PDR 1878 Reserva Dominicana Capa Habana Lancero

GC — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:55:00 GMT

Background:

2011 has been another great year for Pinar Del Rio with massive growth, many new brands and line extensions. The small batch boutique company has now extended its PDR lines to four different wrappers and blends, the PDR Cubano Especial Maduro (Black), the PDR Reserva Dominicana Oscura (Red), the PDR Reserva Dominicana Capa Habana (Blue) and finally the PDR Liga Especial Reserva Superior (Silver).

Pinar Del Rio has released an onslaught of cigars and sizes this year, and while I haven't been able to try every size of every blend.. One of my favorites this year has been the PDR 1878 Reserva Dominicana Capa Habana Lancero (Blue Label). Medium to full in body, the Dominican Puro blend consists of a Dominican Criollo '98 and Habano seed binders and aged Dominican Corojo, Habano, and Criollo '98 fillers and is finished with an oily golden brown Habano wrapper.

Appearance / Construction:

The Lancero is sized at 7.25 x 38 and finished with a pigtail cap and a closed foot. I can't stress enough how oily this Habano wrapper is; the cigar has a rustic look overall, but it's got that attractive magnetic quality that makes you want to fire it up. The construction quality is very good, although it has a "handmade" look and feel.

*Side note. I've been recently using the Xikar Element lighter with a dual torch flame. I've owned many, many lighters over the years and besides the S. T. Dupont MaxiJet which I place at the top of my list as the absolute best lighter for the money, this Xikar Element is really impressing me! I'm loving the style of the lighter, the amount of fuel it holds, the built in punch and maybe most of all the dual jets are spaced perfectly where they form a sort of flat half-inch flame that's perfect for toasting foots and controlling your flame. Anyway.. back to the PDR!

First Third:

The PDR Blue Lancero starts off with enjoyable spicy, sweet flavors. The aroma is sweet leather, the profile a complex mix of wood, leather and caramel sweetness with some mild spice on the finish. The draw is great, with no resistance giving off large plumes of chewy aromatic smoke on every pull. Only an inch into this lancero and I'm very impressed by the complexity and the balance of all the flavors going on here. The ash, a nice grey and black color, is breaking off about every inch or so. The flavors mentioned above continue to keep my palate entertained for the rest of the first third.

Second Third:

After smoking a third of this cigar the body is picking up a bit. The PDR Capa Habana Blue is supposedly the strongest body-wise of the PDR 1878 cigars. The leathery and sometimes creamy sweetness is still in the forefront paired up with a long enjoyable finish. The smoke production continues to be fairly substantial and aromatic. The peppery spice has all but disappeared in the second third, which allows your palate to focus on the balanced sweet tobacco flavors.

Last Third:

In the last third of the PDR 1878 Capa Habana the peppery spice has picked up along with the leathery finish of the cigar. Although richer and heavier in flavor, the underlying sweetness continues. The phenomenal flavors continue to intermix throughout the rest of the cigar until I nub it. What a great smoke. The entire smoke time was somewhere around 2 hours, smoking at a very slow pace.

Overall:

I've personally been a fan of Pinar Del Rio cigar since they stepped on the cigar scene. When Abe started with the original four blends, I was a fan of the Sun Grown Habano and the Classico Exclusivo for a milder morning smoke. When he put out the Magnums and Double Magnums, although I'm not a huge fan of 60 rings, I smoked them and enjoyed them tremendously. Now with the new PDR line, I've identified the PDR Blue as my personal favorite, and the Lancero is the format that . I've always been able to identify a favorite within Abe's releases and I think really everyone can. He's always created some very unique and interesting blends and I think we will continue to see more great cigars from Abe in the future. Also despite being a boutique producer, he's always kept the price at a very moderate place.

This particular cigar, the PDR 1878 Reserva Dominicana Capa Habana Lancero (mouthful eh?) is a wonderful cigar, packed with balanced flavors of sweet spice, wood, and an aromatic leathery smoke that fills the air. If your a PDR fan, and a Lancero fan, I would definitely recommend checking these out. Check out our PDR 1878 Reserva Dominicana Capa Habana Brand Page for availability and pricing.

Thanks for reading!

Have a Happy New Year!

~GC

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PDR 1878 Reserva Dominicana Capa Habana Lancero