The Good Stuff:

Originally released in 2016 as a Drew Estate Lounge exclusive as well as an event only release when Jonathan Drew was present the Year of the Rat has been one of the most elusive Liga Privada blends released to date. Earlier this year Drew Estate announced that they’d be widening their release this year to include Drew Diplomat events, which, well, aren’t happening for obvious reasons so now these cigars are starting to pop-up in extremely limited batches as Drew Diplomat retailers. I was lucky enough to pick some up from our friends at Fox Cigar Bar. The blend, which is closed to the Velvet Rat, No.9 and the UF-13 in that it starts with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper (vs. the Connecticut Sungrown Habana wrapper found on the Dirty Rat and T52) over a Brazilian binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. The Year of the Rat comes in a single 5.5 x 46 format packaged in boxes of 10 running $16 per stick.

• Size: 5.5 x 46
• Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
• Binder: Brazilian
• Filler: Honduran and Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Full
• Price: $16
• Pairing: Jester King Dark Matter (Imperial Stout 10.3% ABV)

Prelight:

First. let’s remove this huge ass foil wrapping. Once that’s gone we can finally take a good look at the cigar. The Liga Privada Year of the Rat starts with a very consistent, almost black, dark-brown wrapper. It almost reminds of of looking at a bar of Hershey’s dark chocolate. The wrapper’s texture is very toothy and gritty with a ton of oils, a few larger veins, and a good amount of natural tobacco webbing in the leaf heading up to the cigar’s round, pigtail style cap. The cigar is then polished off with the elegant Liga Privada style band we have all grown to expect with the words “Year of the Rat” printed across it. Anything below the band is covered in a gold foil with a blue and gold foot band with the year “2020” embossed across the front.

The wrapper on the Liga Privada Year of the Rat gives off a very musky/floral aroma while the foot of the cigar carries the same musk over more natural tobacco scents. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The muskiness carries into the cold draw along with dark chocolate and rich oak.

First Third:

The Liga Privada Year of the Rat starts out with a quick burst of black pepper which faded after the first few puff leaving behind bold oak, musk, and dark chocolate notes over light blackberry, cinnamon and coffee. As I smoke on a nice floral flavor that I picked up in the prelight keeps coming and going. This flavor profile is bangin’. The Year of the Rat kicks out a ton of thick white smoke with each and every puff while the cigar releases a whole mess of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white/light gray ash which held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Year of the Rat and the musk, dark chocolate, and coffee are now leading the charge back by oak, blackberry, and more of the floral flavors I picked up in that first third. The retrohale is very sharp hitting my nasal passage with loads of spice and pepper so I don’t find myself doing it too often. The burn line is still sharp and even while I close out the second third with a minor little nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Year of the Rat the oak and musk have really taken control of the flavor profile backed by black cherry, spice, and coffee. It took me two full hours to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I wished it would never end. I never once had to reach for my torch to touch-up or relight the cigar. There was no harshness, nor extended heat while the cigar did leave me with a decent little Nic-kick.

Overview:

This cigar actually reminded me much more of a No.9 than a rat, and that’s likely why I enjoyed it so much. The flavor profile was spot-on with what I look for in a cigar, the burn and construction were perfect, and the burn was so slow it really allowed me to get more comfortable with the cigar. All in all this is a near-perfect cigar if it wasn’t for the availability which I really hope expands more in the near future as I’d love to keep this in my daily rotation.

Pairing:

I decided to pair this Year of the Rat with Texas’s own Jester King’s Dark Matter. Dark Matter is an imperial Stout brewed in Austin, Texas with Guatemalan Catuai / Caturra coffee from Dark Matter. Coming in at a solid 10.3% ABV Dark Matter leads with a ton of roasted malt, black coffee, dark chocolate, and a hint of spice with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with more coffee and malt. This isn’t a very complex beer, and it didn’t need to be. The coffee and chocolate notes married up perfectly with the notes found in the Year of the Rat resulting in a perfect pairing.

The post Drew Estate Liga Privada Unico Year of the Rat appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Our expansion in the bundle business was a decision we did not take lightly. Bundles aren’t glamorous and the efficiency required to produce them effectively is not easily reached, which is why there aren’t a ton of entrants innovating in the value priced space. This is long overdue for Drew Estate, and when we reached the production scale required to compete we knew we wanted to do what we do, and disrupt the space with an innovative, deep value line of quality smokes for a broad set of thrifty individuals

There are currently four blends available in the Factory Smokes by Drew Estate line to include Factory Smoke Sweets, Factory Smokes Maduro, Factory Smokes Shade, and Factor Smokes Sun Grown. Each blend is available in the same four vitolas: Robusto (5 by 54), Toro (6 by 52), Belicoso (6 by 54), and Churchill (7 by 50). Packaged in bundles of 25, Factory Smokes will run you less than $2 a stick. 

You can purchase the Factory Smoke by Drew Estate from our good friends at Famous Smoke Shop.

THE FACTS

Price: $42.50/Bundle of 25
Vitola: Toro
Size:6 by 52
Wrapper: Maduro
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Indonesian
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 30 Minutes

PRE-LIGHT

The Factory Smokes Maduro is dressed in a rough looking Maduro leaf that is full of bumps, raised veins, and a rough tooth. As I gently press down the dry-feeling cigar, I find the cigar to be somewhat spongy. 

As I bring the wrapper to my nose, there is an aroma is of wet earth, raisins, artificial grape, and wood. A warm cedar smell is found on the foot of the cigar. The (ugly) cap cuts with ease opening up a draw with just the right amount of resistance. Apple cider, cinnamon, and cedar come across on the cold draw with only a faint spice heat in the mouth.

FIRST THIRD

The Factory Smokes Maduro opens with an earthy and gritty profile with an underlying cocoa flavor and mild pepper spice. The cocoa sits on the finish of the smoke. In typical Drew Estate fashion, this cigar is pumping out a copious amount of smoke as the cigar burns along evenly. A brilliant white ash forms that drops short of an inch. 

MIDDLE THIRD

With the second third underway, the profile remains earthy but is now showing a good amount of pepper. The flavors are medium and meatier than before. Slowly moving the smoke through my sinuses, I find the retro-hale surprisingly smooth even though the pepper flavor is dominant. 

FINAL THIRD

A new yeast flavor is pushing forward in the profile that is holding ground with the earth and pepper. There is now a decent amount of spice in the profile warming the palate. In line with the other two thirds, the burn is right on.

WRAP-UP

The Factory Smokes Maduro is certainly not a “glamorous” smoke with its rustic appearance and unrefined profile. But there wasn’t anything not to like about this smoke. Crazy low price, excellent burn and ash, and a profile that hits the spot. I know I will be grabbing a few bundles of these to fill up the humidor to light up while working in the yard, fishing for some Walleye, or camping with some friends.

The post Factory Smokes Maduro by Drew Estate appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Drew Estate’s Pappy Van Winkle Tradition is the second release from the Drew Estate/Pappy partnership and made it’s debut at this year’s IPCPR show in Las Vegas. This extremely limited cigar can only be purchased at Drew Diplomat retailers. The Drew Estate press release carried a hefty amount of information on the cigar:

From Kentucky, Julian Van Winkle President of Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, “I was invited to Cigar Aficionado’s A Night to Remember by Jonathan Drew in 2016 and was presented with a non-banded, wooden box of cigars with white bands on it that just read “Exclusively for my Friend Julian by Willy Herrera Sincerely Jonathan Drew”. I loved this blend because of its balance, shortly thereafter, my family and I visited La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate in Nicaragua and I smoked the same blend most of the trip. By the end, I knew this would be the Pappy Van Winkle Tradition.”

Drew Estate is honored to represent the Van Winkle Family with an ultra-premium cigar that reinforces the legacy for one of America’s true living icons, Julian Van Winkle. The Pappy Van Winkle Tradition features an Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper, Indonesian Binder and aged fillers from Nicaragua and Dominican Republic. From his Wynwood Safehouse, Jonathan Drew President and Founder of Drew Estate notes, “The Pappy Van Winkle Tradition features an ultra-complex combination of extensively aged fillers from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic that are blanketed with a flawless Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper. Availability is limited. I am humbled to extend the Drew and Van Winkle friendship, time tested honor, and craftsmanship to Drew Diplomat Humidors across the United States.”

The Drew Estate Pappy Van Winkle Tradition will be offered in seven different sizes: Coronita (4 x 46), Robusto Grande (5.5 x 54), Toro (6 x 50), Belicoso Fino (5 x 50), Churchill (7 x 48), Lonsdale (6.5 x 44), and Corona (5.5 x 44). All except the Lonsdale and Corona come packaged in boxes of 10 running between $14.60 and $25 a stick. The Churchill can only be purchased at Drew Diplomat Spirits Retailers. Both the Lonsdale and Corona are not of sale. The Lonsdale  can only be obtained at Drew Diplomat Reward Events in October, November, and December 2017. The Corona can only be obtained personally from Jonathan Drew or Julian Van Winkle. Fox Cigar Bar, a Drew Diplomat retailer, was kind enough to send a few of these our way for review. In case you haven’t heard they recently launched a complete cigar shopping experience on their site! You can check them out and place your orders here. Tell them we sent ya! They should have these in stock as soon as they are released.

Size: 6 x 50
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Nicaraguan / Dominican Republic
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $24
Pairing: Goose Island Bourbon County Regal Rye 2015 (Imperial Stout 13.2% ABV)

Prelight:

The Drew Estate Pappy Van Winkle Tradition starts with a gorgeous looking medium/dark brown wrapper. The color is consistent for the most part with small splotches of darker brown scattered throughout the wrapper’s natural webbing in the tobacco leaf. The texture on the wrapper is decently toothy with a bit of grit and a whole mess of oils. The cigar actually leaves a little residue behind as I hold it to examine it. The body of the cigar carries some very mild veins as the wrapper leaf is laid seamlessly over itself leading up to the cigars round, double-wrapped cap. The wrapper feels a bit thing and delicate so I didn’t play with the cigar too much, but it feels firm for the most part with no real signs of soft spots. The cigar is polished off with a red, gold, and white band featuring Pappy Van Winkle’s iconic crest in the front, as well as a secondary band with the word “Tradition” across the front of it.

The wrapper on Drew Estate’s Pappy Van Winkle Tradition gives off some pungent musk, oak, and sweetness while the foot of the cigar carries a bit of dirt, spice, and natural tobacco aromas. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some soft spice and pepper over honey, grain, and natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Drew Estate Pappy Van Winkle Tradition starts out with a very natural-forward flavor profile full of honey, spice, oak, earthiness, some soft black pepper, and just a hint of cherry. I am really digging the starting profile of this bad boy. The draw is absolutely perfect as each tiny puff kicks out a huge cloud of thick, white smoke while the cigar pours out stationary smoke like a chimney as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin, and dead even leaving behind a very tightly compacted trail of white, and light gray ash which held on just over an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Drew Estate Pappy Bank Winkle and the flavors have remained consistent for the most part. The spice, honey, and oak lead the charged backed by earthiness, cherry, and even slight hints of pine. The beer I decided to pair with really helps bring out the sweetness and oak. The retrohale is phenomenal as it coats my nasal passage with straight up honey and oak and I find myself doing it more often than any cigar in my recent memory. The burn line is rock solid as I close out the second third with nothing in terms of a nicotine kick.

Finish:

In the final third of the Drew Estate Pappy Van Winkle Tradition the cigar really takes off. It’s strange saying that as the cigar has been stellar up until this point, but this is the sweet-sport of an already glowing cigar. The cigar has now reach the Medium/Full bodied point and the flavors really start to surround the oak. Oak forward backed by honey, pine, cherry, sweetness, musk, earthiness and natural tobacco. It took me 2 hours to smoke this cigar down to the very tip of the nub. My hands were burning, while my heart was burning for more. I experience no harshness, no extra heat, and only the slightest of a nicotine kick.

