May 26, 2026 • 20 mins
Your next cigar might taste different the moment you stop judging it by the wrapper. We kick things off with a deceptively simple question: do we taste with our palate or do we taste with our eyes first? From there, we get honest about the biggest trap in cigar smoking and cigar buying: assuming a Connecticut wrapper must be mild, a Sun Grown must be medium, and a Maduro must be strong. That shortcut feels helpful, but it can send you to the wrong blend and the wrong experience.
We walk through the real drivers of flavor and body by explaining tobacco primings in plain language. You’ll hear how sand leaves can introduce harsh, “dirty” notes, why seco brings aroma and burn, how viso adds depth, and why ligero carries the most strength. Then we connect the dots to blending proportions with a simple kitchen analogy: salt, pepper, and garlic. The takeaway is practical: strength is built by recipe, not by color.
We also dig into cigar construction and why what you can’t see matters most. The wrapper can contribute a meaningful percentage of flavor, but the filler blend is the core of the cigar’s personality. We talk consistency, lot numbers, and why Nicaragua’s key growing regions, including Jalapa, Estelí, and Condega, give blenders so many tools to create balance. Finally, we share how to smoke a cigar like wine, why you don’t need to inhale, and how retrohale can be a useful option for checking strength and harmony.
If you like nerdy cigar education with real-world takeaways, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review so more smokers can stop shopping by color and start smoking by taste.
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SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Do we f taste with our palate or do we taste with
our eyes first?
And in your opinion, what do youthink is the answer?
Dad, how are you?
I'm doing great.
How about yourself?
I'm doing great.
I'm doing great.
Well, everybody, welcome to thePerdomo Podcast Show.
So I'm really excited about thisone.
(00:20):
We have really good contenttoday.
Well, you know, first of all,Dad, I gotta say, before we
start and get into it, I'mreally enjoying the cigar that
we're smoking, our Perdomo 20thanniversary, Sun Grown.
And one of the things that, youknow, we look at is and we think
about it, and we were talkingabout this, is do people buy
with their eyes, right?
(00:41):
Do we first?
And in your opinion, what do youthink is the answer?
SPEAKER_00 (00:47):
Well, I think we taste with our eyes first.
And that's kind of unfortunate.
And I think we're all guilty ofit in the cigar industry, being
in the industry, by not givingenough information out to the
actual consumer and theretailer.
And at Perdomo, we've changedthat.
We started a training programwith all our retailers and our
salesmen are diligently outthere teaching our retailers and
(01:09):
all the store clerks, ourbrands, all the new shelf
talkers have a tremendous amountof information.
And we want everybody to lovethe cigar, but we want to give
everybody what they want.
Everybody has something theylike, whether it be mild me or
full-bodied cigars, and we wantto turn them exactly to where
they want.
SPEAKER_01 (01:24):
Right.
And I think at the end of theday, the misconception is
Connecticut is light in color,so it's mild.
Sungrown is medium in color, soit's medium in body, a little
bit richer than Connecticut.
And Maduro's dark, so it's gotto be strong, right?
And those are misconceptions,you know, completely.
And I think one of the pointsand one of the big things we're
(01:46):
going to drive in this show thatwe're going to be talking about
is that we really we do a lot ofpeople smoke with their eyes
instead of their palates.
So I think I think that's a bigthing.
And I I think the next part isdoes our brain start smoking
before our palate does?
SPEAKER_00 (02:04):
A hundred percent.
We look at it and we assume whatit is, and we all know that
perception is really reality,right?
So people look at differentrappers.
For example, we have threedifferent rappers we use on all
our cigars.
So they assume Connecticut'sgoing to be mild.
Right.
Sun Grown's going to be medium,maybe plus, and Maduro's always
going to be full body, but thatcouldn't be furthest from the
(02:24):
truth.
Sure.
Depends what you put in thecigar.
That's everything.
SPEAKER_01 (02:27):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
And I think when we take a stepback and we look, you know, and
I want to get into somethingvery important where it's always
the dress of the cigar, thewrapper.
That's what's the perception,right?
But in reality, I think peopleneed to start looking at the
foot of the cigar, right?
And what I want to get intotoday is primings.
(02:49):
And we've talked about this inprevious shows, and I wanted to
drop the word primings, tobaccoprimings, specifically, just to
get people hearing that word,right?
Because that's really where theflavor is driven, right?
And so what I want you to talkabout is the different primings
that we use in Nicaragua andthat we use and how we blend
(03:11):
those primings.
SPEAKER_00 (03:12):
First of all, let me explain what the primings really
mean.
So tobacco grows in offshoots.
And believe it or not, once youpick the tobaccos that you don't
want to use, you discard whichwe call volato leaves or sand
leaves.
And the reason we don't usethem, and a lot of people do use
them, is because I think they'reaccurate in flavor.
They don't have much body, and Idon't think they help in the
blend.
I think they actually adhere toblend in a bad way because the
(03:35):
leaves touch the ground, hencethe word sand leaf.
Sure.
And what happens is it picks upall the topical dirt.
And you know, tobacco's like asponge.
The cellular structure is oilyand it's sticky.
And what it'll do is it'll pickup that dirt if there's any
topical fertilizer, and you'llbe able to taste that, and it's
very accurate.
So we clean that, and the firstset of leaves that we pick are
called seco.
(03:55):
And basically they're they'relight leaves, they're light in
nature, but they do producearomatic qualities and they're
on the outside of the bunchbefore you put the binder on and
then eventually the wrapper, andit helps in combustion.
