PDR AFR-75 – Cigar Review
Another steamy afternoon day here in sunny Florida, in the Gar Cave. I select a PDR Cigars AFR-75. The AFR-75 is a bold 6×58 dark brown San Andrés wrapped stick. It made headlines last year and today I will find out the reason why.
I have to note that many years ago I was a fan of the large ring gauge sticks with preference at the time to the Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur No.1 Maduro, but I moved away to a slightly smaller ring size and navigate to the Toro’s in the market. The AFR-75 may reset my mind on that.
To start off, the AFR-75 Edicion Limitada (limited release) is named in honor of Abraham Flores Rosario who is the master blender and was born in 1975. Hence the AFR-75.
Taking the stick and rolling in my fingers, the wrapper is smooth for a San Andrés and already has a nice sheen to it. In addition to the San Andrés wrapper it is constructed with a Nicaraguan Criollo 98 Binder with a filler blended from Nicaraguan Criollo 98, Connecticut Broadleaf, and Dominican tobaccos. The head is finished in a nice triple cap with a twist on the top.
The barrel of the AFR-75 has a nice earthy and slight woody pre-light scent and is adorned with what I would describe as a Cohiba-esque band – the small black squares remind of the that.
The dry draw is again of earth and wood, but as I light it up I get an immediate waft of chocolate that I will discover is ever present throughout the smoke. The early burn was smooth with of decent amount of smoke from the draw and the retrohale kept giving me those scents of chocolate.
A solid white ash was developing, quite indicative of the San Andrés wrapper and less toothy than I have come to experience with other San Andrés wrapped cigars.
It developed some light spice early on and had a rich creamy smoke for making those nice smoke rings your kids or grand kids love to see.
Burning down it started to pick up some coffee notes, and it was getting so tasty it makes you wanna chief the stick, but I will take it slow. Just before the half way point there was some fruity notes that seemed to last only for a few puffs. It was also at this point it went out and needed a relight. This is not uncommon for a large ring gauge cigar. (like I said I was not cheifing this stick).
The flavor was consitent and that chocolate kept coming through. The finish was that of just sweet tobacco flavor.
Well it was a fine day sitting in the Gar Cave, sitting with my dog, listing to Jimi Hendrix on vinyl and smoking the AFR-75. As Jimi says – “Move over Rover and Let Jimi take Over”
I recommend AFR-75 to any of you who like a full body full flavor cigar.
PDR Cigars AFR-75
Jimmie, I like the flow of the review; the pics show the scene well, too. The box, the wrapper and start, the progress, and the final resting of the ash by the pen. Well done.
Kit at Spanish Cedar