Overview:

Its no secret that I have been a longtime fan of Willy Herrera’s blends, and in all honesty I think the Pappy Van Winkle Tradition is right up towards the top of my favorite cigars that he has made. The flavors are solid, meticulous, complex, and so well balanced without hitting you in the face. That’s something I have always been able to appreciate with his blends and why he fits right in and Drew Estate. The Pappy Van Winkle is an exclusive, limited, and expensive cigar which fits right in with the Pappy branding. In all honesty, I think this cigar is worth the coin. I dropped so much money on the La Palina Goldies and I can easily see myself buying a box of the Traditions as well. If you find them, buy them. They won’t be around for very long. Again, hit Fox Cigar bar for yours. They should be releasing soon.

Pairing:

By now I think that we are all aware of the incredible Bourbon County Brand Stout produced annually, released on Black Friday by Goose Island Brewing in Chicago, Illinois. The Regal Rye variant is the same Imperial Stout, coming in at 13.2% ABV aged in Rye Barrels with Blackberries, Candied Cherries, and Sea Salt Added. The result is a boozy, sweet, sticky, tart, flavor profile with lots of berry, malt, bourbon, oak, and chocolate with an extremely heavy mouthfeel before finishing with more sweetness, tart berry, malt, vanilla, and chocolate. As the beer warms more and more of the berry and booze sneak out. This beer is fantastic and easily one of my favorite variants yet. The beer really helped bring out the cherry, oak, and sweetness in the cigar without overpowering it.

Giveaway:

Anyone who has been following our blog for sometime now knows that we have a very strong relationship with Fox Cigar bar in Arizona. Fox Cigar has two locations, one in Gilbert, and the other in Scottsdale. While Jeremy and I make sure to stop in and stock up on cigars whenever we are in town, Fox recently launched a full-on mail order cigar and accessory site. To celebrate, we teamed up with Fox to bring you one hell of a contest! Big thanks goes out to them for sending all these goods our way, to give to you. Up for grabs is:

Drew Estate Ashtray
Liga Privada No. 9 fitted Hat
Liga Privada No. 9 Cutter
Liga Privada L40 Lancero – review here
Liga Privada Dirty Rat – review here
Liga Privada Velvet Rat – review here
My Father Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial The Fox – review here

The giveaway will run between now, and Monday, August 21st when the winner will be announced. It’s a quick one so get on it ASAP! You can enter using the widget below. Must be 21 and over, and located in the US only. Good luck!

The post Drew Estate Pappy Van Winkle Tradition + RARE LIGA PRIVADA GIVEAWAY appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The All Out Kings is a collaboration by two of the biggest names in the cigar business, Caldwell and Drew Estate. Making it’s debut at this year’s IPCPR show in Vegas, the All Out Kings has been pushed back quite a few times before finally hitting retail shops this week. This highly anticipated effort is created by the hands of master blendernWilly Herrera from Drew Estate and Robert Caldwell the owner of Caldwell Cigar Company at the La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate factory in Esteli, Nicaragua while the distribution is handled by Caldwell Cigar Company. The blend features a Connecticut Habano Stalk Cut wrapper similar to what we find on Drew Estate’s famous Liga Privada T52 blend with a Indonesian Sumatran binder and Nicaraguan viso from Jalapa and Esteli, Dominican Republic Corojo 97 Seco, and Connecticut Broadleaf Ligero fillers. The blend comes in 4 sizes: Smash (5 x 52), Give me your Lunch Money ( 5 3/4 x 46), Foreverlast (6 1/2 x 54), and the 4th Pose (5 x 54). The cigars come packaged in boxes of 20 and run between $12.80 and $16.80 a cigar. I picked up a handful of these over at Smoke Inn.

Size: 5 3/4 x 46
Wrapper: Stalk Cut Connecticut Habano
Binder: Indonesian Sumatran
Filler: Nicaraguan/Dominican/Connecticut Broadleaf
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $12.80
Pairing: Great Divide Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti (Imperial Stout 9.5% ABV)

Prelight:

The wrapper on the All out Kings looks identical to that of the T52. The dominant colors are that of scattered dark brown, and orange with lots of lighter brown splotches. The texture of the wrapper is extremely toothy and feels like oily sandpaper as I handle the cigar. The wrapper feels extremely thick, hard, and dense while the cigar is packed pretty tightly. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself while the cigar showcases a few larger veins throughout it’s slender body which leads up to a round, double-wrapper cap. The cigar is polished off with similar artwork found on many of the Caldwell releases with a few different hands holding a crown. I can only assume this symbolizes the connection between Drew Estate and Caldwell Cigars.

The wrapper gives off a very tart, musky, spicy aroma while the foot of the cigar is much more spicy with some pepper, leather, and cocoa aromas. The cap cut clean and easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw resembles the pre-light aromas with a very peppery, musky mixture of flavors. The cigar lit up with ease using my Dupont single flame torch.

First Third:

The All Out Kings starts out with a nice cayenne pepper bunch which quickly dissipates leaving me with a whole ton of dark chocolate, cherry, oak, spice, musk, and leather. The draw is absolutely perfect. Each tiny puff kicks out a massive cloud of very thick, white smoke which hangs around for a good amount of time before fading away while the cigar pours out stationary smoke as the oils burn off the wrapper while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is dead even, and razor thin leaving behind a perfectly compacted trail of white ash which held on for an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

The further I get into the All Out Kings the more pronounced that dark chocolate flavor gets. It’s not due to the pairing either as I picked the same thing up while smoking the cigar with water on separate occasions. The beer does help zero in out it though. The backing flavors are still very heavy on the musk and spice with a nice sweetness, a little tart, oak, and cherry. The retrohale brings out a ton of sharp pepper and I don’t find myself doing it too often. I close out the second third with a small nicotine kick, and a ton of enjoyment.

Finish:

In the final third of the All Out Kings this really interesting flavor came out that I can only really describe as a musky cologne. It’s subtle, yet marries up wonderfully with the bold dark chocolate, musk, spice, sweetness, leather, cherry, and tartness that the cigar has to offer. It took me about an hour and forty five minutes to take this cigar down to the nub and I enjoyed every second of it. I closed out with absolutely no harshness, no extended heat, and a pretty decent nicotine kick. The burn was flawless. I never once had to reach for my torch to touch up or relight the cigar.

Overview:

I have liked pretty much everything Willy has had a hand in blending. I’m a huge fan of Drew Estate, and a huge fan of Caldwell cigars. In the past, I’ve seen so many promising collaborations fall apart, but in the case of the All Out Kings these brands absolutely murdered it. The cigar is complex, the flavors absolutely line up with my desired profile, its very full and bold, yet balanced and the strength of the cigar never overpowers the flavors while the burning experience was flawless. Outside of the steep price, I can’t think about anything I don’t like about this cigar. And while we are on price, I really don’t even mind that. When it comes to Caldwell’s use of rare, and vintage tobaccos I’ve grown to expect those prices, and rarely do the cigars not deliver. So this is box-worthy in my opinion for sure and will easily become a staple of my regular rotation.

Pairing:

Great Divide Brewing Company out of Denver, Colorado makes some phenomenal beers, and amongst my favorite is the Yeti series of Imperial Stouts. The Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti is just that, a 9.5% ABV Chocolate Oak Aged variant of the beer. The Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti starts with a great roastiness, malt, cocoa, vanilla, and barley with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing sweet with more cocoa and roasted malt, a nice splash of pepper and spice, nutmeg, and oak with a neat little cinnamon aftertaste. As it warms the cocoa really takes over the flavor profile. With so many similar flavors it was easy to see why I chose this beer to pair with the All Out Kings. I think this cigar can easily hold it’s own with some off the biggest, powerful beers. I’d love to pair it with some Prairie Bomb!, A Xocoveza, or even a nice, bold, Tawny Port.

The post Caldwell / Drew Estate All Out Kings appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: This is only the second Velvet Rat that I have had the pleasure of smoking. I wish I had more, but the extremely limited pre-release of the cigar went so quickly that most of us were left in the dark. Even Liga-Whores like myself. The Pre-Release I speak of went down last October over at Tesa Cigar Shop in Chicago. Drew Estate released only 40 bundles containing 10 Velvet Rats into the wild. Since then, they have been in hiding. I picked this one up while I was in Nicaragua last month taking a Cigar Safari trip. I spoke with John Brooke over at Drew Estate and they do still plan on releasing this cigar depending on production availability at the factory. Let’s just hope they manage to free some room, and hands up to create more of these beauties.

The Velvet Rat is basically a bigger, milder version of the Dirty Ray. It was created to mimic the Dirty Rat and No. 9 profile while staying smoother, and milder. When I look at the blend make-up, it seems like a No.9 and Dirty Rat mash up making it a blend in it’s own category. We’ll see how the experience adds up.

Size: 6.25 x 46
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Brazilian Mata Fina
Filler: Honduran/Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $14
Pairing: N’Ice Chouffe (Belgian Strong Ale 10% ABV)

Prelight: Gotta love the wrapper on the Velvet Rat. It looks almost identical to some of the more recent Liga Privada No. 9’s that I have in stock. VERY dark brown and black in most areas with a orangish tint in the lighter areas. The wrapper is very toothy and showcases only a few, seamless veins. The Velvet Rat, much like most other Liga Privada lines carries an insane amount of oils on the wrapper. The cigar feels very firm, and the wrapper is dense, and hard as a rock. The long body leads up to a round cap with the lovely rat tail we have all grown to love.

The wrapper gives off lots of spice and an insane amount of mocha while the foot of the cigar lets looks tons of spice and cedar. The cap sliced like butter under my double  bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw produces are very chocolaty, very spicy flavor. There is a lot of spice going on there but I pick up lots of nutmeg and cinnamon.

First Smoke: I’m used to the standard Liga Privada Pepper introduction but was caught off guard with the Velvet Rat as the black pepper greeting was very mild. While the pepper was mild, the body was not starting out with lots of chocolate, espresso, spice, and cedar right off the bat. Each puff is a little flavor bomb. The draw is spot-on as every little puff I take fills my mouth with insane amounts of very thick, white smoke. Much like other cigars in the Liga Privada line the Velvet Rat releases a ton of stationary smoke as the oils burn off the wrapper as the cigar lays in my ashtray. The burnline is dead-even and razor sharp as I close in on the first third of the cigar. The ash left behind is a bright white and tightly compacted holding on for about an inch before falling.

Halfway There: The flavors began to settle down in the second third of the Velvet Rat. The flavor profile is now a rich, dark chocolate, bits of espresso, soft spice, and a very musky flavor. While the flavors took a step back, the experience is still pretty full while the strength department is still rather mild. Gotta love when a cigar is able to produce that much flavor without pouring on the strength. The retrohale does however have a bite to eat coating my nasal passage with a strong spice and light cedar. The burnline is still perfect and burning dead even.

Finish: The flavors in the Velvet Rat have been continuing to smooth out and blend in with one another. The cigar started out packed with flavor, and finished incredibly smooth and creamy. The main flavor now is just tons of chocolate backed by soft spice, and cedar with a bit of sweetness. The cigar only took a little over an hour to take down to the nub which was a bit unexpected. I didn’t encounter any nicotine at all which is another departure from what we expect from cigars in the Liga Privada line and the burnline was dead even and needed absolutely no attention from my lighter the entire experience.