So it's very important.
But our secos have a lot of bodybecause we do that cleanup where
we get rid of those sand leaves,right?
And that takes approximately 60to 65 days to pick that tobacco,
(04:19):
the first secos.
And then what we do is we wait,we water the plant, we let it
grow.
And the reason we do it inprimings instead of stalk
cutting it, which a lot ofpeople do, is because you can't
get the varieties of the tobaccoand the bodies and the textures
they have.
So what happens is once you pickthose secos, you're naturally
gonna have less leaves on thetobacco plant, and you're gonna
(04:40):
have more energy in those visoleaves 15 days later, 75 days
later on the plant are gonna benutriated more often because
they're gonna have less leavesunderneath them.
SPEAKER_01 (04:49):
Because the stalk, all the nutrients drives up.
SPEAKER_00 (04:52):
Yeah, 100%.
You're exactly right.
And then what happens is thoseleaves will be prime cut at 75
days, 80 days, depending.
And then what'll happen the nextweek and a half or two will have
the Lihedo leaves, and they'renow you have the plant you can
envision a stalk with only fourleaves.
All the nutrients are going tothose four leaves.
Right.
(05:12):
Even though they're the youngesttobacco plant or the left the
youngest tobacco leaf, I shouldsay, they have the most
nutrients because they've beenunder sun exposure their whole
life.
The oldest tobaccos have alwaysbeen shaded, and that's where we
call the lighter, and that's thestrength tobacco.
So it's like a great recipe forfood or a sauce.
You have your pinch of salt,which is your seco, your your
(05:35):
your viso could be a little bitof pepper and salt together to
add to the flavor a little bitmore, and your ligheres are more
potent, so they're your garlic.
That's that's kind of what wedo.
We call it like our sauce, andthat's our secret sauce.
But it's important to put allthree of those components in the
in the cigar.
SPEAKER_01 (05:52):
Right.
And so to get to the point, youknow, in terms of you know, you
now you talk about seiko, viso,ligero, the three main primings
that really when you look at thecigar inside the cigar, that's
where the flavor's reallydriven, right?
Yes.
So to your point, now let's talkabout them as the chef
ingredients, right?
So seiko's your salt, viso'syour pepper, and ligero's your
(06:17):
garlic, right?
And and basically everything'sabout proportion.
And so the proportions, and Ithink that's something that
really gets missed that doesn'tget talked about enough.
And I think when you look atbrands, right?
10th anniversary, PerdomoHabano, all the way up to
Perdomo Legacy, they use so manyproportions and so many
different varieties, right?
Between Condega, between Jalapa,between Esteli.
(06:40):
And I think that's somethingthat we really, you know, we
don't really talk about enough,or that the consumer doesn't
really see or hear enough about,you know, and in regards to
that, you always have a greatanalogy with proportions in
terms of how we blend.
And if you can take that awayfor a second, talk about that.
SPEAKER_00 (06:59):
Yeah, the proportions are the most
important because that's what'sgoing to tell you how the cigar
tastes like.
How much salt you're gonna puton, how much pepper you're gonna
put on, how much garlic are yougonna put in?
Everybody likes a little moregarlic, some people don't.
Some people like a little moresalt, some people don't, some
people like pepper.
So we're working on that,deciding what we're gonna come
up with.
And the consumers and theretailers around the world
(07:20):
really tell us what we can comeup with with these recipes.
And being in Nicaragua, as youknow, is a lot of fun.
Remember when we were blendingthose cigars with Connecticut on
Legacy?
Yeah, it was, you know, it'sit's it's a tremendous amount of
fun, takes a lot of work.
You know, everybody's a masterblender all of a sudden.
But it, you know, listen, I'vebeen doing this for a long time
and I'm still learning everyday.
(07:42):
But I've had great tutelage, youknow, between my dad, my
grandfather, Sarah Gonzalez,Oristi's Garcia.
I could go on and on.
And I think you've had somegreat tutelage.
You could add that, includingme.
SPEAKER_01 (07:52):
Yeah, of course.
You're you're my number onetutelage, no question.
My number one teacher, ofcourse.
But I think consistency iseverything, right?
So managing all of your tobaccosin terms of the proportions, how
you blend, consistency iseverything.
We do everything by lot number.
We do everything.
It's not just, oh, I'm going touse tobacco from this region
(08:13):
from Jalapa, I'm going to useSeiko's from Jalapa, Visos from
Esteli, or Lihos from Condega,for example.
We we manage everything by lotnumber.
So when you look at a Perdomocigar, and the greatest
compliment that we have, that wealways get, and I really, you
know, we appreciate it immenselyby our consumers and our
retailers, is Perdomo's soconsistent.
(08:34):
And so there's so much for us tomanage, so much in terms of how
many cigars we make a day, howmany cigars we make a year.
So to keep the consistencyaspect and manage these
ingredients, and I really againgoing back to the proportions,
everything's about proportions.
So I tell our consumers when youdo this and you're looking at
the outside of the cigar andyou're looking at the wrapper
and you judge the cigar based onthe color of your wrapper, start
(08:57):
looking at the foot of the cigarand start really thinking, okay,
these you know, Perdomo cigars,Neck Prodomo, all the master
blenders that we have, you know,we we on purpose, we purposely
have different proportions forevery single cigar, every single
blend.
So it's completely different.
SPEAKER_00 (09:15):
And it gets even more complex, if I can say.
So secos are light tobaccos,visos are medium tobaccos, and
like I said, Lietos are moreheavier tobaccos.
