Cigar Aficionado’s Cigar of the Year for 2014, 10th place, was the A. Flores 1975 Serie Privada Capa Habano SP52.

Made by: PDR Cigars
Country: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Ecuadorian
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan, Domincan Republic
Dimensions: 5 x 52

A Box-Pressed robusto, the A. Flores 1975 Serie Privada Capa Habano SP52 is made by PDR (Pinar Del Rio, for those of you who followed the old brand), under the guidance of Abraham Flores. Previously making primarily contract brands, such as the Ghurka 125th, and the La Palina Classic, A. Flores has re-emerged full force in the market with his own lines: the Flores y Rodriguez 10th Anniversary, A. Flores Gran Reserva, and the PDR AFR-75, and the cigar line reviewed today, the A. Flores Serie Privada.

Already interested? You can get 10% off all PDR offerings, by applying code PDR10 in your Anthony’s Cigar Emporium shopping cart! This promo code works on both boxes AND sticks!

On to the tasting! I’m a relatively simple man – Punch or Traditional Cut, I may smell the cigar, I may not, but most of my notes are on flavors, smoke, and appropriate smoking speed. I’ll leave the more… eh… intricate observations to others.

First Third:

Lighting up with a triple torch, the cigar starts off grassy and sweet, almost like wheatgrass. It’s an easy draw, and there’s a quick ramp up in strength from mild to medium. The Box-Press and easy draw makes it an easy accident to smoke too quickly, but if you take your time, the reward is subtle and complex flavor.

Second Third:

The second third is an easy transition into bread and grain, with a slight leather on the retrohale. Overall, a great medium body – not enough nicotine to knock me out, but enough to let me know I’m smoking.

Last Third:

Moving in to the last third, raw coffee bean (I’m talking fresh-picked off the coffee plant raw) joins the mix, and the nub returns to a grassy flavor, but more mature, with wet earth, before I put the cigar down at the nub.

Final Thoughts

Smoke production is wonderful throughout when you’re puffing on it, but it’s not billowy, and doesn’t linger, like a Liga Privada, or other San Andres Maduros.

Creamy throughout, if you do tend to smoke faster, I recommend a punch instead of a traditional cut, else you risk a noticable dullness of flavor. While some cigars are very forgiving, the PDR lines prefer the slower smoke.

As a side note, I did find that the flavor stayed true throughout the sizes – the SP58 is just as solid as the SP52. I also want to note that I did not get any flavors of Vanilla or Cocoa Bean, as noted by many reviews around the internet.

Interested in trying an A. Flores 1975 Serie Privada Capa Habano? We have them in stock!

That 10% off code, again, is PDR10 – that’ll get you 10% off both Box & Stick purchases of any PDR product we have in stock!

Buy now!