Overview: As I stated before, the Velvet Rat seemed to be a different blend all on it’s own and I stand by that. While the format is similar to a larger Dirty Rat, the experience is far different. The Dirty Rat is very strong, very complex, and very sweet. While the complexity is still there the Velvet Rat is much smoother, creamier, and milder. If anything, the blend reminded me more of the No. 9 than the Dirty Rat. Either way, it’s a winner. I’m not just saying that cause I dig the Liga Privada lines, it’s a great cigar. Would I rate I higher than the No. 9 or Dirty Rat? Not in a long shot. I do however think that cigar smokers who tend to stay away from the Liga Privada lines due to strength finally have a cigar that will fit their needs and fill a void in the Liga Privada portfolio.

To Sum it Up: The Velvet Rat is a great, complex, medium/full strength cigar. I think it appeals strongly to both seasoned, and novice cigar smokers. While the price point is pretty steep, it’s in line with the rest of the Liga Privada line and with that, you get exactly what you pay for. I personally think this is a box worthy purchase (should it get released) and I can say it will definitely find it’s way into my regular rotation.

Pairing: I have had this beer awaiting it’s time in my beer cabinet. Since it’s summer in the desert it’s pretty hard to create a craving for a deep, dark beer. I’ve been waiting for an overcast/stormy day like today to bring this baby out of the shadows. N’Ice Chouffe is Chouffe’s winter seasonal released every year around Christmas time. It’s a Belgian Strong ale brewed at the Brasserie d’Achouffe in Belgium. This Thyme and Curacao Peel infused ale comes in at a whopping 10% ABV and is sure to leave you feeling happy. N’Ice Chouffe starts off smooth with some nice fruity, caramel apple flavors with a nice spice while it finishes complex with a perfect bitterness. The sweetness and fruit made a nice compliment to the chocolate and spice in the Velvet Rat while the bitterness added a bit more complexity to an already complex experience.

The post Drew Estate – Liga Privada Unico Serie Velvet Rat appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Without further adieu, let’s get right into it shall we?

Day 3

After a very restful evening (the staff gave us all extra pillows cause we are special) and a wonderful breakfast (seriously, you will gain about 20 lbs. on this trip) we were back at it. This time, we were spending the day with the Drew Estate team touring their facilities and learning their processes.

We started out by visiting one of Drew Estate’s tobacco bodegas. One of many. In fact, Saka actually told us they have about 7 spread out through Esteli. He also went on to explain that land in Esteli is getting more expensive and harder to come by. They would love to consolidate and expand, but it’s tough due to cost and location. Drew Estate is about to take their bodegas from 7 down to about 2. I’ll touch more on that later though.

The bodega was a simple, crude building filled with millions of dollars in tobacco. Not joking, millions. As I talked about in the previous post, tobacco is stored here in pilons for a number of years while the tobacco ferments. As the tobacco generates heat it is then broken down and rotated. This process happens over and over and over until the tobacco reaches a storing point where it is no longer fermenting and can go on to be used in cigars or stored for future use. Here is an example of the detail in the process. The following picture illustrates a number of pilons, their daily temperature reads, and when the pilon had been rotated.

We headed to a facility next door where there was a number of women sorting tobacco leaves which was ready to go on to other processes. One note is that you see mostly women doing the sorting as well as the rolling while men handle the bunching. This is due to the idea that women tend to have a gentler, more matriculate composure making it easier for them to be more accurate. Again, tobacco here was sorted by type, weight, size and texture.

After that we were brought to the newest addition to the Drew Estate family. Basically it’s a massive, MASSIVE, project under development. Once done (later this year) the facility located directly across from the Drew Estate factory will house 6 out of 7 of the previous tobacco bodegas. Big right? My first thought was “Yay more room! That means, more production!”. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Saka went on to explain that even with the addition of this facility, since they would be combining bodegas, it really wasn’t going to be adding more room or space for production. In fact, Saka went on to tell us that they are pretty much maxed out as far as production and storage goes at the moment. That’s great for the company. Basically every single brand that they have right now is growing in profit each year. Even brands as small as Ambrosia are turning profit. Keep it up guys.

After a quick stop at the new facility we headed to the Drew Estate factory. This factory too has changed quite a bit since the last time we visited. An outdoor cafeteria area that I remember walking through last year now houses a rolling room where eager rollers master their craft before hitting the production floor. The cafeteria has since been moved to the new facility across the street.

We didn’t spend too much time at the factory as the guys knew we had all already seen it so we took a quick tour and went straight into blending. We hit the factory floor to observe bunching and rolling, then took a stroll through their tobacco storage and sorting operations. It’s worth mentioning that even now Drew Estate houses the largest production floor that I have ever been on. Not only that, but the employees are encouraged to enjoy a smoke, rock out to music, laugh and talk. You don’t see that too often.

Before stopping at the blending room we took a quick stop at the new rolling room and tried our hands at the process. Needless to say, mine were terrible. These chubby, stubby fingers just do not understand how to roll a cigar. It was fun though and I think the rollers had a good time laughing at our expense. We also got a quick lesson on the difference between standard bunching/rolling and the entubado technique (rolling each leaf into small tubes while bunching) which Willy is famous for.

The blending session was great. Drew Estate hooked it up with new, awesomely designed tobacco menus which give detailed descriptions of each of the tobaccos we could use. The room also contains huge bins with each different leaf sorted so that you can smell, burn, and some each different leaf before you make your decisions.

From there, it was a quick stop over to see Jessie Flores the Heart and soul of Subculture Studios and pretty much all of Drew Estate’s look and feel. This man and his team are responsible for the marketing, merchandise, and design that you see coming out of the factory. Jessie showed us boxes they were screen printing (that’s right! They screen print some of their own boxes), shirts they were pressing, stickers and magnets they were creating. It’s basically and artist’s dream workshop. A lot of the Subculture Studio was actually blocked off as they were working on this year’s booth set up for IPCPR and if you have ever seen one of their booth’s you will know just how crazy those get.

 That evening we spent some time together in the lounge with Steve Saka, Jonathan Drew, and Jose Blanco. It’s always a bit sad to know that you are going home the next day and that it will be a long while before you see everyone again. We shared stories and heard many more before receiving out personal blends and saying our goodbyes. We headed out early the next morning.

If you have not ever been on a Cigar Safari tour I cannot stress how amazing it is. The culture, the land, the views, and the knowledge you take in is incredible. Drew Estate and Joya de Nicaragua are generous hosts and my deepest thanks goes out to them and their crew for inviting us to come along on yet another adventure.

Dates for the 2014 Cigar Safari Tours will be released soon. You can keep up with the tour as well as book your own here: www.cigarsafari.com

Again, the following gallery may be a bit cumbersome. You can view the entire photo set over at our facebook by clicking this link (no need for an account).

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The post Drew Estate Cigar Safari 2013 – Day 3 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

I am going to do something slightly different this time around. Instead of splitting it up between 3 separate posts I am going to try to generalize the trip and pack it all into two different posts, combining a few of the days. I hope you guys are ready to read!

This trip included:

Me
Dan Reeve from Cigar Press
Jay L. from Cigar Photo
Ben Lee from Stogie Review
Brian Hewitt from Stogie Review
Stace Berkland from Leaf and Grape
William Cooper from Cigar Coop
Craig Vanderslice from Cigar Craig
Stephen Ross from Tobacconist Magazine
And Johnny Brooke’s little brother, the Vet.

Day 1:

The first day was travel day. Since I was flying in a bit further than the other guys I had stayed in Houston the night prior. I met up with Ben Lee at the airport. We shared a romantic breakfast before our 4 hour flight to Managua. We were scheduled to get in before the rest of the guys flying in from Miami, but we were delayed and they were all already there along with Pedro, our Drew Estate tour guide, waiting. Within minutes from landing in Nicaragua we were packed into the bus, handed Liga Privadas and on our way!

We had lunch at this incredible outdoor restaurant. Steak, potatoes, plantains, veggies, salad, and lots of Tona (Nicaraguan beer). We were met there by Jose Blanco of Joya de Nicaragua, Dr. Alejando Cuenca from Joya de Nicaragua, Steve Saka from Drew Estate, Willy Herrera from Drew Estate, Johnny Brooke from Drew Estate, and Jessie Flores from Subculture studios. The food was excellent and the conversation and company were even better. After a long lunch we were off to Esteli.

Esteli is about 2 – 2.5 hours north of Managua. The bus ride is interesting as it gives you plenty of time to take in the sights, sounds, and smells of Nicaragua. Rain season is just around the corner so many of the roads had small fires going just off to the side of them. Most of these fires were created to burn trash and debris before the moisture moved in. The Nicaraguan roads were also covered in kids playing soccer, locals selling fruits, and tons of stray cattle and dogs.

Upon our arrival to the Drew Estate factory we were sent off to settle into our rooms ( I shared mine with Jay ) before eating a nice, hearty dinner and a relaxing evening at the Drew Estate poolside lounge. Steve Saka, Jose Blanco, and Pedro joined us. We also had the pleasure of participating in a rum tasting showcasing each different blend of the Nicaragua created “Flor de Cana” rum. I’m not much of a rum guy but I really enjoyed getting to try each blend. The 12 year had to be my favorite. After a nice relaxing evening we all went to bed early as we knew how big of a day we had a head of us tomorrow.

The following photo gallery may be a bit cumbersome. You can view the entire set over on our facebook (I don’t think you need an account to see them). 

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Day 2:

Anyone who has been on this trips knows how important it is to get a good night rest, which I still feel bad for. Seems like I kept Jay up with my snoring the night prior, but we all woke early and after having a nice breakfast, headed out to Oliva Tobacco Company’s farm, “Finca la Joya” or The Jewel Farm. Last year we didn’t get to see much of the farms so we were all pretty excited. Oliva Tobacco Company is not to be confused with Oliva Family Cigars. Oliva Tobacco Company is actually one of the largest tobacco growers in the world alongside ASP and the Plasencia Family.

We spent the first leg of the tour checking out their curing barns. Basically when tobacco is pulled from the plant it gets transported to these huge barns where they are then sorted by texture and size before being hung in twos across large rods. Workers then take these rods and hang them from the ceiling down to about 3 – 4 feet from the ground (Note: They will never touch the ground during this process). The tobacco stays in these barns for a number days while the tobacco begins to cure and dry out. We actually got to see a barn that contained tobacco that was above the humidity desired for the curing process. In this barn there was small pits dug into the floor which contained large amounts of burning charcoal which is used to draw the humidity out of the leaves.

After the curing process the tobacco is packed up and sold off to various companies or stored to carry forth through other various processes. One interesting fact I picked up while we were at the field was that during the tobacco off-season the farm actually plants red beans in place of the tobacco. These plants release nutrients into the soil which then carry over to the next batch of tobacco the following season.

From the farm we headed to Oliva Tobacco Company’s sorting and fermenting facility. This place is HUGE. After months (and sometimes years) of storage, tobacco is taken here where it is fermented, sorted, and then sold off or stored.

Once the tobacco comes in the door it is sorted yet again by size, type, and texture. They are then bunched into “hands” of tobacco (containing around 10 leaves) and then stacked into massive stacks called “pilons”. Pilons are about 3 feet wide and about 4 feet tall weighing around 5000 lbs. each. Inside the pilons the tobacco with start to generate heat causing the tobacco to ferment. The fermentation process is a tedious one. The pilons are monitored for temperature daily and once the tobacco reaches a certain temperature (different depending on tobacco type and desired outcome) the pilon is then broken down and resorted, and rebuilt disbursing the heat to other leaves in the stack. This process happens many, many times.  It’s insane how hot the tobacco gets while it’s fermenting. In some cases well over 100 degrees. This process is actually known to spontaneously combust creating large fires if it isn’t handled properly.

Once the tobacco is ready it’s then sorted yet again, packaged up, and ready to sell or store before being rolled into the cigars that we all love. After a break for lunch we headed back out on the town. This time, visiting our friend over at the Joya de Nicaragua factory. You may remember this visit from last trip, but the factory was so different this time around. Joya de Nicaragua is in the midst of a huge change and it was insane seeing just how much they had changes over the last year.

