InterTabac 24 exclusive: Ten years of PDR in Germany - Behind the scenes with Abe Flores

I meet Abraham «Abe» Flores at the trade fair and I can sense his passion from the very first moment. He is standing at his stand in Hall 7. „PDR has been represented on the German market for over ten years,“ he says proudly.

4 minutes

The author behind these articles is Oliver - survivalist, winter griller, TV fuzzie from Bonn. He constantly fails at trying to stay sporty, loves cigars, rock'n'roll, barbecues, bad jokes and single malt whisky. He is now too old to grow up.

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From classics to novelties

He guides me through his range, showing me the classics that many people already know, from the 1878 Santiago editions to the Gran Reservas. But there are also new things. „Take a look at these AFR-75 cigars,“ says Abe, presenting me with a cigar. „An Ecuadorian wrapper - creamy and full of buttery flavours, and at a good price.“

AFR-75.

The German market is doing great!

Curious, I ask him how the fair is going for him. „Very good!“ he replies with a laugh. „There are lots of new international people here, new distributors. The German market is going great, but we've also done well worldwide.“ Even though he doesn't understand German, he can sense the customers' enthusiasm and interest.

When I ask him how long he has been in the business, he says: „The PDR brand has been around since 2007. I started production in 2006 and we launched in the USA in 2007. Germany was our first European market, followed by Spain. The Criollito, one of our cigars, was initially exclusively available in Spain before it spread all over the world.“

Abe Flores (right) in conversation with Oliver (left).

Abe talks about his work with great pride and passion. „We are a family-run company, not a multinational giant. I touch every tobacco, I put my heart and soul into it. When you smoke my cigars, I hope you feel that.“

Finally, I jokingly ask him if he still rolls cigars himself. „Yes, sometimes,“ he says and grins. „Not this year, the orders were just too big. I'm getting old.“ We both laugh, and with a heartfelt „Thank you!“ I say goodbye to Abe, impressed by his commitment and unwavering passion for the art of cigar making.

El Vinyet.

By the way: Abe has already made the first batch of El Vinyet himself, he personally bent the filler! This means that he moulded the tobacco leaves of the filler by hand into a careful bundle, which is a crucial step in cigar production. This process ensures that the cigar burns evenly and develops its full flavour. It also shows how much dedication and expertise goes into making the El Vinyet by Abe himself and ensuring the quality of the deposit.

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