This is less a review more of a "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU GUYS?!" moment:

On my way home from an airport drop, I decided I needed to smoke a stick last night, so I hit up Outlaw. I grabbed two Padron 3000 maduros c. 4pm, and dry boxed them till 10pm. (Outlaw keeps their sticks wet enough I swear I could wring them out and they'd still be moist.)

So 10pm rolls around and I hit up my favorite pub with a patio, break out the P3kM and my Palio and clip away.

Issue #1: I had to clip TWICE because my Palio couldn't completely sever the leaf stem sticking out. Even after that was finally clipped, it kept working its way looser, so I pulled it out and the stem was almost two inches long. There was basically a stick in the cigar. (cigar no.1)

Issue #2: The taste was lame. Just a letdown. None of the consistent semi-cocoa tones and sweet earthiness I used to remember from the x000 maddies. Passive tobacco with a slinky filmy taste. I ditched it 2/3 of the way down. (both cigars 1 and 2)

Issue #3: Funky roll. BOTH of the two had bizarre rolls. They'd haul ass through a half inch and then creep through a tight patch. The ash was awkwardly flakier than I remember also.

Overall, I can't say as i've ever had such a pathetic Padron experience.
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I am sorry to hear about that. Never had a stem that long in a Padron product.
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Wow! I've never had a bad Padron! Sorry about your experience.
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It's definately not the norm.
Were they in a glass top box? :-)
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:-) hope you got it from a known good supplier. Gotta believe that there are fake Padrons out there.
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Last time I checked, Outlaw cigars in KC was pretty much the top of the B&M foodchain.
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excellent news. Take the stick back, regardless of condition and they should give you a replacement.
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yeah, can't. I chucked both of those pathetic puppies. But it's ok. Sometimes you just get crappy sticks.
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Dan I am sorry for your bad Padron evening. Hopefully went I get back in town and your free we can laugh about it over some beers at the house.
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I had a bad box of padron2000 maduro's, the taste was pretty bad. Won't buy a box of these for a long time. This was within the last 3 months, could be bad quality control.
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Honestly I've never found the thousand series of Padrons to be anywhere near the quality of Anniversarios. I have pulled HUGE stems from the 000 series numerous times.
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:-) and with Stupid!!! Fake!!!
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I have a regular who chews on 4000 Maduros and he's never had one that didn't have a big stem to pull out of it.

IMO, the x000 series of Padrons is vastly overhyped. Yes, they're excellent sticks, what Padron isn't? but they're not rolled with 1964/1926 grade tobacco. I pull stems out of Padrons all the time. It's part of the nature of the beast. There are really bad ones occasionally that are unsmokable, and occasionally there are boxes that are so good I just want to sit on them for years.

I think we often overlook these things simply because we're enjoying the cigar all that much, and we aren't as likely to notice anything when everything seems to be fine and dandy. But one little thing may irritate you, like a bad cut, and it makes you so circumspect that you notice another problem, and pretty soon you're critical of the whole cigar because of one lousy cut or loose wrapper or runny burn.

So ends my :-) :-)
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I've been smoking Padron x000's since I started smoking cigars and they've always been a favorite. I've never had two in a row that were this ridiculous, and NEVER had a stem like that before. OBVIOUSLY the Annis are going to have a better grade of tobacco, it's why I'm a huge fan of the 26es, but for the cost, x000es were always a solid bargain....till now.

Maybe I just shouldn't go down the chain anymore. Damn you Monte 4's from 92.
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the x000 series have always been pretty ugly, but I never cared as long as they taste good. A few months back I bought a 3000 for my dad on the way to the golf course. It still had that distinct Padron flavor, but it was so mild I could hardly taste anything at all. probably won't buy any more for myself, but they're still a great, cheap cigar for someone who doesn't smoke often. The 3000s were the cigars that got me into this hobby.
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I too have noticed consistency issues with padrons...The last few padrons I have smoked were TERRIBLE...my wife bought me a couple from a local B&M...I tried smoking 1, and I swore it was a fake...it was nothing like the padrons I used to remember...anyways I called padron, and spoke with some dude named cesar I think...he told me to send the suspected fake padrons, and he would inspect them to see if they were fake...I did, and i got a reply from him that they were REAL padrons....he said he would send me two padrons in the mail as replacements, but he never did....very disappointing.
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I agree. The Padron's I've had have all been good. Sorry to hear that.
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It's funny, I was just thinking about the 3000 maduro I was going to smoke before going out tonight. I've been through a couple of boxes of them and have never had any construction issues - certainly never noticed any stem in one. I think they are pretty damn consistent too. I'd hazard a guess that your problems with the 2nd one were humidity related. I'm no dry box expert, but if they were super wet, I doubt you'd get them to optimal smoking condition in a few hours in a dry box. Just my :-)
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As a Padron whore, I hate to say that any padron would be unsmokeable, however- I think that Padron has laxed on their QC as of late... I've had caps were lopsided and stems thrown into the mix...I still love that Padron flavor though.
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I'm enjoying a 3000 maduro right now. I'll agree the construction is inconsistent but the flavor has always been top notch for me. I have two boxes now, one maduro and one natural and have had zero problems. They've been in my humi for several months now.
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