First of all, if you look at the photos from last year you can see that the front of the factory was a bright yellow. This year we were greeted with a beautiful red brick. During a presentation at the factory we learned that the yellow paint was actually carefully chiseled off to showcase the original brick underneath. Not only was it pretty, but it held significance as well. Once you get closer to the brick you can actually see that much of it showcases burn marks and bullet holes. During Nicaraguan revolution Joya de Nicaragua was actually burned down as it was in the center of all the commotion. Since then the factory was completely rebuilt from the inside out.

Letting the true colors show is only one step to the regeneration process. The company recently picked up the master blender Jose Blanco and Joya de Nicaragua has also changed hands and is now in the hands of Dr. Cuenca’s son, Juan Martinez. Juan’s professionalism and young blood is being strung through the factory, the marketing, and pretty much every factor of the company. We got to spend some time with Juan and his marketing team and I can personally say that I love the direction this company is heading. Keep your eye on them.

The Joya de Nicaragua factory tour was conducted once again by Jose Bland and Mario Perez, the head of production at the factory. As stated earlier, the tour started out with a presentation by the staff that demonstrated Joya de Nicaragua’s roots and where the company is headed. We also got to take a sneak peek at a room we didn’t see on our last tour. This room was filled with every blend, exclusive, and historical release that Joya de Nicaragua has gotten then hands on including a box of Joya de Nicaragua from 1970.

We then took a look at the production floor. Why the floor looked similar to the way it did last trip, with the exception of new paint and touch-ups as well as a raised roof with lots of new natural light being brought into the building. After the production floor we quickly toured the sorting facility which is combined with their packaging department.

After the tour we were brought to an outside facility for one of Jose Blanco’s world famous blending seminars. Jose had us smoke multiple “puro” cigars (cigars made with only 1 tobacco type) while sharing out thoughts on the blend, burn, body, strength, and even guessing the ago, tobacco type, and country of origin. Needless to say, I bombed that. No matter how much we think we know about cigars, it’s always humbling to be part of these seminars. We finished the Joya de Nicaragua factory tour off with a “Nicaraguan shot” which was basically a shot of Nicaraguan rum chased with mango dipped into spicy chili and salt. The rum was good, but I went a bit crazy with the salt. It’s all I could taste for a few hours.

We headed back for dinner at the Drew Estate Factory and was greeted by the presence of Jonathan Drew. We were also surprised with a full pork roast (apple in the mouth and everything) and live Mariachi’s. We had a few drinks by the pool before calling it a night. We had another early morning ahead of us.

The following photo gallery may be a bit cumbersome. You can view the entire set over on our facebook (I don’t think you need an account to see them). 

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The post Drew Estate Cigar Safari 2013 – Days 1 – 2 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: The UF-13 dark is the ninth installment to the Unicos series following the Dirty Rat, Ratzilla, “A”, UF-4, L40, Feral Pig, Papas Fritas and the Velvet Rat. The UF-13 has been floating around the cigar community for a long while now pending it’s final March release. I got the chance to smoke a few while I was at the Drew Estate Factory in Nicaragua last year and could not wait for the release. The main difference is the unique pig tail that sits on top of the UF-13 Dark was not present in any of the samples I smoked, or saw on the internet. Since this tail is so unique Drew Estate did not want any photos shown until the final release to ensure no one would mimic the cap.

Here is what Steve Saka, Drew Estate’s President had to say about the blend:

“T52-4 was the final head to head blend that was competing internally with T52-3 to become the T52 final blend.

T52-4 was exceptional, in fact JD and I both liked it a slight bit better, but we were concerned that it tended to overpower some of the nuances in the liga and that we were sacrificing flavors for strength, so we ultimately decided that the T52-3 would be the final T52 blend.

JD for his own smoking pleasure kept having T52-4s made, but we banded them as JD4 so as to not cause confusion in the factory or with those he shared them with.

After he started handing them out, he decided that he didn’t like putting his personal name on the product, so we started ringing them with MF-4 – it stood for what you think it does.

In the factory we kept tinkering with the T52-4/JD4/MF-4 blend to try to improve it (in our opinion) – goal was to keep the octane, but restore the depth of flavors… so we made a variety of minor liga tweaks and vitola changes to try and get it “perfect”.

The result was the MF-13 – a robusto format. I think the MF-13 is better, not sure where JD stands on this – truth is the difference is so very minor between the two cigars I doubt most folks could even tell there was any difference unless they smoked them side by side… and maybe not even then, but we can tell… or so we tell ourselves.

We started sharing both MF-4s and MF-13s at events and out of our pockets and they started to get some buzz online.

JD came to me one day with a My Father cigar and pointed out that Pepin’s rings have an MF in the center of them. How both of us missed this is kinda crazy since we both smoke a lot of their cigars, but we did. So we decided to change the name to UF out of respect – we take pride in not knowingly copying others, so we rebanded all the MFs as UFs on our own accord.

UF stands for “Unico Fuerte.” So MF-4 = UF-4 and MF-13 = UF-13.

Netiher blend is really in testing per se, both are finalized blends. It just that neither is being produced for retail at this point.”

Hopefully that clears up some confusion. You can actually check out my review of the JD4 here and the MF-13 here. Mind you, the MF-13 blend I smoked actually has a different wrapper on it. The UF-13 Dark carries a slightly tweaked  wrapper containing “high broadleaf mediums”, Hence the name UF-13 Dark.

The UF-13 Dark is composed of a Connecticut Broadleaf (dark mediums) wrapper, Brazillian Mata Fina binder, and Cuban Seed Nicaraguan and Honduran filler. The UF-13 will come packaged in boxes of 12 running $167.40, or $13.95 a stick. These cigars are not limited outside of being released only to Liga Privada authorized retailers. Drew Estate was kind enough to shoot a few samples over to us for review.

Size: 5.5 x 52
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf (dark mediums)
Binder: Brazillian Mata Fina
Filler: Cuban seed Nicaraguan / Honduran
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $13.95
Pairing: New Belgiun Lips of Faith La Folie (7% ABV Sour Brown Ale)

Prelight: The UF-13 Dark starts out just as it’s name suggests, with an extremely dark wrapper. The wrapper is a crazy dark brown, almost black. In fact, it’s pretty much black in some areas surrounding the webbing of the tobacco. The wrapper feels very, very solid as the toothy texture gets pressed between my fingers. The wrapper gives off a nice shine from the subtle oils covering the cigar. The thick body leads up to a round, “Pig Tail” cap. Essentially it’s a triple twisted pig tail similar to the one of the Dirty Rat, only it’s coiled a few times at the foot of the tail before flaring out.

The UF-13 feels really solid. As mentioned above, the wrapper is very thick and dense,  but the cigar itself feels jam-packed with tobacco and almost rock-hard. Let’s hope that doesn’t plug up the draw any. Along with the hardness of the cigar, the stick is also heavy as hell. I could probably use this cigar to prop up a car while I change the oil. The wrapper on the UF-13 Dark lets loose a very strong, sweet, cedar and spice aroma while the foot of the cigar releases some very strong tobacco and pepper aromas. The cold draw was a bit firm, but it kicked out some really nice cedar, strong tobacco, prune and lots of sweetness.

First Smoke: My fear of receiving a plugged cigar immediate diminished as every puff from the start pumped out mouthful, after mouthful of extremely thick smoke. I was expecting a lot more of a pepper greeting from the UF-13 dark, instead it started out with only a slight bit of pepper, but a ton of strong, sweet tobacco, cedar, black cherry, and musk. Right off the bat this cigar is full in flavor and strength. The burnline on the UF-13 is razor sharp and perfectly even. The ash left behind is bright white and very thick and compacted. In Fact, after an inch and a half I decided to finally ash the cigar before it fell into my lap and it took some extra pressure from my ashtray before it finally snapped off.

Halfway There: A word of advice, beware of the retrohale on this cigar. I took a few deep puffs and it left with coughing. The retrohale was very, very, very sharp coating with strong black pepper, sweet cedar, and lots of very strong tobacco. The flavors are still very full with little change ups. Still lots of strong, sweet tobacco, cedar, cherry, and musk with a bit of earthiness starting to creep in. The burnline is still razor sharp and it’s crazy how there is this secondary burnline where you can actually see the oils burning off creating a whole mess of stationary smoke. I don’t know exactly what it is about most Liga Privada blends but the oils are insane as well as the stationary smoke. I am feeling a nice little nicotine kick as I close in on the end of the second third.

Finish: As I venture into the final third of the UF-13 Dark a mysterious creaminess has moved in. Usually with cigars of this strength and body, you encounter a ramp up in both areas. Not in this case. The flavors are still the same with a ramp up in sweetness and lots of cedar with cherry and tobacco undertones, but the have muted a bit making for an incredibly smooth finish. This is probably a good thing cause this cigar is really starting to kick my ass in the nicotine category. All in all it took me almost 2 hours to take this cigar down and it required absolutely no touch ups or relights the entire time.  Perfect burn.

Overview: I am happy to announce that the buzz about the UF-13 dark is all true. The cigar is another masterpiece to be added to an already wonderful portfolio in Drew Estate’s Liga Privada line. The cigar has everything you want, tons of flavor, lots of strength, superior construction, perfect burn, and a decent price tag. Some may say $13+ for a cigar is pricey, but I know from experience that any fan of the Liga Privada line is willing to pay the cost for these cigars, and in this case it is well worth the coin. In comparison to the previously mentioned MF-13, the UF-13 dark’s wrapper has seemed to really bring some deeper sweetness that the MF-13 was lacking which really spoke volumes to my profile. I crave that sweetness and the UF-13 has plenty of it. These are selling out all across the US, but Drew Estate is working frantically to keep them on the shelves. If you see them, pick them up and get as many of them as you can. This is a box worthy purchase for sure.

Pairing: There are certain pairings that look awful on paper, but pair up perfectly once they come together and the UF-13 Dark and New Belgium’s La Folie 2013 is one of those pairings. When you think of the deep, woodsy, sweet flavors of the UF-13 you normally wouldn’t reach for a sour ale, but not doing so is a mistake. New Belgium’s Lips of Faith Series La Folie is a Strong Brown Ale brewed at the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado coming in at 7% ABV. La Folie is an annual release which has been released every year since 2004. I have had the pleasure of enjoying the 2008, 2009, 2010, 11, 12, and now the 13^th. As the name describes, this is a Sour Brown Ale. For those of you who haven’t had the chance to enjoy a sour ale, it’s basically a very tart, yet sweet brew. Especially in the case of the sour browns. The La Folie leads off with lots of tart citrus, sharp zest, and sweet spices. While it’s the exact opposite of the flavors featured in the UF-13 the flavor profile pairs up perfectly without overpowering the cigar. Heck, I don’t think there are much out there that could. The UF-13 Dark would go great with a Belgian Strong Brown Ale, Bruin, or and Indian Brown Ale.

The post Drew Estate – Liga Privada Unicos UF-13 Dark Cigar Review appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: The Herrera Esteli is created by the infamous Willy Herrera. This man was the force behind El Titan de Bronze until joining forces with the Drew Estate team recently. Here is what Steve Saka had to say about Willy and the blend:

Herrera Esteli is the brainchild of Willy Herrera, newest member of the Drew Estate team. Willy’s presence at Drew Estate is notable, as he brings an authentic Cuban influence to the team. Herrera Esteli is a medium plus blend with an exceptional amount of creaminess and great balance of spice and sweet. Herrera Esteli will be available in select retailers in 25ct Slide Lid Boxes. The brand will feature five sizes, including the Short Corona Gorda, Robusta Extra, Lonsdale Deluxe, Toro Especial, and Piramide Fino.