But what's funny, the reason weuse lot numbers and separation
is because tobacco can be reallydifferent, even five feet away
from each other.
So topically, and the groundcontents, whether it be organic
matter or so on, changes.
(09:36):
So you have to really pinpoint,and that's how we can really
dedicate.
No different than the chef whenhe picks ingredients.
Right.
You know, whether he's growingthem, he knows exactly where
he's going to get his basil orso on.
And the grounds tell youeverything.
For example, we have tobaccos inin the Jalapa Valley that are
very nitrogen rich.
They're going to produce morepowerful tobaccos.
And what is Jalapa famous for?
(09:57):
Aromatic sweet tobaccos.
Why?
Because most of the grounds havehigher magnesium and calcium
products or just inherited intothe ground.
So because they have highermagnesium and calcium, naturally
they're more sweeter, morearomatic.
And one of the great things isnot only can we play with all
those different lot numbers, butin growing them in all these
three different regions aretotally different.
(10:19):
So that makes it exciting toblend the cigar.
SPEAKER_01 (10:21):
Yeah, 100%.
Well, you know, Dad, one of thethings, you know, just bringing
it home and talking abouteverything.
We start out, we start talkingabout don't judge the cigar by
the color, right?
Smoke with your palate, not yourbrain.
Don't make the pre- don't makethe decision prior to lighting
your cigar.
You bring up the components of acigar in terms of the
proportions and the primings,right?
(10:42):
And especially in the fillertobacco.
You know, one thing we forget,or not that's really never
talked about, and um, and if youif if I may, I'd like to bring
this up in terms of theconstruction of a cigar.
You know, you have one wrapperleaf, right?
And let's use a 54 ring gauge.
You have one wrapper leaf, youhave a binder leaf, you have a
Seiko leaf that goes in, we puttwo viso leaves, and then we put
(11:03):
a Lijero leaf, right?
So that's six total leaves,right?
And five of those leaves comefrom the the filler, and the
wrapper leaf's the only is theonly leaf on the outside.
So if I take one divided by six,that's 16.7%.
So of the actual and of theintegrity of the cigar, the
actual amount of leaves, thewrapper leaf is that only one
leaf.
(11:24):
So just it just goes to showthat what you don't see, right,
is where the majority of yourflavor is driven on a cigar,
which comes from again, thosethose primes, your secos, your
visos, ligeros, what's insidethe cigar.
So I what I think the the nextbig question I have for you is
(11:45):
in your opinion, what is theproper way to smoke a cigar?
SPEAKER_00 (11:49):
Before I go on there, let me let me add
something to you.
Sure.
So we say it's 16.67%, but thatleaf is also very thin.
It has half the texture of evena seiko leaf.
So if you really break it down,it's probably five percent of
the circumference.
Yet it produces up to 10 to 15percent of flavor, which is
(12:10):
really astronomical when youthink about it.
That's how important the wrapperis.
SPEAKER_01 (12:13):
Well, to add to your point, all our wrappers, all our
sun-grown wrappers, our Habanowrappers and our and our Maduro
wrappers, they all come fromJalapa.
So halapa produces the thinnestin texture.
But again, very loamy grounds,but sweet, rich type of leaves
that work so great, whether itbe sun grown or maduro.
So to your point, yeah, we'rewhen we're blending with filler
tobaccos from Condega and fromEsteli, which are much hardier
(12:36):
type of leaves, thicker intexture.
So those leaves, yeah, they theygive the most amount in terms of
flavor with inside the bunchinside the filler blends.
So that's something that, youknow, I'm glad we're bringing
this out and we're talking aboutthis, because I think this is
going to change the minds ofmany cigar smokers in terms of
how they pick up that cigar andhopefully now how they perceive
(12:57):
when they pre-light that cigarand they really think about,
okay, I'm smoking, I'm gonnalight up this cigar, but I'm
gonna be a little bit more openmind, regardless of the outer
leaf, the dress that the cigarhas, right?
So when you smoke a 20thanniversary, whether it be in a
Connecticut, a sungrown or aMaduro, you're gonna get those
offsets of the wrapper, to yourpoint, depending on the texture
(13:18):
of the leaf, anywhere from 10 to15%, which to you and I is
astronomical because that is abig offset.
But overall, the flavor of thecigar is gonna be consistent in
the blend.
We blend all the Connecticut's,all the sungrown, all the
Maduros the same way, exceptthat outer leaf, which does
impart different flavors.
So people can ping pong, likeyou like to always say, in
(13:38):
between those cigars.
If I love 20th anniversaryMaduro, I'm gonna love 20th
Anniversary Connecticut and 20thanniversary sungrown because I
have the that core flavor, butnow I get those offsets, the
little bit more of thatcreaminess, that almondy type of
flavor in the Connecticut, thatbeautiful baking spices, that
cinnamon, the cardamom, it's allthose different flavors that you
(14:00):
get in the sungrown wrapper withsome of that sweetness.
So I think it's something veryimportant to talk about.
And but again, going back tothis last question, in your
opinion, how do you think withall this information and when
people go in to light their nextPerdomo cigar, how should people
smoke the cigar?
SPEAKER_00 (14:18):
Well, I think smoking cigars is very different
very similar to drinking wine.
You taste it in your mouth.
Sure.
It's the same thing when youdrink wine.
You really taste the flavor ofthe wine in your mouth.
You end up swallowing it, butyou really taste it in your
mouth.
You can taste it from the front,the back, the sides.
