El Trovador | CigarCraig's Blog

I’m working on something a little different, should be announced any day now. I found myself with more gear from the Barnsmoker than I know what to do with, so I’m going to have a fundraiser raffle for a worthy charity. I’m still working out the details, but the prizes are pretty cool. I felt the need to do something more than just the usual pick a random comment giveaway. We’ll see how it goes, stay tuned. I did manage to smoke some cigars this week, funny that there were several that I just didn’t enjoy, but here are a couple highlights! Let’s get the Las Calaveras from Crowned Heads out of the way. This was the first Las Calaveras I’ve smoked. A friend commented that he was surprised by this, but I don’t fall all over myself for Crowned Heads in general. I did, however pick one of these up a week or two ago when I saw them, out of curiosity. The one I smoked was the Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2022 LC46 (5¾” x 46). It’s a Nicaraguan puro made at the My Father factory in Esteli. It has a dark Corojo wrapper, I believe, and packs a punch. I enjoyed the rich, espresso flavors, but. I thought it was stronger than I’d have liked, the strength overpowered the flavor at times. Perhaps a few years in the humidor would settle it down, but I’m not inclined to go out of my way to find out. I did enjoy it, and it was not, by far, the worst cigar I had all week.

PDR Cigars has been sending samples to me on a regular basis. They could save a lot on shipping by combining shipments, but that’s their business. One of the first cigars they sent me, maybe 6 weeks ago now (this summer has gone by far too fast for my liking), was the Flores y Rodriguez 10th Anniversary Reserva Limitada. I smoked one on or around my wedding anniversary and quite enjoyed it. It’s a beautiful perfecto, 6½” x 52, but it’s also available in a Robusto, Gran Toro and Wide Churchill. it has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Dominican Olor binder and 7 year old Dominican Seco and Piloto Cubano Ligero, as well as Viso from Jalapa, Nicaragua. The filler tobaccos aren’t specifically named, but they taste great! The cigar burned perfectly and had nice sweet, nutty flavors. This may have been the best cigar I smoked all week (starting the week on Monday, of course, the bar was admittedly pretty low!). It’s a fairly sophisticated cigar, befitting of a milestone anniversary.

Another PDR cigar I smoked was the El Trovador Rosado, in the Corona Gorda (6″ x 46) size. Again, PDR isn’t very specific with the varietals, but it has an Ecuadorian Rosado wrapper, double binder described as one Nicaraguan and one Nicaragua Corojo, and fillers described as 2 Ligero Nicaragua, 1 ½ Viso Nicaragua. I really loved this cigar, second best of the week. It was pretty strong, without sacrificing flavor. It had some dark flavors, with some leather and spices. I dug it, and, like the other PDR cigars I’ve smoked recently, it burned perfectly. I have a few more to get to, and another package due this week, so watch for more PDR cigars sneaking into my rotation in the coming weeks.