A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a five pack of Padron 4000 specifying natural(rather than maduro)wrapper from a respectable online shop which I have used many times and which has been higly recommended by others in this forum. When they arrived, they were clearly maduro (very dark -like black coffee) and even the bag said "maduro". I notified the shop, they apologized and overnighted replacements. When I opened the new shipment, I found the cigars to be indistinguishable from the first batch - again, very dark. Set side by side, even my non-smoking secretary said they looked identical. In fact the only difference was that the bag was marked "natural". When I called the shop again, the operator had the "manager" check into the matter. She called me back and said that the manager had said that the shop occasionally gets very dark natural wrappers and that the second shipment were, indeed, natural wrappers. The pictures of the two wrappers in the shop's catalog are so different (like black coffee to latte) that I find this explanation a little hard to believe? What do you guys think? Is this a legitimate claim or are they just trying to palm off some maduros thet can't get rid of?
I wouldn't think they would have a problem getting rid of Padron 4K's in the maduro, I would think it to be the other way around. That being said, I have seen very dark natural wrappers on the Padrons.
I have always bought the 4000 maduros from my local shop. He has the naturals and the maduros sitting next to each other on the shelf. I have noticed that sometimes I have to look closely in order to differentiate between the two. While they weren't identical, they were certainly close in darkness. It seems that your internet guy is trying to make it right for you. All you can do is bring it to their attention and I do think that shipments may vary sometimes........natural or maduro, Padron's usually fly off of the shelves so I doubt they are trying to pawn off maduros on you....
I agree with JamesEIII. The Padron Ns and Ms are VERY, VERY similar in color. My local tobacconist displays them together in box, one side marked "Nat", the other marked "Maduro". When you look side-by-side there is very little difference. I was just talking to him about this last week. He was telling me what a pain it is to try to load the display boxes since they look SO similar. The taste is actually very similar too.
Posts: 950 | Location: New Jack City | Registered: May 24, 2004
Yup. I always have to take a peek at the front of the boxes to tell the difference. They are SOOOOO close. It is kind of annoying actually. I guess that's what happens when you use a naturally dark nicaraguan sungrown wrapper.
Hard work may pay off eventually but laziness always pays off now.
I agree with everyone else. I have to peek at the front of the box when I'm picking up my Padrons. They are nowhere near the "natural" color of the Connecticut wrappers. I like that dark, natural wrapper of Padrons. More flavorful, but still reserves the darker flavor of the maduro for the maduro wrapper.
Posts: 175 | Location: Joplin MO | Registered: January 05, 2003
Yeah, the nats can be dark. Remember that Maduro just means that a wrapper has been fermented differently or an extra amount. It is no guarantee of color. I've noticed this same problem with the PAN and PAM's. If the boxes are not side by side you can accidentally wind up with the nats.
I once recieved some very dark HdM's that were suppose to be natural. I thought it was a mix up and when I received a second box as a replacement they were the same. I kept them and they smoked great. To this day I am still not sure if it was a mix-up, darker than usual natural wrappers or whatever but it was definitely a happy accident!
Binder, are you sure they weren't dark sumatra? The wrapper they use on that line and the excal 1066 dark knight is supposedly a dark natural sumatran. Those are the only hdm's I really dig anymore.
Hard work may pay off eventually but laziness always pays off now.