You're going to taste all thosedifferent flavors in your on
your palate, in your mouth, andyour taste buds, hence why you
(14:41):
don't need to inhale cigars likeyou would have to do with a
cigarette, for example.
And that's where I like it.
And the most important thing iswhen we talked this earlier in
episode number one on how to cutand properly light the cigar,
that's also very importantbecause that's going to help a
lot with your your smokingexperience and your enjoyment.
(15:01):
And really know about the cigar.
Hey, I'm a mild to medium-bodiedcigar smoker.
What does Perdomo offer me?
You can go to PerdomoCigars.com.
I think we've done a great job,at least in this industry, of
trying to provide as muchinformation because we have
something for somebody, right?
SPEAKER_01 (15:17):
Yeah.
And I think I think that's theall your point.
And and I think one of the otherquestions is that because I get
a lot of people, you know, interms of consumers who ask,
well, do I need to put smokethrough my nose?
And what is your opinion on thatin terms of they or as they call
it a retrohill?
SPEAKER_00 (15:34):
Yeah, I it depends on what you like to do.
There's no there's no bad thingin enjoying a cigar.
Some people like to put itthrough the nose.
Let me tell you why I do it.
I do it because I want to tastehow much ligero that I have in
that cigar, which is thestrength tobaccos.
And what I'm trying to do ispredict that I go overboard on
that.
The nose will tell youeverything.
Sure.
Okay.
(15:54):
But normally, I would say 90% ofthe time I don't put smoke
through my nose.
But it's very simple to do.
It's you don't have to inhaleit.
It's one piece.
Your nose, your mouth, and yourears are all they're all
connected.
People think they have to inhalethem.
No.
You don't.
So to answer your question, ifyou like doing that, which a lot
of people do, that's fine.
I don't do it a lot, to be quitehonest with you.
(16:16):
I do it when we're test smokingthe cigars all the time because
what's the balance here?
Where are we going to be at?
You know what I mean?
Because I want it to beharmonious and balanced.
That's the most important thing.
And we talk about the rapper.
You know, a lot of people assumethat, you know, Connecticut is
milder.
You know, you and I had a littleconversation about 10th
anniversary Maduro and 20thanniversary Connecticut.
Remember that?
(16:37):
Well, what what did what did itcome out to be?
SPEAKER_01 (16:39):
Well, really, it's your blend in terms of how you
blended those two cigars.
But again, looking at the rapperis not always the right it's not
the answer.
And 10th anniversary Maduro,when you blended that cigar, I
remember you were like, I wantto blend a cigar that that is
medium body, because I want to Iwant to work with the tobaccos
(16:59):
that, you know, we had 10thanniversary champagne at the
time.
But what I really I remember youwanted to create a cigar, 10th
anniversary sungrown, right?
And the red label.
You wanted to have a sungrownand a Maduro wrapped cigar that
were both medium in flavor,right?
Yeah, love all of them.
A little bit more Jalapa driven,right?
Cut back a little bit in theproportions from Esteli and
Condega and purposely done,right?
(17:20):
But you look at 10th anniversaryMaduro, beautiful, beautiful,
dark Maduro wrapper grown inJalapa Valley.
And then you look at a brandlike 20th Anniversary
Connecticut, right?
Eight-year-old tobaccos, highprimings, Condega, Esther Lee
driven blends, and but it's gota Connecticut wrapper, so it's
gotta be light, it's gotta bemild, right?
(17:41):
Not true.
We both know that 20thanniversary Connecticut is a
richer, heavier cigar than 10thanniversary Maduro or 10th
anniversary Sun Grown.
So again, the eyes they tend tofool us a lot, right?
And they tend to fool thesmoker, unfortunately.
But I think it's something thatagain, talking about this,
getting really in depth, andreally I I really want our
(18:05):
audience to look into and reallystudy.
I mean, we have between thecountless amounts of YouTube
videos that we have on ourPerdomoCigars.com page, we have
so much information on primings,right?
I mean, even to tobaccos likeNicaraguan Shade Grown, we have
a designated page within ourwebsite in terms of how that
tobacco's different basis forwrapper, right?
(18:28):
And that wrapper, because it'sgrown nestily, it's naturally
thicker, richer.
So it even drives even moreflavor in the blend, even though
it's one leaf, but because ofwhere it's grown, the process
that it goes through, the aging,the fermentation, all of that,
and the barrel aging of thosewrappers, it just drives so much
flavor within the blend.
So I'm glad we've spoken aboutthis.
(18:50):
And I think at the end of theday, Dad, and and before we
close this episode, I think it'simportant to our audience, and I
think it's important to knowthat you know, don't judge a
cigar by its color.
You know, I think the secondbiggest thing, and you and I are
very active, and our company isvery active on social media.
Please ask us questions.
(19:10):
Whether you want to look at ourPerdomoCigars.com, whether you
look at the back of every cigarthat we have and the cellophane
tubes where we have QR codes,you can know exactly what blend
you are smoking in terms of theflavors that you should expect
based on the proportions offiller tobaccos and the primings
that we use.
And lastly, follow us onYouTube, Instagram, and
(19:31):
Facebook, and please don't bescared to ask us any questions.
We love this.
This is why we're here.
We're taking the time becauseyou guys are so important to us.
SPEAKER_00 (19:39):
And we and we personally answer all your
questions.
And talking about our audience,you're gonna hear a lot about
the Esteli Valley, the JalapaValley, and the Condega Valley
in future episodes.
And I want you guys to feel partof it and see the passion and
pride and the love theNicaraguan people that work for
Perdomo Cigars have to producethe very best cigars that God
(20:00):
can help us make.