Saka speaks about Willy coming on board at Drew Estate:

“Unlike most companies, we have decided to take the slow and low approach to his joining our team. Basically, we stuck him in Nica for over a year at a bench and gave him the key to our tobacco and said: “Create a great cigar…” We gave him no boundaries or limits. Willy then spent f’ing forever working on this first blend… drove me a little crazy, made a lot of bad blends along the way, but I think we overwhelmed him a bit – I don’t think he was prepared to have so many tobaccos to blend from, rather daunting… our man Nicholas helped nudge him a little here and there and viola! Willy created something I consider great.

Along the journey, Willy has become a very competent handmade cigar bunchero and rolero – so over this next year you will begin to see him in stores personally handrolling his own and other blends. Check him out when he is in a store near you! Ask him tons of questions while you’re at it!”

I got a chance to meet Willy in Nicaragua last year and he actually let us sample a few of the prototypes for this blend. I don’t know how close they were to the final release, but Jonathan Drew made mention to us that Willy was tearing through prototype blends like there was no tomorrow. That’s how meticulous this man is and that there was a good chance we smoked wasn’t near the final product. The Herrera Esteli should start hitting shelves any day now. The blend will come in 5 sizes: Short Corona (5 ¼ x 46), Robusto Extra (5 ½ x 52), Lonsdale (6 x 44), Toro Especial (6 ¼ 54), and the Piramide Fino (6 x 52). The will come in boxes of 25 and will range from $7.95 to $10.45 a cigar. I have had the pleasure of smoking the Short Corona, Robusto, and the Toro.

Size: 6 ¼ x 54
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $9.35
Pairing: Sixpoint Brownstone (American Brown Ale 6% ABV)

Prelight: The Herrera Esteli starts off with one of the most beautifully consistent wrappers I have ever seen. Silky smooth, oily as hell, and a perfect light yellowish brown from foot to cap. The Herrera Esteli screams of Herrera’s Cuban heritage from the meticulous construction, flawless choice of wrapper, round triple cap, and design on the band. I am a sucker for minimalistic band designs (and maximum design, it’s that area in between that does nothing for me) and this cigar pulls it off perfectly. The band mimic’s old Cuban style band designs with a simple white band, with gold embossed flourishes and red text. The front reads: “Herrera Esteli – Imported from Nicaragua” in big, bold text with some additional disclaimers on the side informing the consumer of the highest grade tobacco used in the blend, created at La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate by hand. The Herrera Esteli is a beefy cigar with a lot of weight to it. It’s extremely firm with no soft spots, but I can feel how thin and delicate the wrapper is as I worked around the cigar. The wrapper sports only minor, seamless, thin veins running the length of the cigar.

The wrapper on the Herrera Esteli gives off a very sweet aroma mixed with some mild cedar while the foot of the cigar gives off nothing more than a subtle tobacco scent. I really had to dig deep to really get any type of aroma off the cigar. The cap cut clean and like butter using my double bladed Palio cutter. Right off the bet I am greeted with a ton of spice and cedar. I wasn’t expecting the amount of flavor produced by the cold draw considering how tame the aroma of the blend was.

First Smoke: The cigar starts out with a nice little black pepper bit that I wasn’t really expecting.  Shortly after the cigar blasted me with strong spice, cedar, and what almost tastes like black tea. The draw on this bad boy is perfect. Seriously, every little puff just fills my mouth with this linger, thick, white smoke. This is the construction that Willy has been known for in full effect. The burnline on the cigar is rather thick and it’s producing a few early, minor waves that don’t really concern me too much. The ash is a beautiful this, compacted white with light grey spots. It held on for about an inch and a half before giving way. The ash fell onto the floor literally a split second before this picture was taken. Sorry, but I wasn’t able to capture the first ash. Stupid wind..

Halfway There: The spice continues to be the dominant flavor in this Herrera Esteli. It’s crazy, I have had a handful of these all in different sizes but this Toro has to have the most pronounced flavor out of each of the formats I have smoked. Outside of the spice the black tea is still going strong with some slight vanilla, sweet tobacco, and soft cedar with just a bit of lemon. The retrohale on this cigar is shockingly good. Despite the soft cedar in the smoking experience the cedar is crazy strong on the retrohale along with a bit of the black pepper. The burnline has corrected itself for the most part and I am feeling a slight nicotine kick from the cigar already.

Finish: That spice is just killing it in this cigar. It’s still rocking while the cedar has ramped up, the black pepper finally faded out, the vanilla and tea are gone and have been replaced with a heavily creamed coffee flavor. This is one of the smoothest, creamiest experiences I have had in a long time. It’s interesting that a cigar with a bit more strength can be so smooth. Good work Willy. The burnline finished a bit wavy but I never had to touch up or relight the cigar the entire time. I did feel a nice little nicotine kick from this cigar once I laid the nub to rest. One note on this cigar is how slow it burns. It actually took me almost 2 hours to smoke this cigar down to the nub. The entire process was very, very creamy and smooth. It reminded me of the feeling you get while drinking a full glass of milk.

Overview: The first time I smoked this cigar I wasn’t overly impressed. Each time I smoked it afterwards I liked it more and more. Now that I have smoked this Toro I can honestly say that not only is it my favorite size in the line-up, but it completely changed how I feel about this cigar. You can really taste the blend and the increase in body and strength. This is a damn good cigar. And although it has the makings of a great “Mild, in the morning with my coffee” cigar, the extra body will make me consider this cigar a regular rotation blend. It’s smooth enough to enjoy any time of the day, but has all the makings of a cigar that you could enjoy in place of your hefty, after dinner smoke. I’m really interested to see what Willy has in store for the upcoming year. I think that Drew Estate scored a gem here. I’ve always been a fan of his work and Drew Estate needed the character that Willy’s blends bring to the table.

Pairing: I posted on my twitter page yesterday that I have been a Sixpoint fan boy as of late. Every brew that I have had by the company has been remarkable. They make one of the only IPAs (Resin) on the market that I could truly see myself enjoying everyday. I decided to pair this Herrera Esteli with Sixpoint’s staple brew, the Brownstone. When I was thinking about a pair for the cigar I remember just how smooth and creamy this cigar was, and the Brownstown is probably one of the creamiest beers I have had in a long time that shares a lot of common characteristics with the blend. The Brownstone is an American Style Brown Ale that comes in at 6% ABV. The beer starts off with an almost milky texture (much like Guinness) and finishes with a creamy mixture of malty, barley goodness. You will pick up a lot of subtle spices and a nice mild hoppyness from the brew which actually helped me pull that lemon flavor out of the cigar.

The post Herrera Esteli Toro Especial Cigar Review appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

I contemplated even doing a review for this cigar. Not cause it was bad, but strictly because I am a bit partial to a lot of Liga Privada blends. It’s not secret how fond I am of the number nine, but the more I smoke the Feral, the more I realize just how different the blend is. That being said, I will, as always, be as open and honest as I can about this and ever cigar we review on the site.

The Good Stuff: Anyways, lets get into this. The Feral Flying Pig is one of the newer releases in Drew Estate’s Liga Privada Line. Taking a seat in the Unico Series, the Feral flying pig is quite a departure from the No.9 and T52 flying pigs of the past not only in terms of size, but blend as well. This beast of a pig is actually a completely different blend then any of the Ligas currently in Drew Estate’s portfolio. Jonathan Drew and Steve Saka have both stated that the Feral is significantly stronger than it’s old brothers. Saka also mentioned that in his opinion this is the best flying pig to leave the Drew Estate factory to date. These cigars come in boxes of 10 and run $15 a stick.

Size: 5 3/8 x 60  –  Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Madruo  –  Binder: Brazilian Mata Fina  –  Filler: Nicaraguan  –  Body: Full  –  Strength: Full

The Feral Flying Pig starts out with a very, very, very dark brown, oily wrapper. Seriously, this cigar is as close to black as it gets. Unlike the No.9 and the T52, the Feral’s wrapper is just perfectly consistent as each and every inch of the cigar matched the next. The Feral Flying Pig starts with a tapered, perfecto style foot which leads through a beefy body up to a tapered, circular, pig-tail style cap. There is only one medium sized vein through out the body of the cigar.

One thing I’d like to mention is that this cigar is incredibly thick, and heavy. There has to be tons of tobacco stuffed in this thing. You could club someone with this cigar and do significant damage to them. I can only hope that this won’t lead to a plugged, or tight draw. The band on the Feral matches the rest of the Liga Privada line Identically with one exception, this is the first, released band that isn’t employing a handwritten typeface. Instead the word “FERAL” is printed in a nice, bold, Serif typeface. Interesting. The wrapper of the Feral gives of just a really strong, really bold, cedar and sweetness aroma. Although getting a whiff of the foot was a little tricky, the action paid off as I was greeted with a whole lot of spice, sweetness, and cedar. I didn’t really pick up any of the stronger tobacco or earthy aromas I was expecting.  The Feral clipped very easily despite being packed with tobacco using my double bladed Palio cutter.

First Smoke: The Feral Flying Pig was a breeze to light up using my single flame butane torch. I was really expecting this cigar to start off with a crazy flavorful and pepper filled profile, oddly enough it had neither. Instead, the Feral Flying Pig started out incredibly smooth with nothing more than a coffee and bittersweet chocolate flavor. As I smoked on bits of cherry and cinnamon started to work it’s way in, but I was still blown away with how smooth this cigar started off. It was very different than the usual In-Your-Face Liga Privada experience that I have grown to expect. After I got about halfway through the first third a little bit of black pepper started to sneak it’s way in. This was a crazy start to a cigar. Let’s hope this cigar keeps throwing curve balls my way. I was worried about the draw being too tight but I am glad to report that it was the opposite. At first the draw was actually a bit loose but as the foot fully toasted the draw became spot-on filling my mouth with thick, white smoke with every little puff. As with every cigar in the Liga Privada line, there is just a massive amount of stationary smoke given off white this cigar sits in my ashtray. I’m always scared how the burnline will pan out with perfecto format cigars but the Feral is burning super thin, and dead even leaving behind a trail of semi-flaky white and light grey ash which held on for an inch and a half before giving way.

Halfway There: Into the second third of the Feral Flying Pig and the black pepper has complete faded away. This is probably the one Liga Privada that I can recall that has the least amount of pepper. The flavors are still a creamy mixture of dark chocolate, coffee and cherry with some nice cedar, cinnamon and a nutty flavor on the aftertaste. The retrohale is interesting as the only flavors I could really pick out was a very strong and sharp cedar along with some soft coffee notes. The burnline is still dead even and I am actually feeling a bit of nicotine already.

Finish: Interesting enough there is a crazy moss/woodsy/earthy flavor sneaking it’s way into the final third of my Feral Flying Pig. This is a flavor that I usually tie to Davidoff and AVO cigars. It’s a very good, and interesting flavor and added a nice mix-up to the profile of this cigar. There cherry is still there but it has become very tart while the creamy coffee, nutty, chocolate flavors have simmered down a bit. There is still not any pepper. One other reason the absence of pepper strikes me as off is while we were at the Drew Estate factory a while back Jonathan Drew actually had us light up Ferals as they were just bunched, before they had wrappers, and before they went into the molds. The one thing I remember was how much pepper the blend had. It’s interesting to see how much the wrapper and final blend changes. This cigar took me two hours to take down and hats off to the Drew Estate team as the cigar required no touch-ups, or relights the entire time. That’s unheard of for a perfecto/double figurado. I left this cigar with a very nice little nicotine kick. It’s got some strength that’s for sure.

