Padrón natural vs. maduro
Same line, same sizes, two wrappers. What Padrón says changes, what the ratings show, and how to pick.
Updated
At a glance
Inside a Padrón line, the wrapper is the choice you make. Padrón makes every size of the 1964 Anniversary, the 1926 Serie and the Thousands Series in both, and both wrappers are sun-grown. On the 1964, Cigar Aficionado more often rates the maduro a step stronger, most often Medium-Full against the natural's Medium, and neither wrapper scores consistently higher. In CA's notes, chocolate shows up under both. The maduros add caramel, and the naturals lean toward coffee, wood and vanilla. If you can't decide, buy one of each in the same size.
What Padrón says is different
Padrón says very little on this.
Here's what it does say. The 1964 Anniversary Series comes in sixteen sizes, "all available in sun-grown natural and maduro wrappers," and its tobacco is aged four years before rolling. Padrón describes the 1926 Serie, the Family Reserve and the Padrón Series, which includes the numbered sizes people call the Thousands Series, the same way: every size in both wrappers, both sun-grown. The company grows and rolls its tobacco in Nicaragua, and its production page shows the wrapper leaf as sun-grown habano.
So inside one line, the tobacco's age is the same whichever wrapper you take, and every size gives you both. In the trade, maduro describes how the wrapper leaf is fermented. It comes out darker than a natural and is generally sweeter. The maduro guide covers how that's done.
Color won't always settle which is which. Cigar Aficionado called the 1926 No. 90 dark even in its natural wrapper.
What Padrón doesn't publish is whether the binder and filler under the two wrappers are identical, or how long it ferments the maduro leaf. You'll find confident answers online anyway, and they don't agree. A forum post says the cigars are all made the same and sorted by wrapper color after rolling. A retailer's blog says the maduro spends extra time in the aging room, and calls the natural a Connecticut-seed wrapper. Neither cites Padrón. On the seed, Cigar Aficionado's 2003 interview with Jorge Padrón described the cigars as Cuban-seed tobacco from the filler to the wrapper.
Is the Padrón maduro stronger?
Often by a step, going by Cigar Aficionado's ratings of the 1964. Take the most recent posted rating of each 1964 size reviewed in both wrappers, by CA or its newsletter, Cigar Insider. The maduro was listed stronger in 7 of 13 sizes, the same in 5, and milder in 1, the Corona, on its 2023 rating. Six of those seven gaps were Medium for the natural against Medium-Full for the maduro. The ratings come from different years, so treat the count as a tendency.
The cleanest single comparison is the Hermoso. Cigar Insider rated both wrappers in the same June 2016 issue: Medium for the natural, Medium-Full for the maduro. CA's review of the Family Reserve No. 45 Natural points the same direction, calling the natural a bit mellower than the maduro.
Strength here means nicotine, the physical effect. Body is the weight and texture of the smoke, and flavor is taste and aroma. The strength, body and flavor guide goes through each. The wrapper is one leaf of the blend, and the binder and filler shape the cigar too. Medium to Medium-Full is one step up the scale.
How the flavor differs, by source
Padrón publishes no tasting notes for either wrapper, so the notes below come from Cigar Aficionado and Cigar Insider, for the 1964 sizes we stock in both wrappers. Each row is the latest posted rating of that size in each wrapper, except the Hermoso, where both come from the same 2016 issue.
Ratings read October 12, 2026. On a narrow screen, scroll the table sideways.
| 1964 size | Natural | Maduro |
|---|---|---|
| Principe, 4½ × 46 | 94, Medium-Full (2023): cappuccino-like, milk chocolate, creamy | 91, Medium-Full (2008): cocoa, wood, leather |
| Hermoso, 4 × 56 | 90, Medium (2016, Cigar Insider): toast, herbs, spice | 93, Medium-Full (2016, Cigar Insider): chocolate, spice, nuts |
| Exclusivo, 5½ × 50 | 93, Medium-Full (2019): cocoa, vanilla, dark coffee | 91, Medium-Full (2012, Cigar Insider): coffee, spice, earth |
| Imperial, 6 × 54 | 93, Medium (2017, Cigar Insider): leather, coffee, cocoa, vanilla, wood | 93, Medium-Full (2020): chocolate, licorice, peanut, dark toast |
| Diplomatico, 7 × 50 | 92, Medium (2026): milk chocolate, leather, coffee, oak, almond | 94, Medium-Full (2023): nutty, chocolate, caramel, cinnamon, nutmeg |
| No. 4, 6½ × 60 | 91, Medium (2024): nuts, wood, milk chocolate | 92, Medium-Full (2025): toast, caramel, pepper |
Chocolate or cocoa turns up under both wrappers in three of the six pairs. Nuts show up on both sides too. Where the notes part, caramel appears only on the maduro side, and the naturals lean toward coffee, wood and vanilla. On the Family Reserve No. 45, CA put it plainly: "the lighter wrapper gives the cigar a different flavor."
