PCA 2023: PDR Cigars

Heading into the 2023 PCA Convention & Trade Show, PDR Cigars was almost dead silent when it came to announcing new releases for the show. The company reiterated that El Vinyet would be at the show, though this was a project that Abe Flores was talking about in 2022 and which he had originally slated for release last September. Beyond that, though, I couldn’t even get a reply to my e-mails.

But silence doesn’t mean that a company doesn’t have anything new, and in fact it generally means the opposite. This is exactly the case with PDR Cigars this year, as it debuted a pair of new lines alongside El Vinyet, which technically makes three new lines, as well as the return of a line that had been a catalog exclusive but is now being offered to brick-and-mortar retailers.

As for the booth, it was pretty much the same as previous years, a 30′ x 10′ space with a couple of display cases along with some seating areas for order writing and conversation.

ACME Seleccion No. 1

Abe Flores described this as a project that he relaunched for the Pohler family, who are best known as being cigar sales representatives throughout the southern U.S. While he wasn’t after a specific look for the packages, he sought to create something that looked like it was out of the 1940s or 1950s. The cigars, however, were not on display.

• Wrapper: Ecuador (Connecticut)
• Binder: Indonesia
• Filler: Dominican Republic (Seco and Ligero) and U.S.A. (Connecticut Broadleaf)

• ACME Seleccion No. 1 Corona (5 x 42) — $6 (Box of 10, $60)
• ACME Seleccion No. 1 Robusto (5 x 50) — $7 (Box of 10, $70)
• ACME Seleccion No. 1 Toro (6 x 52) — $8 (Box of 10, $80)

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: August 2023

El Vinyet

Abe Flores teased this line at the 2022 PCA Convention & Trade Show, and while it was originally scheduled for a September 2022 release, it now seems ready for release, with Abe Flores targeting it to ship in August. Flores bunched the first 10,000 cigars in the release, saying that he hand-picked the fillers every morning.

• Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano)
• Binder: Indonesia
• Filler: Dominican Republic (Habano) and U.S.A. (Pennsylvania Broadleaf)

• El Vinyet Cuvee Especial 2023 RC52 (5 x 52) — $8.55 (Box of 10, $85.46)
• El Vinyet Cuvee Especial 2023 BF52 (6 1/2 x 52) — $9 (Box of 10, $90.90)
• El Vinyet Cuvee Especial 2023 WC58 (5 1/8 x 58) — $10.81 (Box of 10, $109.08)
• El Vinyet Cuvee Especial 2023 DC47 (7 5/8 x 47) — $12.73 (Box of 10, $127.28)
• El Vinyet Cuvee Especial 2023 GS57 (8 x 57) — $38.18 (Box of 10, $381.80)

Production: Regular Production*

*The first run will be 200 boxes of each size, but that number will increase in 2024.

Release Date: August 2023

Flores y Rodriguez 18th Anniversary

PDR Cigars is celebrating its 18th anniversary with a new line that is a spin on the Flores y Rodriguez 10th Anniversary; this one gets an Ecuadorian Sumatra maduro wrapper instead of the 10th’s Ecuadorian habano wrapper. The filler includes seven-year-old piloto cubano tobacco.

• Wrapper: Ecuador (Sumatra Maduro)
• Binder: Dominican Republic (Olor)
• Filler: Dominican Republic (Piloto Cubano Seco and Ligero) and Nicaragua (Jalapa Viso)

• Flores y Rodriguez 18th Anniversary Millefleurs Corona (5 x 42) — $5.71 (Box of 24, $137)
• Flores y Rodriguez 18th Anniversary Robusto (5 x 52) — $13.24 (Box of 24, $317.68)
• Flores y Rodriguez 18th Anniversary Wide Churchill (5 1/8 x 58) — $14.71 (Box of 24, $352.98)
• Flores y Rodriguez 18th Anniversary Grand Toro (6 x 54) — $16.18 (Box of 24, $388.28)
• Flores y Rodriguez 18th Anniversary Figurado (6 1/2 x 52) — $17.65 (Box of 24, $432.58)

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: August/September 2023

PDR VLR Connecticut

This medium-filler cigar was one that PDR used to produce for Thompson Cigar Co., but now it is getting a widespread release as a brick-and-mortar exclusive.

• Wrapper: Ecuador (Connecticut)
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Dominican Republic

• PDR VLR Connecticut Robusto (5 x 50) — $3.96 (Bundle of 15, $59.40)
• PDR VLR Connecticut Toro (6 x 50) — $4.36 (Bundle of 15, $65.40)

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: July 2023