Padron 1964 Anniversary PRESIDENTE Maduro 6 X 50 Tube

Some cigars you rotate. This one I keep coming back to.
The Padrón 1964 Anniversary line has been a benchmark Nicaraguan puro since 1994, built to mark thirty years of the family business. The Presidente size arrived later, in 2017, as the first 1964 to ship in a square aluminum tube. That tube is not a gimmick. It is how this cigar travels, sits on a desk, and still looks like it belongs in a serious humidor. The cigar itself is a classic box-pressed 6 × 50: dark, toothy, slightly oily maduro leaf, gold-and-burgundy double band with an individual serial number, firm but not rock-hard in the hand.
Pre-light

Foot aroma is almost indecent: chocolate syrup, cool fudge, a little dried fruit, and the faintest cedar. Cold draw is chocolate again, quieter, like a Hershey’s Kiss rather than a brownie. Almost no pepper until you retrohale after the light.
First third

It lights clean and puts out thick, cool smoke immediately. Opening flavors are sweet cocoa and espresso over Nicaraguan earth. White pepper shows up on the retrohale and wakes the tongue without burning it. There is a brownie-batter richness here that is the signature of a well-aged 1964 maduro. Construction is typically Padrón: even burn, easy draw with a little resistance, ash that wants to drop a bit early but holds better after the first inch.
Second third

This is where the cigar earns the “favorite” label. Chocolate recedes, then comes back darker and more bittersweet. Cedar, leather, toasted nut, and that specific maduro sweetness—dried fruit meeting raw tobacco—take the lead. Pepper moves from the nose onto the palate. Body is full. Strength is medium-plus to full, but it never feels like a nicotine stunt. The profile is not wildly complex in the modern “twelve notes per puff” sense. It is coherent. Everything tastes like it grew in the same soil and sat in the same aging room.
Final third

Coffee and dark chocolate tighten. A mineral/earth note and a little cream or vanilla show on the finish. If you rush it, the last two inches can get hot and slightly rough. Slow it down and it stays balanced to a short nub. Smoke time is right around an hour forty-five to two hours.
Construction and value

Draw and burn are excellent more often than not. The square tube is useful for travel and golf-bag duty; take the cigar out if you are aging it for months, because a sealed tubo with no cedar liner can restrict airflow. Street price has moved from the original $15.50 MSRP into the low-twenties for a single. For a four-year-aged Nicaraguan puro with this consistency, that is still honest money.
Pairings that work

Bourbon or rye. Barrel-aged stout. Black coffee. A small pour of añejo rum. Dark chocolate if you want to lean into what the wrapper is already doing.
Verdict

This is not the loudest Padrón and it is not the rarest. It is the one I reach for when I want the 1964 profile in a format that lasts long enough to think, talk, or sit still. Rich, earthy, chocolate-and-coffee forward, properly built, and unmistakably Nicaraguan. That is why it is my favorite.
Score (personal): 92