Neither wrapper wins on score. When Cigar Insider rated every 1964 natural in 2009 and every maduro in 2012, the natural scored higher in five sizes, the maduro in three, and two tied. No size was more than four points apart.
The same choice in the 1926 and the Thousands Series
The wrapper choice works the same way across Padrón's regular lines. What changes from line to line is the age of the tobacco and the range of sizes:
From Padrón's line pages, read October 12, 2026. On a narrow screen, scroll the table sideways.
| Line | Tobacco aged (per Padrón) | Sizes | Wrappers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Padrón Series (the Thousands) | at least 2½ years | 15 | natural and maduro, every size |
| 1964 Anniversary | 4 years | 16 | natural and maduro, every size |
| 1926 Serie | 5 years | 10 | natural and maduro, every size |
| Family Reserve | 10 years | 7 | natural and maduro, every size |
CA has rated both wrappers in eight of the ten 1926 sizes and in six of the Thousands. On the latest rating pages posted as of October 12, 2026, the 1926 natural has the better recent record: higher in five sizes, the maduro in three. The Thousands split closer, three to the maduro, two to the natural, one tie. No gap on either line was more than six points.
Choose the line first, then the wrapper. If you change both at once, you won't know which one you're tasting. Whether the 1926's extra year is worth paying for is its own question, covered in Padrón 1964 vs. 1926.
Choosing yours
Pick the size you like first. Then pick the wrapper:
- Choose the maduro if the caramel in CA's maduro notes sounds like what you want, and a step more strength doesn't bother you.
- Choose the natural if you'd rather have the coffee, wood and vanilla in CA's natural notes, or the milder rating CA gives the natural more often than the maduro.
- Can't decide? Buy the same size in both wrappers and smoke them on different days.
The Padrón 1964 Anniversary gives you the most sizes to do that with. In mid-October we had both wrappers of the Principe, Exclusivo, Hermoso, Imperial, Diplomatico and No. 4 in stock, plus the Soberano and Presidente tubos. On the product page, choose the size, then Natural or Maduro.
The same goes for the Padrón 1926 Serie, with the No. 35, No. 47, No. 48, 40 Years and 80 Years in both wrappers, and the Padrón Thousands Series, with the 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 and 7000 in both. Current stock shows on each product page.
Tobacco Leaf is an authorized Padrón retailer. Current 1964, 1926 and Family Reserve cigars carry Padrón's individually numbered guarantee band, which the company added to protect against counterfeits. We sell singles in the Jessup shop, so trying one of each costs you two cigars instead of two boxes. Online orders ship to all states with Boveda packs.
Frequently asked questions
Are natural or maduro cigars better?
Neither, on the record. Cigar Aficionado has named Padróns in both wrappers its Cigar of the Year, including the 1926 40th Anniversary, a natural, in 2004; the Family Reserve No. 45 Maduro in 2009; and the 1964 Torpedo, a natural, in 2021. It comes down to which flavor you like.
What's the difference between the Padrón 1926 Maduro and the 1964 Maduro?
The age of the tobacco and the size range. Padrón ages the 1926's tobacco five years and makes it in ten sizes. The 1964's is aged four years, in sixteen sizes. Both come with a sun-grown maduro wrapper, and both lines are box-pressed.
Do Padrón naturals and maduros cost the same?
At our shop, mostly. When we checked on October 12, 2026, the two wrappers had the same box price in most of the sizes we stock. The exceptions were the 1964 Exclusivo, the 1964 No. 4 and the 1926 No. 48. Each product page shows the current price for every option.
About Rahul Gupta
Certified Retail Tobacconist · Tobacco Leaf
Rahul Gupta is the owner of Tobacco Leaf, a premium cigar shop and lounge in Jessup, Maryland, in Howard County. A Certified Retail Tobacconist through Tobacconist University, he joined the family cigar business in 2010 after growing up helping in his father’s tobacco stores.
About this page
Compiled by Rahul Gupta from Padrón's published line pages, Cigar Aficionado and Cigar Insider ratings read October 12, 2026, and the store's product options checked October 12, 2026. Tasting notes and strength ratings are the critics', not a house tasting. Tobacco Leaf is an authorized Padrón retailer and sells the lines linked here.
Sources
- Padrón: 1964 Anniversary Series, 1926 Serie, Padrón Series, Family Reserve and Vertically integrated
- Cigar Aficionado and Cigar Insider ratings, 1964 Anniversary: Principe and Principe Maduro; Hermoso and Hermoso Maduro; Exclusivo and Exclusivo Maduro; Imperial and Imperial Maduro; Diplomatico and Diplomatico Maduro; No. 4 and No. 4 Maduro; Torpedo
- Cigar Aficionado ratings: Family Reserve No. 45 Natural; Serie 1926 40th Anniversary and No. 90
- Cigar Aficionado, Q&A: An Interview With Jorge Padrón (David Savona, Nov/Dec 2003)
Padrón and Cigar Aficionado pages read October 12, 2026. Store stock and option prices checked October 12, 2026; current options and prices are on the product pages.