PDR Cigars 1878 Capa Madura and 1878 Roast Cafe Dark Roast

Last Wednesday I brought you the Capa Oscuro and the Natural Roast Cafe cigars from PDR, this week I’m writing about the 1878 Capa Madura and the 1878 Cafe Dark Roast. I find it a bit difficult when I receive a half dozen different cigars from a given company, I don’t really want to smoke them back to back and spend a week writing about the same brand, or one long post. I’m also at a point where I just need more variety and after a long day there are times I just want to smoke what I want to smoke!  Selfish of me, I know!  Anyway, this is another Wednesday PDR post. Last night I grabbed the PDR 1878 Capa Madura toro for my evening walk. Like I said about the Capa Oscuro, I’m sure I’ve smoked this before, but it’s been a while, and was probably in New Orleans. This Capa Madura is a Brazilian Arapiraca Maduro, with a Dominican Criollo 98 binder and Dominican Criollo 98 and Nicaraguan Criollo 98 fillers. We are in the beginnings of a summer heat wave, it’s mid-July, so we shouldn’t be surprised by hot and humid conditions. As far as I was concerned it was a reasonably comfortable evening for a walk after a hectic day at work. I rather enjoy the closed foot and pigtail cap treatment on the PDR cigars, it’s fun, and one gets a blast of wrapper flavor on the initial lighting. the downside is one must be wary of errant bits of flaming wrapper flying around, I’ve burned a hole in a shirt that way! It also makes it hard to tell of one will have draw problems. One didn’t this time, although the cigar did seem to absorb ambient humidity through the hour and a half I spent smoking it so that by the end it was burning a little wetter than I would like. I think this was a function of the moisture in the air, a thunderstorm was coming, than anything else. It had a nice flavor, less of the typical maduro flavors I’m drawn and more woody, earthy notes.  All-in-all and enjoyable smoke, though.

Once again, I have a late shift on a Wednesday, so while I write this I’ve smoking the cigar I’m writing about (about which I’m writing?  I know that’s grammatically correct, but it’s not the way I talk!). I’ve got a cup of coffee, comfortably ensconced in my screened in porch, typing away while enjoying a PDR 1878 Dark Roast Cafe Toro. After last week’s post, PJ in Florida has an image in his head of me, I’ll just leave it at that. This cigar has very much the same blend as the Capa Madura, Brazilian Maduro wrapper, with a Dominican Criollo 98 binder and Dominican Criollo 98 and Nicaraguan Criollo 98 fillers. The wrapper isn’t specifically identified as Arapiraca, so maybe it’s a less expensive wrapper, I don’t know, but the big difference is the coffee infusion. There’s really no information on the website about that, I don’t know the process, or what kind of coffee they use. I have to trust that it’s a natural process. The unlit aroma is a little bit musty, but that’s the only downside for me. I actually really like this cigar. It’s not cloyingly sweet or overwhelmingly infused. The coffee flavor is subtle, much like the coffee notes I get in many maduro cigars. The burn is perfect, a flat ember, good, but, like the Natural roast, slightly flaky ash, and just right draw. I suppose it could be a mixed filler cigar, as it’s priced around $6 a cigar, but it’s hard to say.  Of course, it’s great with my black coffee, but few cigars aren’t.  I’m pretty choosy lately, but this is actually a cigar I’d smoke on the regular. I dig it.

That’s all for today, let’s see if next week brings another PDR Wednesday. I’ll be attending the Drew Estate PA Barnsmoker on Saturday, so if you happen to be there, please say hello. I hope to be doing some joint media work with Kevin of CigarProp.com if possible. I know he’ll be doing a lot of videos for his Youtube channel.  Until the next time,

CigarCraig