Originally published at Tiki Bar Online
Robusto, 5” x 52 ring gauge / SRP ~$12.50
Yesterday I looked at a the first of two LEs from PDR Cigars. Today I’m looking at the other LE Abe Flores released this summer, the A. Flores Gran Reserva. As with the AFR-75, there will be only 500 boxes of each size made and those sizes are Gran Toro, Robusto, and the intriguing Half Corona (3.5 x 46). The Half-Corona is also slated to become a regular production line, being sold in 5-count tins. The A. Flores Gran Reserva uses a Corojo 2006 Dominican wrapper around a mix of Dominican Corojo and Nicaraguan Habano tobaccos (again, no indication of what the binder leaf was). I did have one Half-Corona when these first showed up in my mailbox, but I decided to do the review based on the Robusto, which was also provided to me by the manufacturer.
The AFR-75 adopted a “new Cuban” look that borrowed heavily from Cohiba and Behike banding. The A. Flores Gran Reserva takes on a more traditional Cuban look, with a red band with white lettering and gold foil trim, along with plenty of embossing. Additionally, a cedar sheath hides most of the body of the cigar and there is a red ribbon around the foot….traditional Cuban…or traditional Dominican, since the cedar and ribbon thing is, in my mind anyway, tightly associated with quite a few Arturo Fuente offerings. So, again, not original, but still a very nice look. Taking the cedar off, I was greeted by a medium-brown wrapper leaf with hints of red and a bit of darker mottling. It was a little veiny in places, but very nice looking overall. Giving the cigar a sniff, I picked up leather, wood and earth on the wrapper, along with a barnyard aroma on the foot. Once the head was clipped I got an easy draw that was heavy with cedar flavor, with lesser notes of hay, citrus and mild peppers.
Once fired up, the A. Flores Gran Reserva did start out with intense cedar notes as well. I got a mildly sweet citrus note on the palate, along with some earthiness; on the retrohale, I got a fairly scorching red pepper burn. For a cigar that relies on Dominican leaf for the majority of its make-up and flavor profile, this cigar fairly stormed out of the gate with flavor intensity. As the first third wound down, the flavor started to get more creamy and less spicy on the palate; the cedar toned down and I got more earthiness. The retrohale was still very intensely spicy, though.
Construction was very good; I saw a very even burn line, solid ash and an excellent draw. In the second third, the cedar flavor picked up again and was joined by a graham cracker sweetness. The pepper spice on the nose did lessen a bit, but still provided a good burn.
In the last third, the A. Flores Gran Reserva exhibited more of the cedar flavor, mixed with subtle sweetness and an increase in pepper spice on the palate. Overall, it behaved much like I would expect a cigar with a lot of Corojo to act. Not being a big fan of cedar-heavy flavor profiles, I did find it to be a little much for my palate, but if that’s more in your wheelhouse, you may very well find this much to your liking. I found the price a bit much for what the cigar delivered; not outrageously expensive, but probably $2 or 3 more than I would expect for a cigar like this. The body was medium to full and the strength was about the same.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 7/10
Complexity: 6/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8/10
