Abe Flores has reblended and redesigned the PDR 1878 line, and has given it a new name: the PDR 1878 Recordando a Santiago. The name translates to “remembering Santiago,” the city in the Dominican Republic where PDR Cigars is headquartered, along with a number of other cigar factories and tobacco farms.

The PDR 1878 Recordando a Santiago is offered in four blends that spans the flavor and strength spectrum. The Capa Natural uses a shade-grown Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper with Dominican criollo 98 making up the binder and filler. The Capa Oscura gets its dark oscuro wrapper from Ecuador as well, while the binder is a Dominican habano seed leaf and the filler is Dominican corojo.

The Capa Sun Grown’s wrapper also comes from Ecuador, while the binder is Dominican criollo 98 and the filler is Dominican criollo. The Capa Madura ventures to Mexico’s San Andrés region for its wrapper, while the binder and filler are Dominican criollo 98.

The line has also trimmed down the vitolas it is offered in, moving from six to three sizes, a 5 x 52 robusto, 6 x 52 toro, 6 x 60 magnum. Production is going to be limited to 5,000 boxes of each of the blend and size combinations, making for a total of 60,000 boxes. Speaking to Cigar Aficionado as part of the line’s announcement, Flores said that he plans to produce the cigars until regular travel to the Dominican Republic, which he anticipates won’t be until 2023.

Pricing is reported to be between $6.41 and $7.80 per cigar, before taxes.

Additionally, the boxes have been updated to feature the Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración and a classic red Cadillac. Artwork for the project was designed by Fabian Barrantes.

Emails to the company seeking additional information about the new line have so far gone unanswered.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.