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Perdomo Double Aged 12 Year Vintage Sun Grown Epicure Country of Origin: Nicaragua Color: Colorado Length: 6" Ring gauge: 56 Wrapper: Nicaragua Binder: Nicaragua Filler: Nicaragua (Seco- Condega; Viso- Jalapa; Ligero- Estelí) Rating*: ★★★★
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Ron Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva Country of Origin: Venezuela Distillery: Distilerias Unidas, S.A. ABV: 40% Color: Dark amber Rating*: ★★★★
This I know for certain - you can NEVER go wrong with anything Perdomo! And this Perdomo Double Aged 12 Year Vintage Sun Grown Epicure is most definitely one of my favorites amongst their vast portfolio. From their lowest to their highest tier smokes, and everything in between, Tabacalera Perdomo produces some of the finest cigars on the planet.
The Perdomo Double Aged 12 Year Vintage line was initially released in 2014, and is blended with wrapper, binder, and filler tobacco from crops from 2001 that was bale-aged for 10 years, and then further aged in charred white oak bourbon barrels for an additional 2 years. In addition to the Sun Grown, the Double Aged 12 Year Vintage was also manufactured in Connecticut and Maduro wrapper variations. In terms of strength, the Sun Grown is probably in the middle of the three, with the Connecticut being the mildest. In addition to the 6" x 56 Epicure, all of these limited editions were released in three additional vitolas: Robusto (5" x 56), Churchill (7" x 56), and Gordo Extra (6½" x 60).
This Double Aged 12 Year Vintage Sun Grown is a beautiful Nicaraguan puro with a smooth, damn near flawless, Colorado wrapper with minimal veins present. It has a smooth, leathery texture with no oiliness. It is a very well constructed cigar and is quite supple. There's a great sweet cedar aroma that emanates from the foot. The cigar lights easily, and burns slow and even throughout the smoke. Absolutely no touch-ups or relights have ever been necessary, and I've smoked a ton of these since their release.
Ron Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva is a fabulous dark sipping rum from Venezuela, which has been distilled from molasses in ancient copper pot stills and aged in small oak casks for up to 12 years. This award-winning rum has a gorgeously deep, dark amber color and can easily be mistaken for a fine cognac or well-aged bourbon. Nice long oily legs trail down the sides of glass upon swirling. The bouquet is pungent and mildly astrigent; however, heavily sweet with aromas of molasses, caramel, toffee, with questionable hints of vanilla. At times the nose has hints of smoky oak. In terms of taste, the rum provides a heavy mouth-feel and is very sweet and somewhat syrupy. Flavors are identical to its bouquet;; however, there is a mild cinnamon- and nutmeg-like spiciness that lingers on the palate for quite a long finish. There is no heat, but very smooth.
The Perdomo Double Aged 12 Year Vintage Sun Grown produces great mouthfuls of thick smoke, so you can imagine the mouth-feel when paired with the Ron Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva. Although the flavor has a creamy texture., when paired with the rum, the cigar starts with flavors of oak, slight toasty nuttiness, and is heavily spicy, especially on retrohale. The second third becomes much smoother with less spiciness and nuttiness but the flavors becomes a bit more robust with oakiness and a caramel-like sweetness becomes evident. Flavors during the final third remain consistent, but takes on a little bitterness and the heavy spiciness on retrohale makes another appearance. The cigar is full-bodied and medium in strength. Total burn time: 1 hour, 45 minutes - a very nice slow-burning stick.
The Perdomo Double Aged 12 Year Vintage Sun Grown and the Ron Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva make a fantastic pairing. Though the rum has a predominantly sweet flavor with a viscosity that coats the mouth, after pairing with the cigar, the palate was left with an extremely pleasant and long oaky bourbon-like finish with a subtle spicy tingle on the tongue and back of the throat.
For more information on the Tabacalera Perdomo brands:
Website - www.perdomocigars.com
Twitter - @PerdomoCigars
Facebook - Perdomo Cigars
Instagram - @perdomocigars
For more information on Ron Diplomático:
Website - www.rondiplomatico.com
Twitter - @DiplomaticoRum
Facebook - Diplomático
Instagram - @diplomaticorum
*Cigar/spirit rating legend: ★★★★★ Excellent/Outstanding ★★★★ Very Good ★★★ Good ★★ Fair ★ Poor