The Best Connecticut Cigar We’ve Ever Smoked? | Padrón Dámaso No. 15 Review

SHOW #: 27 CIGAR: Padrón Dámaso No. 15 MAKER: Padrón Cigars ORIGIN: Nicaragua FILLER: Nicaraguan BINDER: Nicaraguan WRAPPER: Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade VITOLA: Toro, 6 x 52 STRENGTH: Mild to Medium RATING: Jonathan: 9.5 | Ryan: 9.5 | Patrick: 8.75 | Steven: 8.5 SHOW THEME / ARC: A Padrón that breaks nearly every expectation of what a Padrón should be becomes the perfect cigar for a conversation about change, trust, humility and learning to call the best out of other people. THE FOOT Leadership coach and longtime friend Jonathan Reitz joins the guys with his current go-to cigar, the Padrón Dámaso No. 15. The round Toro features an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler, offering a much lighter and milder presentation than the darker Padrón cigars the guys know best. The cold draw lands like a holiday fruit-and-nut tray, with raisins, mixed nuts, sweetness and a dusting of pepper. After lighting, sweet cream, coffee and buttery richness emerge while the familiar Nicaraguan pepper stays present without taking over. The opening also produces an unexpectedly serious debate over whether a V-cut should line up vertically, horizontally or not at all with the cigar band. THE BODY Jonathan explains why the Dámaso feels like a previously unknown cousin: clearly part of the Padrón family, but different enough to challenge every expectation. That becomes the entry point into why change is difficult, how familiarity and trust affect our willingness to try something new and why relationships often determine whether a transition succeeds. Jonathan shares the television-station meeting that redirected his career from radio and television into nearly three decades of executive coaching and leadership development. The conversation moves through cigar shops and barbershops as rare spaces for civil discourse, the performative side of cigar culture, the value of staff who can connect with everyone and the freedom that comes from dropping appearances. Steven reflects on moving from the top leadership role in an organization into a lower seat, while the group explores humility, self-awareness, healthy leadership and why so-called soft skills are really power skills. Jonathan introduces the idea that positive leadership requires far more intentional effort than negativity, and that calling the best out of people creates the possibility for movement instead of retreat into self-protection. THE HEAD The middle of the cigar shifts toward charcoal, baking notes and Cuban espresso while retaining the sweet cream underneath. The final third brings roasted peanuts, cayenne, flashes of jalapeño and spice that moves from a broad pepper finish to the tip of the tongue. Jonathan enters the Hot Box to talk about a remarkable cigar shop on St. James’s Street in London, a disappointing layover smoke in Fayetteville, David Letterman, Terry Francona, golf, travel and his version of a perfect afternoon. The Padrón burns almost flawlessly and becomes the first cigar on the show to force Ryan to bring out a cigar poker so he can smoke it beyond the point where his fingers can safely hold it. Ryan and Jonathan each score it 9.5. Patrick calls it a 10 when judged specifically as a Connecticut and lands at 8.75 overall. Steven gives it an 8.5 and agrees it is the best Connecticut he has smoked. EPISODE DESCRIPTION Can a cigar completely break the rules of the brand that made it—and still taste unmistakably like a Padrón? In Episode 27 of Burnt Offerings, leadership coach and longtime friend Jonathan Reitz joins us to smoke one of his current go-to cigars: the Padrón Dámaso No. 15. This six-by-52 Toro combines an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler, creating an experience unlike the stronger, darker Padrón cigars most smokers expect. The cold draw opens with fruit, raisins, nuts and pepper before the cigar settles into sweet cream, coffee and an almost dessert-like richness. The middle introduces charcoal, baking notes and Cuban espresso. By the final third, roasted peanuts, cayenne and flashes of jalapeño arrive without overpowering the cigar’s underlying sweetness. Jonathan promised us several distinct experiences across six inches of cigar. He was not wrong. That gives us an excuse to talk about change: why we resist it, what allows us to trust something unfamiliar and why relationships often determine whether a transition succeeds or falls apart. Jonathan shares how one dysfunctional television-station meeting changed the direction of his career, sending him from radio and television into nearly three decades of executive coaching and leadership development. We also get into humility as a leadership superpower, the difference between calling out problems and calling out the best in people, why negativity is the easier path and what cigar shops and barbershops may still understand about civil conversation th...