Assessment Updates will be posted on this web-site to: 1) Assess
“pre-review” cigars that were not given a rating or score (typically
pre-release cigars); 2) Provide numeric ratings to cigars previously
assessed prior to the implementation of the numeric scoring system; 3)
Provide a re-assessment and re-score of a previously assessed/scored
cigar. Today, we provide a numerical score to the PDR 1878 Cubano Especial Capa Natural .
This was a cigar we assessed almost a year ago in October,
2011.
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| PDR 1878 Cubano Especial Capa Natural |
The PDR 1878 Cubano Especial Capa Natural is probably the forgotten blend of Pinar Del Rio’s popular PDR 1878 series. The Capa Natural was introduced in 2011 and provided an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper option to this series. 2011 will be long remembered as the year of Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper blends in the cigar industry. The Capa Natural provides a classic offering in this area.
In addition to the Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper, the Capa Natural features a Dominican Criollo ’98 binder as well as filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. For this assessment update, we revisit the torpedo vitola.
For the msot part, I’ve not found the blends of the PDR 1878 series to be ones that are going to provide a wide range of flavor transitions, however they all provide excellent flavor. In my opinion, the Capa Natural might provide some of the best flavors of the line. The flavors of the Capa Natural consist of wood, cream, pepper, and cedar. In a time where a lot of manufacturers are doing a lot of experimentation with Ecuadorian Connecticut blends, the PDR 1878 provides a very classic flavor profile for this wrapper.
A difference from when I first assessed the Capa Natural is that the cigar seems to have increased in terms of strength and body. Last year, I assessed this as a mild strength, mild-bodied cigar. This year, the cigar seems to have progressed to a mild to medium cigar in terms of strength and body. Both attributes balance each other nicely.
Construction is excellent and this is reflected in the attributes of burn and draw. The burn and draw are both excellent. Usually I don’t like torpedoes because they tend to have an inferior burn and draw when compared to a classic parejo. This is not the case with the Capa Natural. In fact of the four blends of the PDR 1878 line, I found the Capa Natural to have the best burn and draw.
Click here for the original assessment done on this cigar.
Assessment: Nice to Have
Score: 89