Overview: Steve Saka mentioned that he though this was the best Flying Pig they have created to date. Do I agree? Nah. But with reason, and a very biased reason at that. I am a No. 9 guy and the No. 9 flying pig is still my favorite pig out of the bunch with the Feral in a close second. What I do really like about the Feral Flying pig is the difference in blend. It’s much closer to a T52 blend to a No.9 but is hardly comparable. Although it is full-bodied, and full-strength the Feral is much smoother with an overall deeper, richer composition. It’s a total diversion from the other cigars in the Liga Privada line. Now is it worth the $15 price tag? To me, it is. I would even go as far as saying this is very box worthy. It’s complex, well constructed, and an overall great experience. I would choose this cigar over most Davidoff, AVO’s, and other cigars in the $15 area. But then it comes down to cigars with lower price points. While I enjoyed the Feral I truly think I would take a No.9 Robusto or a Dirty Rat over the cigar almost any day of the week.

Pairing: Here is the classic example of a pairing gone wrong. Flying Pig, Bacon Maple Ale? Sounds like a match made in heaven no? It couldn’t have been further from that. 99% of the time I have already drank the beer and smoked the cigar that I am pairing it with. This time I ventured out with something that worked well in theory and got caught slipping. The Rogue Voodoo Doughnut ale starts with some very slight maple sweetness which is quickly overcome by nothing but charcoal and ash. Seriously, it tastes like I put my  cigar out in this beer. I probably would have liked this beer if there was in fact more sweetness, or more of a maple flavor. That chary aftertaste just ruined it for me. I’m sure I’ll get a lot of people bashing me who actually like this beer, and that’s fine. It just does nothing for me except rape my wallet at $14 a bottle. After the second third of the cigar I actually put the beer down and switched to iced tea which is a proven perfect pairing with almost any cigar.

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With the exception of Ben Lee from Nice Tight Ash who traveled through Houston, we all met up in Miami before the flight. The personalities on this trip were: Jerry Cruz and Brian Hewitt from Stogie Review, Thor from Cigar Press Magazine, Brooks and Charlie from Halfwheel, Ben from Nice Tight Ash, Dan Reeve and Mario Takeyama from Cigar Explorer, Jason and Anthony from Cigar Brief, and Jay from Cigar Photo. Although I have met a few of these guys before, it was a pleasure to finally meet up with some of the other guys for the first time.

Fast Forward 3 hours or so and we land in Managua, Nicaragua. The airport was crazy. It was jam packed. After you get through the baggage there was hardly enough room to walk. Luckily the Drew Estate crew quickly scooped us up, and threw us on the bus. Within seconds of boarding the bus I had a can of Tonu (Nicaraguan Beer) in one hand and a Liga Privada 9 in the other, Which is a good thing considering how crazy hot and humid the country was. Pedro, our tour guide and one of the front-runners for all the Cigar Safari trips, went over tons of information about the country as we headed for our first destination.

I can’t say exactly how long the bus ride was to the restaurant as I was too busy taking in the sights, but I would estimate it was about 45 minutes until we reached “Bucaneros”. A nice dining restaurant overlooking a large lake.

As we got off the bus Jonathan Drew, Johnny Brooke, and Dave Lafferty were all there to greet us. We enjoyed some badass meals and drinks as we were briefed on the trip’s agenda, what we should and shouldn’t eat, and just how awesome the trip was going to be. We spent about an hour and a half there before moving on to the next destination.

From the restaurant we were bussed about and hour and a half away to the city of Granada. Granada was once famous for the war that took place there, and parts of the city are still a wreck. Now, Granada is a beautifully rebuilt, humble city and overall tourist destination. We drove through the cobblestone streets until we arrived at a huge, open lake. It was hear that Jonathan Drew loaded us onto boats and we embarked out a very relaxing, and beautiful boat ride around some of the small islands on the lake. Each island looked as if it was own by a single party who build some of the highest-end luxury houses, as well as some tiny, cozy, living quarters. There was a even a tiny island about the size of your average house that housed a half dozen monkeys. We took plenty of food to toss to them as Pedro explained that they have always lived there and all the passing boats drop food for them. They were once allowed to hang out with the tourists on the boats until one jumped on and caused a lady to go crazy.

After the boat ride we headed out of Granada and headed for our hotel back in Managua. The bus ride was another hour and a half or so, so we were able to see even more of the country. We even passed an active volcano that was only a few miles from the highway. Once we reached our hotel, we dumped our bags, freshened up, and headed poolside for a drink and smoke before departing one more time for the evening.

The next item on our itinerary was dinner. Drew Estate decided to take us to one of the best, if not the highest rated restaurant in the city. Senses de something. Yes I know, boring, I forgot the name, but I didn’t forget the food, nor could I forget the live Jaguar and Puma they had in cages as you approach the establishment. As far as the food goes, They had to have had the best steak I have ever had, hands down. Not to mention the best avocado. The thing was as big as my head. Jose Blanco and his fiancé met up with us for dinner as well as Jonathan Drew’s banker. Jonathan and his banker went on to tell us about how he started the company financially, as a kid with only a few hundred dollars, literally begging someone to open a bank account for him. Needless to say, He has come a long way. After dinner we packed up, and headed back to the hotel room for the evening. No one stayed up that night, I think all of us were pretty tuckered out.

Check out more pictures from the day: (click each image, once you are done hit “back” on your browser to return to this page. Annoying, I know, but the only other quick option was stupid flash.)

Click Here if you rather see the image via my personal Flickr slideshow.

Link: Drew Estate – Cigar Safari – Blogger Trip Day 2

Link: Drew Estate – Cigar Safari – Blogger Trip Day 3

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Before diving into things, let’s clarify where this cigar comes from. There is a bit of confusion as to how this cigar came about, and who created it. Here are the details:

 “The Collaboration: “My UZI Weighs a Ton” by Subculture Studios and JDN is the first formal cigar blending collaboration between Drew Estate Tobacco  Company and Joya de Nicaragua.”

“The 411: The UZI story began on the very first final consumer blending session at the Joya de Nicaragua factory in late 2010 during a Cigar Safari tour with the B.O.T.L. group. After conducting blending sessions for the previous 3 years at the Drew Estate factory, we were amped up to extend the concept to JDN.  While the B.O.T.L. group crafted their blends, I worked with the JDN team utilizing DE tobaccos, including a San Andreas Negro Wrapper, Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade Binder and hearty Brazilian Mata Fina Filler, coupled with Nicaraguan fillers provided by JDN. The blend proved to be rich and earthy, with a bright, sweet undertone.”

“As months of blending passed, I felt this blend was most noble in the 6×60 format and began calling this cigar “The Uzi.” We all had a good laugh at the name, but when I went back to their factory to pick up the round of 50 sticks, I said, “Damn, My UZI’s Weigh a Ton!” – and the brand was officially born. The initial sizes are 5×60, 6×60, and 7×60 – with the infamous “Bait Shop” (4×44) to follow.” – Jonathan Drew

There you have it. One thing to note is the “Bait Shop” is actually now released and carries the name “Bait Fish”.

Size: 6×60  –  Wrapper: San Andreas Maduro  –  Binder: Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade  –  Filler:  Brazilian Mata Fina Oscuro, Nicaraguan Seco Jalapa, Nicaraguan Viso Condega and Nicaraguan Esteli Ligero

Prelight: Damn, this is one beautiful cigar. My Uzi Weighs a Ton starts with a very dark, incredibly consistent brown wrapper. This thing looks like a candy bar. The construction is perfect, only carrying a few smaller veins throughout the huge body of the cigar, before coming to a nice, stubby, round double cap. The band is just badass, I love the design and typography on it as it lays out the words “My Uzi Weighs a Ton, by Subculture Studios & JDN, XXL”. XXL of course, referring to the size of these cigars. I know it’s a larger format cigar, but even for it’s size, this cigar really does weight a ton. The Uzi also gives off a ton of resistance as I try to squeeze it between my fingers. This cigar is tough.

The wrapper is crazy oily, and you can see the oils reflect the light off the cigar from all angles. Despite its blown out character the wrapper only gives off a slight, sweet, chocolaty aroma while the foot of the cigar lets loose a modest tobacco along with earth tones.  The cap is easily cut on My Uzi Weight a Ton using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw produces a really mild, yet flavorful graham, and tobacco flavor.

First Smoke: The Uzi starts off with only a slight pepper punch, just the first few draws, and only really enough to tease my lips. After the pepper fades I am left with a very strong cinnamon, dark chocolate, cherry, and sweet tobacco flavor. The cigar definitely didn’t start off as powerful as I thought it would. The draw is awesome, it does take a few extra puffs to get going due to the larger ring gauge, but it’s a smokehouse once it’s off and running.  The burnline has a few smaller waves as it leaves behind a trail of semi-flaky, medium grey ash. The ash held on for about an inch, and I am sure it would probably hold on a bit longer, but its windy as hell outside and I didn’t want to risk it falling.

Halfway There: The flavors in this Uzi just keep ramping up, while the body remains smooth, and easy to smoke. The chocolate has really started to take over. Along with the chocolate so has the cherry while the cinnamon and graham faded out letting way for some really nice sweet tobacco. The retrohale is different on this cigar. Usually I get a lot of cedar and tobacco flavor while this cigar coats with this really malty, chocolate milk flavor. It’s strong too, so just be ready for it. The ash is still kind of flaky, but the burnline is rocking solid while leaving me with almost no nicotine kick at all at this point.

Finish: My Uzi Weighs a ton has really kept me on my toes while it changes up, and ramps up it’s flavor profile even into the final third of this massive cigar. Again, that dark chocolate is just a beast in this experience, the Cherry, which started out mild is a big contender as well while the graham has really crept back in and the sweet tobacco is still mixed in there. The burnline has started a few more small waves, but they didn’t bother me at all. I think the wind had a lot to do with them. It took me just under 2 hours to smoke this massive cigar while I experienced no harshness at all, it actually finished just as smooth as it started. Despite the wind and waves, this cigar also required no extra attention from my lighter throughout the entire smoke.

Overview: Don’t be fooled by the name, and the production, My Uzi Weighs a Ton isn’t the strongest cigar out there. In fact, I found it a perfectly balanced, medium/full cigar with a ton of character. This cigar is a flavor bomb with a really smooth palate of Chocolate, Berry, sweet tobacco, and graham cracker. It really packs the flavor in there, even for the larger ring gauge. I really want to get my hands on the new baitfish size now, as I would love to taste what the smaller format’s wrapper has to offer. This is a solid cigar through, and through and will delight the most experienced smoker as well as help that novice smoker experience the next level in premium cigars without breaking their stomachs, or the bank.

Pairing: Why another great Belgian beer? Yes Please. And this brew in particular is no stranger around these parts, in fact, I think this is the third time I have featured it in the pairing section of this site. Pauwel Kwak. This is a badass beer, and spoilers aside, I couldn’t possibly think of a better pairing with My Uzi Weighs a Ton. Pauwel Kwak is a 8.4% Belgian Strong Ale from Brouwerij Bosteels is Bugeenhout Belgium.  Kwak is a deep, amber ale with a fruity, malty, sweet character. The main flavors are a sweet banana tossed in with mild hops, caramel, and citrus. Seriously, mix those flavors in with the cinnamon chocolate and cherry from the Uzi and you have a knock out pairing.

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The Good Stuff: I was one of the very many people intrigued as rumors began to fly about a possible Liga Privada in “A” format. Not that I am an “A” kinda guy, but that’s a huge departure from anything currently in the Liga Privada line. Not to mention that I am an open Liga Privada Fan Boy. That won’t make this review biased though, trust me. After about a years worth of rumors Jonathan Drew confirmed that they would in fact be making an “A” sized Liga Privada, and began to hype it up with some Jonathan Drew style tweets and Facebook posts.

I just had to put the "A" next to a Dirty Rat for size comparison. And for laughs.

