Cigar Preview: PDR A. Flores Gran Reserva

Vitola: Half Corona
Size: 3.5″ x 46 ring gauge
Price $25.99/tin of 5 MSRP
Show sample from SmallBatchCigar.com

Background

By the time ya’ll are reading this I’ll be on my way from Atlanta to Chattanooga for the Chattanooga Tweetup.  Looking forward to seeing any of you that are planning on being there.  Anyway on to the cigar.  When I first got the tin I thought this was a new release for this year, but it turns out they were released in 2013.  They did release a habano version of this cigar this year, but I haven’t seen it yet.  These are a new one for me as I don’t think I’ve had one before.  Dave took a look at the robusto size of this cigar shortly after it came out and you can look at it here.  These cigars are made up of the same tobaccos as the robusto and are a regular production items unlike the larger size.  This preview sample was the second one I smoked from the tin.

Prelight

The tin these come in would be very handy to put in a pocket or bag on your way out for the day.  And because the cigars sit in depressions in the tin they won’t roll around and bang into each other when you’ve smoked one of the cigars.  The wrapper on this sample was a very oily reddish dark brown in color.  The cap on this looks kinda heavily done as you can clearly see the lines in the triple cap.  When I got the cedar sleeve off I could really see the amount of tooth that this cigar had.  When I gave it a squeeze there was a slight amount of give but no soft spots.  Putting my nose to the wrapper I got the aroma of cedar (no surprise), with barnyard coming from the foot.  After clipping it and taking a cold draw on it I got a good draw with a hint of sweetness.

Flavor

The cigar starts off with a blast of red pepper spice on the tongue and retrohale.  After a few puffs I started to get some cedar, earth and copper flavors as well.  The cigar starts off at medium full strength.  When I got into the second third the flavors changed slightly to wood, earth, and cream with a slightly sweet finish.  The spice slightly diminished as well.  The strength stayed the same.  The final third saw the spice start to gain in intensity to about where it was at the beginning.  I noted flavors of leather, wood, and earth with a hint of sweetness on the finish.  The cigar moved into the bottom end of full by the end.

Construction

The draw on this cigar was perfect throughout.  The burn was slightly wavy but nothing too bad.  The other thing I’ll note is the cigar didn’t get too hot to hold which is something I’ve had on smaller cigar.

Value

The price of ~$5 a piece might be a little high but you could probably find them for less and the tin they come in could come in handy.

Conclusions

This is a very flavorful little cigar.  The great construction and great taste wouldn’t leaving you looking for more if you’ve only got a few minutes to enjoy a cigar.  It might be a little too strong for some but I’d recommend giving it a try.