PDR Exclusivo Review

7/9/2014

Cigar: Pinar del Rio Exclusivo Reserva Limitada
Size: Toro, 6.0”x54
MSRP: $7.50
Strength: Medium
Wrapper: Dominican Habano
Origin: Dominican Republic

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Prelight: The wrapper is not oscuro, but is a shade of maduro. Veins lace the oily cigar like spider webs and the wrapper smells floral with chocolate. The foot is pure chocolaty goodness. The cap is a little on the ugly side, with excess glue and a couple wrinkles. The cold draw tastes like chocolate with a bit of hardwood and pulls right where I like it. Will my fifth PDR review give me a winner?

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1/3: Holy smoke! This cigar is trying to send a signal all the way to Brooklyn saying LPs aren’t the only smoke bombs on the market. There is slight pepper to the flavors, but initially I am getting coffee, chocolate, leather and wood. As the first third goes up in smoke, the pepper and wood gets stronger. Then the coffee and chocolate get stronger. Then I get tastes of hay. Than chocolate and wood.

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2/3: To say the first half is complex is like saying Dr. Jekyll is eccentric. The flavors changed so much, I wasn’t sure what I was tasting. But, at the halfway mark, things calmed down. The flavors are mainly hay, with chocolate and wood. The burn is alright and the ash is dense.

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3/3: Wood takes back over for the final third, with backing notes of chocolate and slight hay. Like other PDRs, it gets quite bitter and hot at the nub, but not absolutely horrible. This cigar has been sitting at an RH of low 60%s for weeks now, so I don’t think it is too wet.

Overall: An interesting cigar. The flavor changes at the beginning were interesting, and the construction was good. The second half was a bit drab, but that might just be in comparison to the revolving profile at the beginning. Also, if it didn’t burn so hot and bitter at the end, I would have enjoyed it much more. Three out of five.