And we want you to enjoy thatjourney throughout it, and
you're gonna feel part of it,and that's what really I want.
SPEAKER_01 (20:07):
Yeah.
Well, Dad, this was a greatepisode.
I just want to thank ouraudience and thank you for your
time and thank you for listeningto our show.
Um, please, if you enjoyed this,please like, share, and
subscribe to our Prodomo YouTubepage.
Please check out our PerdomoPodcast.com.
Also, like and follow us onPerdomo Instagram page and also
on our Prodomo Facebook page.
(20:28):
We really appreciate this.
We're going to be seeing youguys very soon, and thank you so
much.
Thank you guys.
Do we f taste with our palate or do we taste with
our eyes first?
And in your opinion, what do youthink is the answer?
Dad, how are you?
I'm doing great.
How about yourself?
I'm doing great.
I'm doing great.
Well, everybody, welcome to thePerdomo Podcast Show.
So I'm really excited about thisone.
(00:20):
We have really good contenttoday.
Well, you know, first of all,Dad, I gotta say, before we
start and get into it, I'mreally enjoying the cigar that
we're smoking, our Perdomo 20thanniversary, Sun Grown.
And one of the things that, youknow, we look at is and we think
about it, and we were talkingabout this, is do people buy
with their eyes, right?
(00:41):
Do we first?
And in your opinion, what do youthink is the answer?
SPEAKER_00 (00:47):
Well, I think we taste with our eyes first.
And that's kind of unfortunate.
And I think we're all guilty ofit in the cigar industry, being
in the industry, by not givingenough information out to the
actual consumer and theretailer.
And at Perdomo, we've changedthat.
We started a training programwith all our retailers and our
salesmen are diligently outthere teaching our retailers and
(01:09):
all the store clerks, ourbrands, all the new shelf
talkers have a tremendous amountof information.
And we want everybody to lovethe cigar, but we want to give
everybody what they want.
Everybody has something theylike, whether it be mild me or
full-bodied cigars, and we wantto turn them exactly to where
they want.
SPEAKER_01 (01:24):
Right.
And I think at the end of theday, the misconception is
Connecticut is light in color,so it's mild.
Sungrown is medium in color, soit's medium in body, a little
bit richer than Connecticut.
And Maduro's dark, so it's gotto be strong, right?
And those are misconceptions,you know, completely.
And I think one of the pointsand one of the big things we're
(01:46):
going to drive in this show thatwe're going to be talking about
is that we really we do a lot ofpeople smoke with their eyes
instead of their palates.
So I think I think that's a bigthing.
And I I think the next part isdoes our brain start smoking
before our palate does?
SPEAKER_00 (02:04):
A hundred percent.
We look at it and we assume whatit is, and we all know that
perception is really reality,right?
So people look at differentrappers.
For example, we have threedifferent rappers we use on all
our cigars.
So they assume Connecticut'sgoing to be mild.
Right.
Sun Grown's going to be medium,maybe plus, and Maduro's always
going to be full body, but thatcouldn't be furthest from the
(02:24):
truth.
Sure.
Depends what you put in thecigar.
That's everything.
SPEAKER_01 (02:27):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
And I think when we take a stepback and we look, you know, and
I want to get into somethingvery important where it's always
the dress of the cigar, thewrapper.
That's what's the perception,right?
But in reality, I think peopleneed to start looking at the
foot of the cigar, right?
And what I want to get intotoday is primings.
(02:49):
And we've talked about this inprevious shows, and I wanted to
drop the word primings, tobaccoprimings, specifically, just to
get people hearing that word,right?
Because that's really where theflavor is driven, right?
And so what I want you to talkabout is the different primings
that we use in Nicaragua andthat we use and how we blend
(03:11):
those primings.
SPEAKER_00 (03:12):
First of all, let me explain what the primings really
mean.
So tobacco grows in offshoots.
And believe it or not, once youpick the tobaccos that you don't
want to use, you discard whichwe call volato leaves or sand
leaves.
And the reason we don't usethem, and a lot of people do use
them, is because I think they'reaccurate in flavor.
They don't have much body, and Idon't think they help in the
blend.
I think they actually adhere toblend in a bad way because the
(03:35):
leaves touch the ground, hencethe word sand leaf.
Sure.
And what happens is it picks upall the topical dirt.
And you know, tobacco's like asponge.
The cellular structure is oilyand it's sticky.
And what it'll do is it'll pickup that dirt if there's any
topical fertilizer, and you'llbe able to taste that, and it's
very accurate.
So we clean that, and the firstset of leaves that we pick are
called seco.
(03:55):
And basically they're they'relight leaves, they're light in
nature, but they do producearomatic qualities and they're
on the outside of the bunchbefore you put the binder on and
then eventually the wrapper, andit helps in combustion.
So it's very important.
But our secos have a lot of bodybecause we do that cleanup where
we get rid of those sand leaves,right?
And that takes approximately 60to 65 days to pick that tobacco,
(04:19):
the first secos.
And then what we do is we wait,we water the plant, we let it
grow.
And the reason we do it inprimings instead of stalk
cutting it, which a lot ofpeople do, is because you can't
get the varieties of the tobaccoand the bodies and the textures
they have.
So what happens is once you pickthose secos, you're naturally
gonna have less leaves on thetobacco plant, and you're gonna
(04:40):
have more energy in those visoleaves 15 days later, 75 days
later on the plant are gonna benutriated more often because
they're gonna have less leavesunderneath them.
