The Night The Wives Let Us Out
Welcome back to another edition of the Thursday Night at The Oasis review, where middle-aged men escape their responsibilities for a few precious hours of peace, camaraderie, and premium tobacco. Tonight's escape vehicle: the Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne Magnum 50. Is it worth the $10 that could otherwise go toward your kid's college fund or that lawn equipment your spouse keeps subtly mentioning? Let's find out.
As one buddy so eloquently put it while popping open his third craft beer of the night: "This better be good. I told my wife I was attending a 'networking event' and I'm not wasting my hall pass on mediocre tobacco."
First Look: Judging This Book By Its Cover
The Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne Magnum 50 looks like what would happen if King Midas got into the cigar business. The golden Connecticut wrapper practically glows under the dim lights of the garage, where we've gathered to avoid a book club that commandeered the house. "It's the same color as my ex-wife's heart," jokes the guy who's still paying alimony after 12 years and won't let any of us forget it.
At 6 × 50, this Magnum size is substantial without veering into "compensating for something" territory. The construction is tight—unlike that golf swing we've all been witnessing for years—with a smooth wrapper that has fewer veins than that protein shake the health nut's been chugging since his doctor mentioned the words "high cholesterol."
Pre-light, the cigar smells like cedar, cream, and that faint hint of hope that your fantasy football team might actually do well this season. The cold draw offers notes of nuts, sweet cream, and subtle baking spices—or as the dieting buddy calls it, "everything my doctor said to avoid after my last physical."
Who's Behind This Thing?
Before we dive into the smoke, let's acknowledge the mastermind. Nick Perdomo Jr. runs this family operation out of Nicaragua. Unlike that "home business" your brother-in-law keeps trying to recruit you into, Perdomo actually makes money and a damn fine product.
What's cool about their setup is they control everything from seed to smoke. It's the kind of vertical integration we pretend to understand during quarterly business reviews at work while mentally calculating how many vacation days we have left.
The 10th Anniversary line ages their wrappers in bourbon barrels, which immediately earned a collective nod of approval from our group. As the whiskey enthusiast pointed out while refilling his glass, "Anything that spends time in a bourbon barrel is a friend of mine," which explains both his appreciation for this cigar and his two failed marriages.
First Third: The Honeymoon Phase
After toasting the foot—a process the perfectionist takes so seriously you'd think he was performing heart surgery rather than lighting a cigar—we're off to the races. The initial puffs deliver smooth, creamy smoke that even the cigarette smoker, who usually claims "all cigars taste the same," admits is "pretty damn good."
The flavor profile opens with:
- Toasted almonds (not to be confused with the "toasted" state after that fourth beer)
- Cream that's smoother than the pickup lines used in the '90s
- Cedar that reminds us all of that cabin trip where someone got lost for six hours
- Light vanilla that no one will admit they enjoy because it sounds too "fancy"
- Subtle white pepper on the retrohale that makes eyes water (though blamed on "allergies")
The draw is perfect—unlike our golf handicaps—and the burn line stays razor-sharp. "If only my career trajectory were this straight," mumbles the guy who's been passed over for promotion three times this year.
Second Third: Getting Comfortable
As we settle into the second third, our commentary gets louder and less cigar-focused. Still, this Perdomo continues to impress, evolving nicely with increased body that moves solidly into medium territory. "Kind of like my waistline since hitting 40," observes the self-deprecating one, patting his expanding midsection.
The flavor shifts to include:
- Roasted coffee that reminds us of Monday mornings and poor life choices
- Buttered toast that's making us all hungry because dinner was four beers ago
- Caramel sweetness that has someone reminiscing about the desserts his ex used to make before she ran off with her CrossFit instructor
- Hints of nutmeg that no one can identify until the closet foodie, who secretly watches cooking shows, speaks up
- Cedar backbone that's more reliable than half our retirement plans
"Is it just me, or does this cigar taste like what success was supposed to feel like?" asks the one going through his mid-life crisis six months early.
The burn continues flawlessly, with an ash that holds longer than most of our attention spans during work Zoom calls.
Final Third: The Last Hurrah
In the final stretch, the Perdomo Champagne wraps up its performance with a slight increase in strength—nothing that'll have you seeing the dinner you scarfed down before arriving, but enough to know you're smoking something substantial.
"Like my second marriage," quips the twice-divorced guy, "it saved the best for last before ending too soon."
