smoke featured chocolate and baker’s spice. The chocolate and baker’s spice alternated as to which note was in the forefront.
The finish to the Pedro Martin M was spicy, but not harsh. The nub was on the softer side, but it was cooler in temperature.
Burn and Draw
While the Pedro Martin M burned at an ideal rate and an ideal temperature, I did have to perform multiple touch-ups with my butane lighter to keep it burning straight. The touch-ups did the trick, but it required more touch-ups than I preferred. As for the draw, I found it to be on the tight side. I do believe this had an impact on some of the burn issues.
Strength and Body
At the start of this assessment, I mentioned how “M” could stand for medium. From a strength perspective, this definitely applies to this cigar as I found this cigar to be a classic medium strength maduro. As for the body, I felt the flavors had some depth to them. I assessed the the Pedro Martin M to be a little more than medium here as I put this cigar in the medium to full range. Overall, there was good balance between the strength and body as neither attribute overshadows the other.
Final Thoughts
Some of the burn and draw issues did cost this cigar some points. The flavors were good from the Pedro Martin M, but as I mentioned at the start this cigar is competing with a lot of maduros with a similar profile. In the end, I’m not sure if the Pedro Martin M brings anything revolutionary to the table. It still did have some good flavors though. I’m inclined to give this cigar (and some of the other vitolas) another smoke in the future to see if it does have a better results with the burn and draw. I’d be also curious to see what some serious maduro cigar enthusiasts think of this cigar as well.
Summary
Burn: Good
Draw: Fair
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium to Full
Assessment: Nice to Have
Score: 87
Source: The cigars for this assessment were purchased at Cuban Crafters in Miami, Florida.
