Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure

In 2020, Perdomo Cigars announced two new offerings in its Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary line with the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box-Pressed Sun Grown and Maduro offerings. These two cigars would be placed alongside the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne, the company’s hugely successful Connecticut Shade offering. To make room for the new Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box-Pressed offerings, Perdomo made the decision to retire the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne Noir and Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne Sun Grown. The two new offering are described as new blends in the 10th Anniversary line. Today we take a look at one of the new offerings, the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown in the Epicure (Toro) size.

Perdomo has not been known for releasing a lot of new products, but for the past two years the company has had an annual national release of products. This was the second year in a row Perdomo introduced a box-pressed extension under one of its established brands. In 2019, the company introduced the Perdomo Estate Selección Vintage Box Pressed line.

Without further ado, let’s break down the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown is a 100% Nicaraguan puro. According to Perdomo Cigars that cigar used six-year aged Cuban-seed wrapper, binder, and fillers from its farms in Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa. The wrapper itself also has an additional 10 months of age on it. Production is handled out of the Tabacalera Perdomo S.A. facility in Estelí, Nicaragua.

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Tabacalera Perdomo S.A.

Vitolas Offered

The Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown is offered in six sizes, each presented in 25-count boxes. The Maduro counterpart also is available in the same six sizes and box counts.

Figurado: 4 3/4 x 56
Robusto: 5 x 54
Epicure: 6 x 54
Torpedo: 7 x 54
Churchill: 7 x 54
Super Toro: 6 x 60

Packaging of the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure (Photo Credit: Perdomo Cigars)

Appearance

The Nicaraguan Sun Grown wrapper of the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure had a medium brown with a Colorado reddish tint to it. The wrapper had some minimal oils on the surface. Upon closer examination, some subtle mottling could also be detected on the surface. There were some thin visible veins and some minimally visible wrapper seams. The box-press had a soft Cuban press style to it with slightly rounded edges.

The band on the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown is similar to the other Perdomo Reserve lines. The upper portion of the band has an engine red metallic background with metallic gold font. The center of the band has two concentric ovals surrounded by gold trim. The inner oval has the text “CABINET” (in curved font), “LTD”, and “SERIES” (in curved font). Outside the inner oval is the text “PERDOMO” and “RESERVE” arrange in a curved fashion. The oval design protrudes toward the top of the band. There are various gold embellishments on the band. Below the gold background is a metallic band with the text “SUN GROWN” etched on it. Below that band is a thin metallic red stripe. The lower portion of the band has a thick black stripe, surrounded by gold trim above and below it. On the black stripe is the text “10th ANNIVERSARY.”

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

Prior to lighting up the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure, a straight cut was used to remove the cap. Once that exercise was completed, it was on to the pre-light draw phase. The cold draw delivered notes of sweet natural tobacco, nut, and a slight earth note. Overall this was a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point, it was time to light up the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure started out with an assortment of flavors including earth, nut, natural tobacco, baker’s spice, wood, and pepper. Early on the earth and wood notes moved into the forefront with the natural tobacco, baker’s spice, wood, and pepper. The natural tobacco had a slight fruit-like sweetness quality to it. The pepper notes could be detected at the back of the throat. Meanwhile, the retro-hale produced an additional layer of black pepper, wood, and natural tobacco sweetness.

During the second third of the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure, the earth and wood notes continued to be the primary notes. There was a slight increase in the pepper notes on the tongue. The baker’s spice and natural tobacco diminished in intensity while the nut notes completely dissipated.

The last third saw the pepper close in on the earth and wood notes. There still were some baker’s spice and natural tobacco delivering sweetness. This is the way the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure came to a close. The resulting nub was slightly soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

At times each of the samples the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure did tend to meander off the burn path a bit. This was remedied with some touch-ups. While the touch-ups did the trick, there were a few more touch-ups than I preferred. The resulting ash wasn’t overly firm, but it wasn’t lose either. The resulting ash was mostly like gray with some darker gray streaks mixed in. The burn temperature was ideal. The burn rate seemed a little high. I smoked each sample for an average of 81 minutes.

Burn of the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure

Draw

The draw to the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure was on the open side, but not loose. As I mentioned this cigar did burn a little fast and I’ll infer it was from the open draw. Normally I like a little more in the way of resistance on a box-press. The draw still wasn’t an unpleasant one, and it reminded me more to relax a bit more when smoking it – and most importantly, it did not make deriving flavors a chore.

Strength and Body

The Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure delivered a medium strength, medium-bodied smoke from start to finish. There was a nominal increase in strength and body along the way, but in the end, the 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure remained in the medium range of the spectrum.

Both the strength and body balanced each other very nicely with the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure, with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

The most important thing when smoking a cigar is the flavor, and I found the flavor pulls through with the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure. It delivers enough complexity to keep me quite interested, and most importantly it comes through with the flavor notes being very balanced. I’d also recommend retro-haling this cigar as this totally enhances the smoking experience It’s also a very approachable cigar at a great price point and complements the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne very nicely as a follow-up cigar. It’s a cigar I could recommend to any cigar enthusiast. As for myself, the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure is a cigar I’d smoke again and buy multiples to keep in my humidor. At 90 points, it earns the Cigar Coop Standard of Excellence designation.

Summary

Key Flavors: Earth, Wood, Natural Tobacco, Baker’s Spice, Nut, Black Pepper
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good