The closing flavors include:
- Toasted nuts that prompt at least three juvenile jokes we won't repeat here
- Rich cream that has us all unconsciously licking our lips like we're in a weird food commercial
- Light chocolate that pairs perfectly with the bourbon being hidden from various spouses
- Subtle baking spices that remind someone of his mom's kitchen, launching us into a ten-minute tangent about childhood trauma
- Pleasant oakiness that we all pretend to detect after the resident aficionado mentions it
Even down to the nub, this cigar remains smooth and enjoyable, never turning bitter—unlike most of us after discussing politics, sports, or our in-laws.
Technical Stuff For The Nerds Among Us
Because every group has that one guy who needs to analyze everything to death, here's the technical breakdown:
Burn: Straighter than our collective postures before back problems kicked in. Not a single touch-up needed during the entire session.
Draw: Perfect resistance, like those elastic bands we all bought during the pandemic and used exactly twice.
Ash: Held for nearly two inches—cue the obligatory "that's what she said" joke that never gets old (except it definitely has).
Smoke Output: Generous clouds that briefly transformed the garage into what looked like a 1990s music video set.
Smoking Time: Roughly 80 minutes, or about the amount of time it takes to tell one of those "this really happened" fishing stories that we all know are 90% fabrication.
Bang For Your Buck
At $9-11 per stick, the Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne delivers exceptional value, especially compared to those premium cigars the show-off keeps buying to impress clients who don't actually smoke.
"It's cheaper than therapy and more effective," notes the one who's been avoiding his therapist's calls for three weeks.
For context, cigars of this quality often cost $15+, making this a smart choice for both our Thursday gatherings and those rare moments when you can escape to the backyard alone for 80 minutes without someone needing something from you.
What To Drink With This Thing
Our highly scientific pairing tests (i.e., whatever everyone happened to bring) revealed these winning combinations:
Best Pairings:
- Actual champagne (though no one brought any because "what are we, at a wedding?")
- Coffee with a splash of bourbon (the "morning meeting prep")
- Straight bourbon (the group favorite)
- That craft IPA with the weird name that someone keeps insisting is "revolutionary"
- Iced tea with honey (for the one who's "taking a break" from alcohol after the Christmas party incident)
As for timing, this cigar works perfectly for our Thursday night sessions—substantial enough to last through multiple ridiculous stories but not so overpowering that we can't function at work on Friday.
How It Stacks Up Against The Competition
Because we've collectively smoked enough cigars to fund a small nation, here's how the Perdomo Champagne compares to others in its class:
Arturo Fuente Chateau Series: "Good, but not as interesting as that time someone got his tie caught in the office shredder."
Ashton Classic: "Like that colleague who dresses well but never says anything memorable in meetings."
Oliva Connecticut Reserve: "Reliable like your old Nokia phone, but the Perdomo has more personality."
Montecristo White Series: "Charges you more to basically do the same job, like that contractor who redid the bathroom."
Who Should Smoke This?
The Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne hits a sweet spot that makes it perfect for:
- The guy just getting into premium cigars after realizing gas station cigars are basically compressed lawn clippings
- Experienced smokers looking for something reliable when they don't want to risk a $20 disappointment
- Morning smokers (we see you, "working from home")
- Connecticut wrapper fans who aren't ashamed to admit they like smooth cigars despite the current trend toward ligero-packed face-melters
- Value seekers (also known as "everyone in this group since our kids started college")
The Connecticut Wrapper History No One Asked For
During a brief lull when we ran out of people to gossip about, the know-it-all dropped some knowledge about Connecticut Shade wrappers that we're including here mainly because he threatened not to bring his homemade beef jerky next time if we didn't.
Apparently, these golden wrappers are grown under massive sheets of cheesecloth to filter sunlight, creating thinner, more elastic leaves. Originally from the Connecticut River Valley, much is now grown in Ecuador where the natural cloud cover creates ideal growing conditions.
"Kind of like how we're all technically 'working' when we're actually on this group chat during office hours," observed the one who's apparently been "in meetings" for three years straight.
Bourbon Barrel Aging: Not Just For Overpriced Whiskey
One unique aspect of this cigar is that Perdomo ages the wrappers in bourbon barrels for six months. This isn't just marketing nonsense like the "innovative disruption" your company keeps mentioning in all-hands meetings.
The process actually:
- Allows for continued fermentation at a controlled pace
- Adds subtle flavor nuances from the bourbon
- Removes remaining harshness from the tobacco
"So basically, the tobacco goes to rehab while our bourbon goes straight to our livers," concludes the guy who still doesn't understand why his wife suggested Dry January.
When To Smoke These Bad Boys
While you could smoke these year-round, we found them particularly enjoyable during our spring and summer gatherings, where the lighter profile matches the season.