As time went on, we discovered this wasn’t a real release, but instead a special type of product. What I mean by that is, Drew Estate actually created the Liga Privada “A” as a special promotional product.  The “A” is actually a tweaked T-52 blend. More than likely they needed to refine the blend and mellow it out a bit to fit the format. I’m glad too, I don’t think I could handle a straight up 9 inch T-52. These cigars will not be available to purchase, instead, they will be given out at certain Liga Privada events due in part to the limited amount of T52 leaf as well as Drew Estate wanting something special as a thanks to it’s customers. Plus, in my opinion, I don’t think the format is easy to sell. I was actually on Smoke Inn’s radio show “Kiss my Ash Radio” this passed weekend with Erik Espinosa from EO Brands and he made mention that he was actually present some time ago when he and Jonathan Drew opened the first box of Liga Privada Unicos “A”. That being said, I think it’s safe to say these will be readily available at Liga Privada Events.

I don’t smoke “A” sized cigars often at all. But there is a reason for it. “A” sized cigars were created to honor celebrations. This is a special treat sort of size, to be smoked to celebrate special occasions. With good reason too, they are normally 9” long and usually take around 3 hours to smoke.  That being said, lets get started!

Size: 9 ¼” x 47  –  Wrapper:  Connecticut Stalk Cut Habano  –  Binder: Brazilian Mata Fina  –  Filler: Nicaraguan/Honduran/Dominican – keep in mind this is just an assumption, knowing that it’s a tweaked T-52 blend.

Prelight: This is a GIGANTIC cigar. It almost feels too heavy to hold and wants to fall from my hand when I hold it near the head of the cigar. That goes with all “A” sized cigars I guess. They aren’t the most practical cigar, but they aren’t trying to be. Once you get passed the size of this cigar you are greeted with the beautiful T52 style wrapper that we have all grown to love. The wrapper is incredibly oily with medium to dark browns and oranges mixed in. The construction is perfect with only a very few larger veins. Usually veins of that size would run the entire body of a robusto sized cigar. I just though it was funny that the Liga Privada Unicos “A” had 2 longer veins stacked one after another, and they still only ran about half the body of the cigar.  Anyways, the wrapper and the entire cigar in general is very solid and durable. There aren’t any soft spots on the entire cigar. The cap is very similar to the pig tailed, rounded cap that the Dirty Rat carries, only twice the size. And the band is identical to the  Unicos Series bands that all the Liga Privada carries, blue and gold with a gigantic “A” on them.

The body of the cigar gives off a nice, strong cedar and sweet tobacco aroma while the foot of the cigar gives off nothing more than a very subtle spice. The cap clipped extremely easy and clean using my Liga Privada Double Bladed cutter. The cold draw was interesting, instead of greeting me with a nice pepper I was expecting, The “A” let loose this crazy strong cedar and sweetness which got me interested in just how “tweaked” this blend really is.

First Smoke: Right away the Liga Privada Unicos “A” kicked out the flavors I expect from the T-52. Cedar, spice, sweet tobacco, and cocoa. One thing was still missing, the pepper. In all honesty I’m glad too, a 9 inch pepper-bomb just doesn’t seem like it would sit too well with me. Despite the distance in which the smoke must travel, the draw was perfect and plentiful. It only took me my normal 2 puffs to get a mouthful of thick, white smoke. The burnline is a bit wavy and thick, but nothing too concerning, white the stationary smoke, as with most Liga Privada blends, is crazy. This cigar is spewing out tons and tons of thick, cedar scented smoke as it sits in my ashtray. The ash left behind is somewhat flaky, and really dark grey with spots of lighter grey. It only held on for about two thirds of an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: The sweetness has really started to pick up into the second third of this Liga Privada Unicos “A”. By this point, I’d be finishing a robusto format cigar, but this cigar is still keeping my attention by adding a ton of spice and the sweetness I mentioned to the already sweet mashup of cocoa, and cedar. The burnline has completely corrected itself and is burning dead even now. The retrohale is BADASS coating with an absolute blast of cedar each time I do it. I am feeling a very slight nicotine kick after the second third, but no where near what I was expecting form a Liga Privada blend.

Finish: Switching it up again, I started to get this nice, subtle floral flavor during the last third of Drew Estate’s Liga Privada Unicos “A”.  The sweetness has mellowed out quite a bit, and I am left with a really smooth cedar, cocoa, coffee and floral mixture. Surprisingly for the size I’m really not picking up much more than a really slight nicotine kick. The burnline has been perfect since the second third, and I haven’t had to relight, or even touch up this cigar once. All in all it took a few minutes shy of 3 hours to take down this beast of a cigar. It’s crazy how the final picture looks similar to the length of a “First Smoke” robusto picture. This thing is huge.

Overview: I have a short attention span. Very. I blame the internet and technology for that. That being said, I never really got bored while smoking this Liga Privada Unicos “A”. It had just enough change ups to keep my attention, but at the same time was smooth and seamless enough not to overpower me with each jump. I think finding balance in a cigar as big as this, and keeping the cigar’s complexity has the be an incredibly difficult task for the blender, and Drew Estate did a hell of a job with it. The cigar wasn’t as powerful as the other blends in the Liga Privada Line, with good reason. I don’t think I could handle a 3 hour T-52 It would leave my crying on the floor. Although this isn’t a cigar I’d smoke often, I really enjoyed it a lot. And in terms of the format, it’s not made to be consumed often. As stated, it’s a celebratory cigar. And I really think it’s a great addition to my humidor when I want something special and have a few hours to burn, pun intended.

Pairing: I said it many times, and will say it again, Winter is the season for beer. With all the awesome porters, stouts, and Christmas ales it’s a wonder why I’m not trashed from morning to dawn. St. Bernardus isn’t a stranger to this blog. In fact, it’s one of my favorite breweries out there. This Christmas season Abbey Ale hits the mark on all accounts. It’s strong (10% ABV), sweet, flavorful, and well balanced with fruity, malty flavors and just a hit of spice. Needless to say it went perfectly with the Liga Privada Unicos “A”. At about $13 a bottle, it’s not something you can drink everyday, but when you find it, pick it up. It pairs great with any full bodied, full flavored cigar.

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The Good Stuff: The L40 name actually comes from the format, and ring gauge. Traditionally, Lanceros are sized at 7 x 38. Steve Saka, being the pain in the ass he is, didn’t feel that the 38 ring gauge gave room to create a cigar that he personally could deem worthy of the Liga Privada stamp. It’s this perfection that has always made Drew Estate and their Liga Privada lines stand out. After all, the line was originally created solely for the enjoyment of Saka himself.  Anyhow, cheating just a bit Saka decided that a 40 ring gauged lancero complimented the blend much more and decided to run with it. Thus, the L40 was created. These cigars made their debut at this year’s IPCPR trade show and are due out “soon”. Not sure how soon, but judging by how much Drew Estate has been kicking out lately, it wouldn’t surprise me if they start hitting shops in the next few months. They should retail at about $13 a stick I’ll let this information pulled form the L40’s product sheet explain the blend in detail as it says it all better than I could.

In our ongoing creation of the Liga Privada line, hundreds of different, distinct blends and vitolas are crafted in our ceaseless search for the perfect smoke. Most samples are dismissed with only a rare, select few being deemed worthy, but regretfully due to tobacco limitations, costs, construction limitations, etc. most of these blends can not be made into a their own stand-alone line. However, they are so perfect in flavor and aroma, we continue to selfishly make them for ourselves to smoke. This is not our desire, we want the Liga Privada connoisseur to enjoy the very same cigars our “El Jefe” smokes regardless of any reason. And with this in mind, we have created the Único Serie – a home for these unique ones. All of the cigars within this series are not only different in size and recipe, but they are extra special, extremely limited and exceptionally delicious.

Blend Summary for Único Serie “L40” Lancero:

Capa: CT River Valley Stalk Cut & Cured Habano Leaf

Capote: Plantation-Grown Brazilian Mata Fina

Tripa: 3 Extra-Choice Nicaraguan Cuban Seed

Strength: Medium-Full

Packaging: 15-ct SBN Cabinet Boxes

Additional Info:

– The “L40” Lancero is a unique blend, differing from other LP blends.

– “L40” refers to the slightly larger ring size than is typical of a lancero format. This additional girth was necessary to accommodate the desired blend of tobaccos. Contains 5 different tobaccos – extremely unusual for this vitola.

– Most lanceros are “one note”, this one is a symphony.

– Its recipe was in development for 2+ years prior to release.

The being said, it’s time to get into this review.

Size: 7 x 40  –  Wrapper: Stalk Cut Habano  –  Binder: Brazilian Mata-Fina  –  Filler: Nicaraguan

Prelight: The Liga Privada Unico L40 is a toothy little beast. Rubbing my fingers down the body of the cigar feels almost like fiving a stick of sandpaper a massage. Not only is it toothy, but man is this cigar oily. Every time I handle the cigar I am left with a nice, silky, layer of oil on my fingertips. This cigar looks awesome in the sun. I sweat it looks like it’s wet from all the reflection of the oil. The wrapper feels very durable and tough, and shows lots of smaller veins. The wrapper is a very, very dark brown with lots of darker, almost black spots throughout the body leading up to its round triple cap. Maybe it was just me, but I was really expecting this cigar to have a pigtail. Maybe I am just stuck on the Dirty Rat, but I personally feel it would have gave some nice character to the visual aspect of this cigar. Anyways….. The L40 is a lot softer than I thought it would be. I am probably used to the smaller ring gauges in lanceros making for a much stronger cigar. Each time I compress the cigar it feels almost spongy, resulting in a lot of give. I doubt this will really effect the overall experience, but I do hope it doesn’t mean this will result in a overly-loose draw.

Right away, as soon as I removed the L40 from it’s cellophane,  I could smell the strong, pungent aromas of the cigar. The powerful smell of the wrapper gives off this really sharp, spice, herb, and potpourri smell while the foot is more of a sweet cedar. Wow, I really don’t think I have ever smelled a cigar with this much aroma before lighting up.  The L40 cut very easy and clean using my Liga Privada Double bladed cutter. Strangely enough I am getting a really woodsy, earthy flavor from the cold draw. I was expecting something much more spicier. But the draw is clean, and a not really loose at all.

First Smoke: The Liga Privada L40 leads in with just a hint of pepper, backed by some nice spice, coffee, chocolate, very sweet tobacco, and the nice earthy undertones. I can actually pull out this nice nutmeg/wheat flavor. The starting of this cigar doesn’t disappoint. I know the draw was a worry for me since the cigar felt so lightly packed, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem at all. Each draw delivers a massive amount of smoke. I am only hitting this cigar once or twice, usually I’m a three draw guy. The stationary smoke, like any Liga Privada is very plentiful. I really think it has a lot to do with all the oils on these wrappers. You can literally see the oil burning off the wrapper as the cigar sits in my ashtray. The burnline is a bit thick, but dead even leaving behind a very nice trail of tightly compacted black and dark grey ash which held on for a little under an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: Into the second third of this Liga Privada Unico L40 and I am already starting to experience some nice change up in the flavor profile. The more earthy notes have really began to fade out while there is a nice, sweet cedar coming in pairing excellent with the sweet tobacco, coffee, and chocolate notes. There are a few hints of the potpourri I picked up in the cold draw too, although they are a bit hard to pick apart. The burnline is still rocking dead even. The retrohale on this cigar is incredible. It coats the nasal passage with this really warm cedar and leaves behind this neat coffee priming. The L40 is milder than I expected. I am feeling a little nicotine kick in the second third, but not nearly as much as I expected.

