Prelight aroma was classic aniversario, chocolaty and rich. Lit up mine on the way out to meet my friends and the smoke was instanly opulant and plenty. Hints of bittersweet chocolate, espresso and spice. Held up wonderfully to the wind as I drove my car for the next ten minutes. Got to the bar and the ash grew longer and the smoke burst with flavor, more cocoa, then a hint of spice, stronger then weaker. It was a flavorful ride through peaks and troughs of stronger and weaker cocoa with aniversario spice mixed within. I got some hints of cinnamon and a touch of sweetness as the ash grew. Not much smoke came from the cigar while at rest, but with each puff from this little dynamo, completely out of proportion to its size came clouds and clouds of pleasant smelling smoke. I mean there were massive amounts of smoke coming from this tiny smoke and everyone in the bar noticed. My friends knew it was "absolut padron" at its best. It is a finger burner as you all well know. It's so good that you ignore the burn on your lips and fingers down the home stretch. Like other people, I only have three left in the humi. I put these puppies up against any petit corona, any time, any day, any place. It was a great prelude to my next smoke. Boy can this smoke hold its own. Were it not for the price, it would be a staple. Then again, at that quality level, I am not sure that it really matters. One of those was satisfying enough, two would have been a treat, but I wanted to give some other smokes a chance to stand up and make a case for themselves. Unfortunately, I finished up an H. Upmann mag 50 (I dedicated 3 hours to the mag) after this 35 only to keep thinking about how great the 35 was. I left tonight thinking, I have to get more 35s and age the heck out of the mag 50 to even get close to the experience I had with the 35. You make the call. To me they are different types of smokes for different occasions, but those flavors, gosh, will keep me coming back to that 35 time after time.