"It's also perfect for smoking around people who say they 'hate cigar smell' but won't actually leave," notes the one who's still bitter about his sister-in-law's extended stay last summer.
They're also great for golf outings, especially when you're playing badly enough that you need something enjoyable to distract from your score.
Storing These Properly (Because We're Not Animals)
Store these beauties at 65-70% humidity and similar temperature. Unlike the leftovers in someone's fridge that have developed sentience, these cigars maintain their condition well with proper storage.
They do develop additional nuance with 6-12 months of aging, but who are we kidding? None of us have the patience to let cigars sit that long. As one dad put it: "Life's too short to age cigars. I've got teenage daughters; I'll be lucky to make it to retirement."
Memorable Moments With The Perdomo Champagne
These cigars have featured in several notable group moments, including:
- The "I'm finally divorced" celebration, where we all pretended not to notice the tears behind sunglasses
- The epic poker night where someone lost their "emergency credit card" their wife doesn't know about
- That fishing trip where we caught exactly zero fish but smoked a box of these while debating whether aliens built the pyramids
The Magnum 50's elegant appearance also makes it look appropriate at classier functions, for those rare occasions when we're forced to wear pants with non-elastic waistbands.
The Box: Nice Enough To Hide Your Secret Stuff In
The Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne Magnum 50 comes in a handsome wooden box with a champagne-colored interior that several guys in the group have repurposed after smoking the contents:
- One uses his to hide the fantasy football cash from his wife
- Another stores his collection of concert tickets that his girlfriend calls "clutter"
- Someone else keeps the "emergency cigars" that somehow never get used in actual emergencies
The cigar bands themselves are classy enough that the collector has a secret montage in his home office—"It's not scrapbooking, it's maintaining a curated collection," he insists.
Nerdy Production Details That Only The Enthusiast Cares About
For those detail-oriented members of our group (basically just one guy), here's the breakdown:
- Wrapper: Connecticut Shade-grown seed from Ecuador, bourbon barrel-aged for 6 months
- Binder: Nicaraguan (from Perdomo's farms)
- Filler: Nicaraguan blend from Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa
As explained while the rest of us checked our phones, this combination creates balance because "the Jalapa brings sweetness, the Condega adds body, and the Estelí provides structure," much like how our group functions with various personalities, except with significantly less structure.
The Final Verdict
After extensive "testing" that left the garage smelling like a tobacco shop and our collective clothing in need of an explanation to our significant others, the Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne Magnum 50 scored an impressive 91/100 on our highly subjective scale.
Here's the breakdown:
- Appearance/Construction: 23/25 ("Prettier than my first car")
- Draw/Burn: 24/25 ("More reliable than my ex," from the guy who brings up his ex-wife every fifteen minutes)
- Flavor Profile: 22/25 ("Like butter, if butter were made of dreams," from the poetic one after his fifth beer)
- Complexity/Balance: 22/25 ("More balanced than my checkbook," - literally everyone)
For context, we reserve scores above 95 for cigars that would make us sell a kidney to buy a box. A score in the low 90s means we're actually going to remember the name of this cigar next time we're at the shop.
Bottom Line From The Oasis Crew
The Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne Magnum 50 is a winner that managed to satisfy our diverse group—from the guy who usually smokes cigarettes to the self-proclaimed aficionado who won't stop talking about his trip to Cuba in '08.
If you're looking for a reliable, enjoyable smoke that won't break the bank or overwhelm your palate, this is an easy recommendation. The combination of excellent construction, pleasant flavor profile, and reasonable price point means you can smoke one yourself and still afford to share with your mooching brother-in-law.
As we wrapped up the night, put our wedding rings back on, and prepared to return to our lives of responsibility, the consensus was clear: we'd definitely smoke these again. And coming from a group of guys who can't agree on what pizza toppings to order, that's saying something.
Your Turn To Join The Club
Have you tried the Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne? Drop a comment below or connect with us on Instagram and Twitter where we post weekly about cigars, grilling, and occasionally remember our kids' birthdays.
For more reviews, cigar recommendations, and to join our growing community of enthusiasts escaping adult responsibilities one premium tobacco product at a time, visit BrownsLife.com.
Until next time at The Oasis, may your burns be even, your excuses for being out late believable, and your significant other not notice the lingering aroma of fine tobacco in your favorite shirt.
This review is based on a single Thursday night gathering, where multiple cigars were purchased at retail price. Our opinions may have been influenced by varying blood alcohol content levels and the quality of snacks provided.