Finish:  Wow, the cedar is REALLY taking command into this final third of this L40. Another neat addition is the reappearance of the pepper that only lasted a few draws into the beginning of this Liga Privada L40. I am still picking up some really nice chocolate and coffee notes but they are only an afterthought compared to the sweet cedar that dominates the final third. I am actually feeling quite a bit of nicotine at this point, but it isn’t anything like what I get form the Liga Privada No.9. This is a full cigar, but seems much more toned down. All in all it took me about an hour and a half to take this cigar down. The cigar finished smooth and creamy with absolutely no signs of harshness. On a side note, I had to relight this cigar twice during the entire experience. This isn’t anything that bothers me at all, in fact, I think simple touch-ups and relights are part of any cigar smoking experience. But it also makes me thing that I need to monitor my humidity levels in my humidors a bit better. They might be a bit high. A local cigar lounge owner actually let me know that Boveda has a subscription based option where they will actually send you Boveda packs routinely so you never really have to pay attention to your humidity levels. Has anyone tried this? I’m really considering this but I would love to hear your thoughts.

Overview: Although a Liga Privada in a lancero format seemed a bit odd to me, Drew Estate really did a heck of a job creating a blend that not only lives up to the Liga Privada standards, but also has the flavor and build, to stand alone as part of their Unico Series. I really can’t compare the L40 to the 9 or the T52. It’s a completely different cigar. It doesn’t have nearly the strength of pepper of either of the two blends, but does share a lot of sweet, woodsy, and spice flavors from both. If anything, the L40 tasted similar to a more premium Undercrown on crack. The price is right where I expected it to be, and although I don’t think the L40 holds a candle to my personal favorites the no. 9 and Dirty Rat, I would openly say this is very box worthy and a great cigar to have around when you are looking for a medium/full flavor bomb in lancero format.

Pairing: The L40 is a treat of a cigar. With that in mind I wanted to make sure I did the cigar justice by pairing it with a treat of a drink. This is where one of my all time favorite beers come into play. Liefmans Goudenband. This 8% Flander’s style Bruin ale is brewed at the famous Brouwerij Liefmans in Belgium. This beer is another one that may require an acquired taste. The beer boasts of very tart cherries, tea, and tart citrus malt and caramel. It’s got a lot of flavor so you really need to make sure that you pair it with a cigar that can compliment the beer, or it will be easily overpowered. Outside of a Bruin or strong brown ale, this cigar would go great with any amber, or abbey. I hate to say it but a great pairing would probably be one of Daniel’s ports. The L40 has would compliment a port incredibly well.

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This was one of the few “talked about” cigars that made it’s release at the trade show last week. I did quite a bit of research on this cigar before smoking it, but I think that the description comes best from Steve Saka himself:

–  Undercrown to be debuted at the IPCPR – initial delivery to retailer in Sept 2011.

–  Undercrown is a blend that was developed by the Liga rollers for their own smoking pleasure because we had to ask them to cut back on smoking the LPs they were making – they were crushing us. The name represents this – if LP was made exclusively for the king/boss initially, this cigar was made initially for themselves, the princes, i.e. Undercrown.

– Imo, it is just a touch stronger than Medium bodied with a great natural tobacco sweetness and earthy flavor. Very creamy core and sexy smooth – like all LP’s** it is very balanced – this cigar probably won’t satisfy some of the pepper junkies.

[Disclaimer: this of course is my personal opinion of the smoke – you will have to decide for yourself… some folks will say it is too strong, others will say it is mild, one guy will say it tastes like bing cherries and pencil lead, and on and on and on – lol]

– Made with many of the same tobaccos as other LPs, but utilizes different primings, crops from different sections of the same fields, different ages etc… or change-ups – for example the binder is our exclusive T52 stalk cut habano.

– Prices are NOT set on the brand yet, because we price all of our cigars based one what they cost to produce and it takes us a few months of true production to know for sure what the indexes and run rates will be – I am going to Nica next week to do a final review – we expect the prices to range between $7 – $9…
BUT I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO BE COMPLETELY WRONG ABOUT THIS!!!

– LP-grade pairs are rolling these.

– Initial launch will be in the same 4 sizes as LP + the 6 x 60 parejo Gordito. Complain to JD about it, he wanted it, he is on a 60RG rampage… <snicker> Look when I first wanted to do Dirty Rat JD was not really on board because he always preferred larger cigars, but he let us run with it and fell in love with it. I in turn, am not a 60rg guy, but I gotta admit I am impressed with the MUWAT he did over at JDN. I do not think you have to choose between doing all big or all small.

– If the brand proves to be popular with smokers of course we will add sizes… I already have been smoking a 5 5/8 x 46 version. But launching with the most popular sizes is what makes sense… tell you what I will make up some more of the Corona Gorda UC to share cause you ain’t gettiing mine. Lets plan a BOTL herf somewhere this Fall an I will show up with these to share…

– It will not be limited to LP accounts only – this is a more sustainable blend so in the long run is will have better availability – hoorah!

In my opinion the price, and availability from the above statements are golden. Not just Liga Privada appointed retailers?! This cigar is going to FLY off the shelves! Keep in mind this is a “First Look” at the cigar, since it is still pre-release, so the review will be very loosely written. Saka himself had told me once though that any Liga Privada that gets handed out is the Final blend, and they do not change then from that point. That being said, I think it’s safe to say that this is in fact the final product. Anyway, let me get on with the review. ( PS. I didn’t read the above statement before writing my review. So please disreguard any “cherry” flavor I pick up )

Here is a little more info on the blend:

Undercrown is a liga blended on our factory floor by the best of our Liga Privada torcedores for themselves due to our request that they smoke less of the cigars they were crafting. Incorporating many of the same rare tobaccos, but of different vintages and primings, the cigar they created was no mere replacement. Earthy, creamy, spicy with a delicious black tobacco sweet finish, Undercrown is an exceptional smoking experience of uncompromising quality and flavor that deserves to be smoked by all.

Capa: Otapan Negro Último Corte
Capote: T52 Connecticut River Valley Stalk Cut & Cured Habano
Tripa: Select Brazilian Mata Fina and Nicaraguan Cuban Seed

Strength: Medium to Medium-Full
Packaging: 25-ct Display Cabinet BN Boxes
Taste Profile: Lush, smooth and creamy with a natural inherent sweetness.
Cigar Style: Refined and balance with excellent depth for the smoker.

Additional Info:
– The Undercrown blend was originally created by our torcedors for themselves to smoke in Nicaragua – their own “liga privada.”
– The capa is a unique strain of San Andreas Negro maduro seed grown exclusively for us whose harvest is intentionally delayed by 4+ weeks to allow for additional field and sun time resulting in a higher natural sugar content and a richer, creamier flavor.
– “Otapan” is the name of the vega on which it is grown and “Último”
– Corte” translates to “last cut”; a reference to its delayed harvesting.

For more info you can view Drew Estate’s Spec Sheet Here.

Prelight: The Undercrown is a nice, dark cigar. The wrapper obviously bears a lot of resemblance to that of the No. 9, but to me, it has a lot more reddish mixed in with a slightly lighter brown wrapper. Not that the wrapper is light by any means, just not nearly as dark as most of the No.9’s that I have smoked. The wrapper gives off a slight shine from it’s toothy body which only had one larger vein running about half of the length of the cigar. The cigar is very meaty, and only slightly soft. Other than that it gives a great bounce-back when pressed between my fingers. Before coming to the round, double-capped head of the cigar I was greeted with a really badass band. The band isn’t like all the rest of the Liga Privada blends that we have seen before in the past. This one starts with a dark blue (similar to the “Unicos  Series” blue) paper, with a similar god Liga Privada Lion in crested in the center of the band. The only difference is, like the name, the crown is actually placed below the Lion’s neck instead of above his head. Tracing the band to the back, the sides are the words “Undercrown” in the same gold metallic ink before coming to a nice “Drew Estate” logo on the back. I really like what they did with the band. It stands apart form the rest of the Liga Privada lines without being overly different.

The wrapper gives off this incredible cedar and almost potpourri smell. No joke. It’s very interesting and I can’t wait to see what it does to the smoking experience. The foot of the cigar, while giving off the potpourri smell also has a lot of spice, and a more subtle tobacco scent. The cap clipped right off of this Undercrown using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw was surprisingly very sweet giving off smoke nice spice and cedar flavors. Not a lot of pepper which I expected from a cigar in the Liga Privada Line.

First Smoke: Right off the bat you can tell this isn’t going to be like the other Liga Privada experiences. The Undercrown starts off with a ton of cedar, sweet tobacco, honey, spice, and floral flavors, much like the No. 9, but there are two things missing. First is the pepper, second is the body. You can tell this is a milder cigar right away, but that’s not a bad thing. Usually the Liga Privadas start off with a huge bang, instead the Undercrown kindly welcomes you in. This cigar has a very easy draw and the smoke released is ridiculously thick. I don’t find myself having to hit the cigar more than once or twice to get the my desired mouthful of smoke. The stationary smoke on this cigar is just like any other Liga, VERY strong and heavy with some really nice cedar aromas. The burnline is perfect from the start leaving behind a nice trail of bright white, compacted ash that held on for a bit over an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: During the second third of this Undercrown I experienced a slight ramp up in flavor. The cedar, floral, sweet tobacco remained the same but now there is a really nice black cherry being thrown into the mix. I’m still stretching to pull the spice from this cigar. It’s probably the main characteristic that makes it stand apart form the Liga Privada line at this point. That and the medium body of course. The retrohale is incredibly smooth producing a really nice cedar and sweetness, priming my nasal passage.

Finish: The final third of this Undercrown proved itself worthy when it finished just as smooth as the first. This was pretty much my only concern going into the cigar as the flavors ramped up way early, that the harshness would as well. It’s safe to say that they didn’t, in fact the flavor even increased slightly into the last third with no harshness as all, even into the final inch. The cedar and black cherry have totally taken over for a remarkable finish. The burnline remained sharp, and clean requiring no tough-ups and no relights the entire experience. All in all this cigar burned pretty slow taking a little over and hour and a half to take down. Needless to say I enjoyed every minute of it.

Overview: Needless to say I think Drew Estate has a winner on their hands. There is a little more to creating a winning cigar that goes into that statement though. I, along with countless others, am a HUGE Liga Privada No. 9 fan. This cigar stands as an almost perfect substitute for the No. 9 as quantities become even more limited. I WILL being purchasing a few boxes of these to satisfy my cravings while not dwindling down my No. 9 stock. Along with the less-limited quantities, this cigar also comes with a lower price tag. That was pretty much the only thing really keeping a lot of smokers away from purchasing cigars in the Liga Privada blends. Now that price is no longer an obstacle these cigars will be flying off the shelves. Especially since they will/may be available at almost any Tobacconist, not just Liga Privada appointed retailers.  The last piece to the success of this cigar is the strength of the past Liga Privada releases. Now that there is a release that still carries the same flavors, at a lower cost, and a lower strength category many more smokers will be turning to this cigar.

Pairing: I decided to pair this undercrown with a long-time favorite of mine, St. Bernardus Abt. 12 Quadruple Abbey Ale. This best of a beer is brewed at the Brouwerij St. Bernarus in Belgium. Starting out with a boasting 10% ABV and finishing with a nice, bitter, fruity, composure it’s no wonder why this beer is named by some as the best beer in the world. If you aren’t a fan of strong beer you may want to stay away from this one, the alcohol shines through the clove and anise flavors with every sip. This bold beer made a perfect match with the Undercrown, not just cause of the fruit flavors, but it really helped to add that extra bite I think the Undercrown needed. But then again, I am a stronger cigar smoking kind of guy.

EDIT: I made a quick change to this review. Thanks to this video, and the guys at Stogiereview.com, I realized that Drew Estate decided to drop the “Liga Privada” from the Undercrown name. It is know as just “Undercrown”.

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