SPEAKER_01 (04:49):
Because the stalk, all the nutrients drives up.
SPEAKER_00 (04:52):
Yeah, 100%.
You're exactly right.
And then what happens is thoseleaves will be prime cut at 75
days, 80 days, depending.
And then what'll happen the nextweek and a half or two will have
the Lihedo leaves, and they'renow you have the plant you can
envision a stalk with only fourleaves.
All the nutrients are going tothose four leaves.
Right.
(05:12):
Even though they're the youngesttobacco plant or the left the
youngest tobacco leaf, I shouldsay, they have the most
nutrients because they've beenunder sun exposure their whole
life.
The oldest tobaccos have alwaysbeen shaded, and that's where we
call the lighter, and that's thestrength tobacco.
So it's like a great recipe forfood or a sauce.
You have your pinch of salt,which is your seco, your your
(05:35):
your viso could be a little bitof pepper and salt together to
add to the flavor a little bitmore, and your ligheres are more
potent, so they're your garlic.
That's that's kind of what wedo.
We call it like our sauce, andthat's our secret sauce.
But it's important to put allthree of those components in the
in the cigar.
SPEAKER_01 (05:52):
Right.
And so to get to the point, youknow, in terms of you know, you
now you talk about seiko, viso,ligero, the three main primings
that really when you look at thecigar inside the cigar, that's
where the flavor's reallydriven, right?
Yes.
So to your point, now let's talkabout them as the chef
ingredients, right?
So seiko's your salt, viso'syour pepper, and ligero's your
(06:17):
garlic, right?
And and basically everything'sabout proportion.
And so the proportions, and Ithink that's something that
really gets missed that doesn'tget talked about enough.
And I think when you look atbrands, right?
10th anniversary, PerdomoHabano, all the way up to
Perdomo Legacy, they use so manyproportions and so many
different varieties, right?
Between Condega, between Jalapa,between Esteli.
(06:40):
And I think that's somethingthat we really, you know, we
don't really talk about enough,or that the consumer doesn't
really see or hear enough about,you know, and in regards to
that, you always have a greatanalogy with proportions in
terms of how we blend.
And if you can take that awayfor a second, talk about that.
SPEAKER_00 (06:59):
Yeah, the proportions are the most
important because that's what'sgoing to tell you how the cigar
tastes like.
How much salt you're gonna puton, how much pepper you're gonna
put on, how much garlic are yougonna put in?
Everybody likes a little moregarlic, some people don't.
Some people like a little moresalt, some people don't, some
people like pepper.
So we're working on that,deciding what we're gonna come
up with.
And the consumers and theretailers around the world
(07:20):
really tell us what we can comeup with with these recipes.
And being in Nicaragua, as youknow, is a lot of fun.
Remember when we were blendingthose cigars with Connecticut on
Legacy?
Yeah, it was, you know, it'sit's it's a tremendous amount of
fun, takes a lot of work.
You know, everybody's a masterblender all of a sudden.
But it, you know, listen, I'vebeen doing this for a long time
and I'm still learning everyday.
(07:42):
But I've had great tutelage, youknow, between my dad, my
grandfather, Sarah Gonzalez,Oristi's Garcia.
I could go on and on.
And I think you've had somegreat tutelage.
You could add that, includingme.
SPEAKER_01 (07:52):
Yeah, of course.
You're you're my number onetutelage, no question.
My number one teacher, ofcourse.
But I think consistency iseverything, right?
So managing all of your tobaccosin terms of the proportions, how
you blend, consistency iseverything.
We do everything by lot number.
We do everything.
It's not just, oh, I'm going touse tobacco from this region
(08:13):
from Jalapa, I'm going to useSeiko's from Jalapa, Visos from
Esteli, or Lihos from Condega,for example.
We we manage everything by lotnumber.
So when you look at a Perdomocigar, and the greatest
compliment that we have, that wealways get, and I really, you
know, we appreciate it immenselyby our consumers and our
retailers, is Perdomo's soconsistent.
(08:34):
And so there's so much for us tomanage, so much in terms of how
many cigars we make a day, howmany cigars we make a year.
So to keep the consistencyaspect and manage these
ingredients, and I really againgoing back to the proportions,
everything's about proportions.
So I tell our consumers when youdo this and you're looking at
the outside of the cigar andyou're looking at the wrapper
and you judge the cigar based onthe color of your wrapper, start
(08:57):
looking at the foot of the cigarand start really thinking, okay,
these you know, Perdomo cigars,Neck Prodomo, all the master
blenders that we have, you know,we we on purpose, we purposely
have different proportions forevery single cigar, every single
blend.
So it's completely different.
SPEAKER_00 (09:15):
And it gets even more complex, if I can say.
So secos are light tobaccos,visos are medium tobaccos, and
like I said, Lietos are moreheavier tobaccos.
But what's funny, the reason weuse lot numbers and separation
is because tobacco can be reallydifferent, even five feet away
from each other.
So topically, and the groundcontents, whether it be organic
matter or so on, changes.
(09:36):
So you have to really pinpoint,and that's how we can really
dedicate.
No different than the chef whenhe picks ingredients.
Right.
You know, whether he's growingthem, he knows exactly where
he's going to get his basil orso on.
And the grounds tell youeverything.
For example, we have tobaccos inin the Jalapa Valley that are
very nitrogen rich.
They're going to produce morepowerful tobaccos.
And what is Jalapa famous for?
(09:57):
Aromatic sweet tobaccos.
Why?
Because most of the grounds havehigher magnesium and calcium
products or just inherited intothe ground.
So because they have highermagnesium and calcium, naturally
they're more sweeter, morearomatic.
And one of the great things isnot only can we play with all
those different lot numbers, butin growing them in all these
three different regions aretotally different.
(10:19):
So that makes it exciting toblend the cigar.
SPEAKER_01 (10:21):
Yeah, 100%.
Well, you know, Dad, one of thethings, you know, just bringing
it home and talking abouteverything.
We start out, we start talkingabout don't judge the cigar by
the color, right?
Smoke with your palate, not yourbrain.
Don't make the pre- don't makethe decision prior to lighting
your cigar.
You bring up the components of acigar in terms of the
proportions and the primings,right?
(10:42):
And especially in the fillertobacco.
You know, one thing we forget,or not that's really never
talked about, and um, and if youif if I may, I'd like to bring
this up in terms of theconstruction of a cigar.
You know, you have one wrapperleaf, right?
And let's use a 54 ring gauge.
You have one wrapper leaf, youhave a binder leaf, you have a
Seiko leaf that goes in, we puttwo viso leaves, and then we put
(11:03):
a Lijero leaf, right?
So that's six total leaves,right?
And five of those leaves comefrom the the filler, and the
wrapper leaf's the only is theonly leaf on the outside.
So if I take one divided by six,that's 16.7%.
So of the actual and of theintegrity of the cigar, the
actual amount of leaves, thewrapper leaf is that only one
leaf.
(11:24):
So just it just goes to showthat what you don't see, right,
is where the majority of yourflavor is driven on a cigar,
which comes from again, thosethose primes, your secos, your
visos, ligeros, what's insidethe cigar.
So I what I think the the nextbig question I have for you is
(11:45):
in your opinion, what is theproper way to smoke a cigar?
SPEAKER_00 (11:49):
Before I go on there, let me let me add
something to you.
Sure.
So we say it's 16.67%, but thatleaf is also very thin.
It has half the texture of evena seiko leaf.
So if you really break it down,it's probably five percent of
the circumference.
Yet it produces up to 10 to 15percent of flavor, which is
(12:10):
really astronomical when youthink about it.
That's how important the wrapperis.
SPEAKER_01 (12:13):
Well, to add to your point, all our wrappers, all our
sun-grown wrappers, our Habanowrappers and our and our Maduro
wrappers, they all come fromJalapa.
So halapa produces the thinnestin texture.
But again, very loamy grounds,but sweet, rich type of leaves
that work so great, whether itbe sun grown or maduro.
So to your point, yeah, we'rewhen we're blending with filler
tobaccos from Condega and fromEsteli, which are much hardier
(12:36):
type of leaves, thicker intexture.
So those leaves, yeah, they theygive the most amount in terms of
flavor with inside the bunchinside the filler blends.
So that's something that, youknow, I'm glad we're bringing
this out and we're talking aboutthis, because I think this is
going to change the minds ofmany cigar smokers in terms of
how they pick up that cigar andhopefully now how they perceive
(12:57):
when they pre-light that cigarand they really think about,
okay, I'm smoking, I'm gonnalight up this cigar, but I'm
gonna be a little bit more openmind, regardless of the outer
leaf, the dress that the cigarhas, right?
So when you smoke a 20thanniversary, whether it be in a
Connecticut, a sungrown or aMaduro, you're gonna get those
offsets of the wrapper, to yourpoint, depending on the texture
(13:18):
of the leaf, anywhere from 10 to15%, which to you and I is
astronomical because that is abig offset.
But overall, the flavor of thecigar is gonna be consistent in
the blend.
We blend all the Connecticut's,all the sungrown, all the
Maduros the same way, exceptthat outer leaf, which does
impart different flavors.
So people can ping pong, likeyou like to always say, in
(13:38):
between those cigars.
If I love 20th anniversaryMaduro, I'm gonna love 20th
Anniversary Connecticut and 20thanniversary sungrown because I
have the that core flavor, butnow I get those offsets, the
little bit more of thatcreaminess, that almondy type of
flavor in the Connecticut, thatbeautiful baking spices, that
cinnamon, the cardamom, it's allthose different flavors that you
(14:00):
get in the sungrown wrapper withsome of that sweetness.
So I think it's something veryimportant to talk about.
And but again, going back tothis last question, in your
opinion, how do you think withall this information and when
people go in to light their nextPerdomo cigar, how should people
smoke the cigar?
SPEAKER_00 (14:18):
Well, I think smoking cigars is very different
very similar to drinking wine.
You taste it in your mouth.
Sure.
It's the same thing when youdrink wine.
You really taste the flavor ofthe wine in your mouth.
You end up swallowing it, butyou really taste it in your
mouth.
You can taste it from the front,the back, the sides.
You're going to taste all thosedifferent flavors in your on
your palate, in your mouth, andyour taste buds, hence why you
(14:41):
don't need to inhale cigars likeyou would have to do with a
cigarette, for example.
And that's where I like it.
And the most important thing iswhen we talked this earlier in
episode number one on how to cutand properly light the cigar,
that's also very importantbecause that's going to help a
lot with your your smokingexperience and your enjoyment.
(15:01):
And really know about the cigar.
Hey, I'm a mild to medium-bodiedcigar smoker.
What does Perdomo offer me?
You can go to PerdomoCigars.com.
I think we've done a great job,at least in this industry, of
trying to provide as muchinformation because we have
something for somebody, right?
SPEAKER_01 (15:17):
Yeah.
And I think I think that's theall your point.
And and I think one of the otherquestions is that because I get
a lot of people, you know, interms of consumers who ask,
well, do I need to put smokethrough my nose?
And what is your opinion on thatin terms of they or as they call
it a retrohill?
SPEAKER_00 (15:34):
Yeah, I it depends on what you like to do.
There's no there's no bad thingin enjoying a cigar.
Some people like to put itthrough the nose.
Let me tell you why I do it.
I do it because I want to tastehow much ligero that I have in
that cigar, which is thestrength tobaccos.
And what I'm trying to do ispredict that I go overboard on
that.
The nose will tell youeverything.
Sure.
Okay.
(15:54):
But normally, I would say 90% ofthe time I don't put smoke
through my nose.
But it's very simple to do.
It's you don't have to inhaleit.
It's one piece.
Your nose, your mouth, and yourears are all they're all
connected.
People think they have to inhalethem.
No.
You don't.
So to answer your question, ifyou like doing that, which a lot
of people do, that's fine.
I don't do it a lot, to be quitehonest with you.
(16:16):
I do it when we're test smokingthe cigars all the time because
what's the balance here?
Where are we going to be at?
You know what I mean?
Because I want it to beharmonious and balanced.
That's the most important thing.
And we talk about the rapper.
You know, a lot of people assumethat, you know, Connecticut is
milder.
You know, you and I had a littleconversation about 10th
anniversary Maduro and 20thanniversary Connecticut.
Remember that?
(16:37):
Well, what what did what did itcome out to be?
SPEAKER_01 (16:39):
Well, really, it's your blend in terms of how you
blended those two cigars.
But again, looking at the rapperis not always the right it's not
the answer.
And 10th anniversary Maduro,when you blended that cigar, I
remember you were like, I wantto blend a cigar that that is
medium body, because I want to Iwant to work with the tobaccos
(16:59):
that, you know, we had 10thanniversary champagne at the
time.
But what I really I remember youwanted to create a cigar, 10th
anniversary sungrown, right?
And the red label.
You wanted to have a sungrownand a Maduro wrapped cigar that
were both medium in flavor,right?
Yeah, love all of them.
A little bit more Jalapa driven,right?
Cut back a little bit in theproportions from Esteli and
Condega and purposely done,right?
(17:20):
But you look at 10th anniversaryMaduro, beautiful, beautiful,
dark Maduro wrapper grown inJalapa Valley.
And then you look at a brandlike 20th Anniversary
Connecticut, right?
Eight-year-old tobaccos, highprimings, Condega, Esther Lee
driven blends, and but it's gota Connecticut wrapper, so it's
gotta be light, it's gotta bemild, right?
(17:41):
Not true.
We both know that 20thanniversary Connecticut is a
richer, heavier cigar than 10thanniversary Maduro or 10th
anniversary Sun Grown.
So again, the eyes they tend tofool us a lot, right?
And they tend to fool thesmoker, unfortunately.
But I think it's something thatagain, talking about this,
getting really in depth, andreally I I really want our
(18:05):
audience to look into and reallystudy.
I mean, we have between thecountless amounts of YouTube
videos that we have on ourPerdomoCigars.com page, we have
so much information on primings,right?
I mean, even to tobaccos likeNicaraguan Shade Grown, we have
a designated page within ourwebsite in terms of how that
tobacco's different basis forwrapper, right?
(18:28):
And that wrapper, because it'sgrown nestily, it's naturally
thicker, richer.
So it even drives even moreflavor in the blend, even though
it's one leaf, but because ofwhere it's grown, the process
that it goes through, the aging,the fermentation, all of that,
and the barrel aging of thosewrappers, it just drives so much
flavor within the blend.
So I'm glad we've spoken aboutthis.
(18:50):
And I think at the end of theday, Dad, and and before we
close this episode, I think it'simportant to our audience, and I
think it's important to knowthat you know, don't judge a
cigar by its color.
You know, I think the secondbiggest thing, and you and I are
very active, and our company isvery active on social media.
Please ask us questions.
(19:10):
Whether you want to look at ourPerdomoCigars.com, whether you
look at the back of every cigarthat we have and the cellophane
tubes where we have QR codes,you can know exactly what blend
you are smoking in terms of theflavors that you should expect
based on the proportions offiller tobaccos and the primings
that we use.
And lastly, follow us onYouTube, Instagram, and
(19:31):
Facebook, and please don't bescared to ask us any questions.
We love this.
This is why we're here.
We're taking the time becauseyou guys are so important to us.
SPEAKER_00 (19:39):
And we and we personally answer all your
questions.
And talking about our audience,you're gonna hear a lot about
the Esteli Valley, the JalapaValley, and the Condega Valley
in future episodes.
And I want you guys to feel partof it and see the passion and
pride and the love theNicaraguan people that work for
Perdomo Cigars have to producethe very best cigars that God
(20:00):
can help us make.
And we want you to enjoy thatjourney throughout it, and
you're gonna feel part of it,and that's what really I want.
SPEAKER_01 (20:07):
Yeah.
Well, Dad, this was a greatepisode.
I just want to thank ouraudience and thank you for your
time and thank you for listeningto our show.
Um, please, if you enjoyed this,please like, share, and
subscribe to our Prodomo YouTubepage.
Please check out our PerdomoPodcast.com.
Also, like and follow us onPerdomo Instagram page and also
on our Prodomo Facebook page.
(20:28):
We really appreciate this.
We're going to be seeing youguys very soon, and thank you so
much.
Thank you guys.
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