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Drew Estate Customer Appreciation Bash-Smoke Inn Cigars, Vero Beach
Thanks to everyone who joined us for our Drew Estate Customer Appreciation Bash! Congratulations to David H. who walked away with the $500 Smoke Inn Gift Card! We hope you had as much fun as we did and we look forward to the next one…
Drew Estate Undercrown Review
Every once in a while, a cigar comes along that really surprises me in a good way that I wasn’t expecting. The latest being the Undercrown by Drew Estate. I had heard a little bit about this cigar and from what I heard is that it was essentially a smoke in the Liga Privada line, which isn’t entirely incorrect, but the real story behind the cigar was that Drew Estate asked their torcedores to not smoke the regular quantities of cigars they were making, so they had some of the best torcedores in the factory make cigars especially for them. In turn, the cigars turned out so well that Drew Estate felt it was necessary to release to the public in large quantities.
Now the cigar I was generously given by “Honest” Abe Dababneh was a 5×54 robusto that is wrapped in Otapan Negro Ultimo Corte, with T52 Connecticut River Valley Stalk Cut and cured habano binders and filled with Brazilian Mata Fina and Nicaraguan Cuban Seed. The Undercrown will come in boxes of 25 and the robusto is priced at $7.45 a stick.
Now let’s get to the good part, the actual cigars tastes. In the first 2 or 3 puffs, the Undercrown is kind of spicy but after that it transitions to a light, earthy flavor with some spice in there for good measure. At this point it was a medium bodied smoke with good construction and the flavors were very good.
In the second third of the Undercrown the earthy flavors with spicy notes continues to be the predominate taste I get, which is surprisingly good since I’m not big on the earthier cigars. Still a solid medium bodied cigar but the flavor lightens up towards the end, the draw gets a little firm, but not so much that it hurts the quality of the cigar. The burn is a bit jagged at this point, but again not bad enough to complain.
The last third of the cigar finds that the flavors switch entirely to predominantly spice with some earthy undertones that is an excellent change of pace. The flavor of the Undercrown remains this way until the end of the smoke. The draw on the cigar was again firm, but not firm enough to make me complain, just worth mentioning. The only negative I could find was that it did burned jagged and I had to touch up a small portion of it before it began canoeing too bad.
Overall, I found the Undercrown to be a very good cigar that I would probably try again at some future point and would be a lot better if it was allowed to age for a while. So, until next time, Happy Smoking!
The Mayor
Reposted with permission from thegarshop.com
Drew Estate Natural Big Jucy Review
“The Rebirth of Cigars” is the mantra of Drew Estate, purveyors of such cigars as Acid, Liga Privada and Undercrown. Well, one of their newest creations has me baffled and intrigued. If the Natural by Drew Estate is the rebirth of cigars, then the rebirth is in for an interesting ride. The Natural comes in 7 sizes ranging from a tiny 3×38 to a healthy 6.5×54, but the interesting thing about this smoke is the blend, in that it has a traditional Nicaraguan binder but the filler and wrappers vary from different countries as Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, U.S., Spain, Italy, and others.
The cigar I smoked from the Natural’s selection was Big Jucy, a 5×46 corona with a mouth full of taste. Though it doesn’t explicitly say on Drew Estate’s website that it’s infused or flavored with anything, the Big Jucy’s taste in the first third can best be described as smoking a fruit roll up. It’s not a bad flavor, just very powerful and you can even get a little bit of the flavor on the pre-light draw. The construction of the cigar is great in the first third, as there were no problems with the draw or the burn.
In the second third, the tobacco flavors are still overpowered by the fruity notes of the cigar; it is much more manageable now and not so overpowering. Being that it’s a smaller smoke, it does smoke quickly as it didn’t take me long to get through the first two-thirds. Burn and draw are still perfect on the Big Jucy.
Now the last third of the Big Jucy was the best part in that the fruit flavors mellowed out and became more of a tobacco sweet taste that was rather enjoyable. The burn and the draw were great and despite not being a fan of really sweet cigars, most of the Natural was enjoyable. Overall all I’d give 3 out of 5 flames and would definitely recommend to anyone that is into flavored or infused cigars.
Until next time, Happy Smoking!
The Mayor
Reposted with permission from thegarshop.com
Drew Estate Classics Pipe Tobacco-NOW AVAILABLE
“Mike was smoking pipe tobacco back when he started with the company 13 years ago,” said Jonathan Drew, chairman of Drew Estate. Since then, the company has grown and so has its legion of pipe smokers.
“A lot of the guys here have been smoking pipes lately,” said Cellucci. “We have basic blends and blend some of our own versions.”
The eight lines are part of what’s known as Drew Estate Classic, the first time the company has used its name so prominently in one of its brands. The lines were blended by Cellucci and are being made in Denmark.
Six of the eight are aromatics with the Gatsby Luxury Flake, a pressed navy flake, and the Cavendish being the exceptions.
Unlike the company’s partnership for ACID Shisha, Drew Estate will be handling the distribution of its pipe tobacco, and Drew Estate Classic is just the start.
Cellucci said more “exotic” blends are in the works, but that it was important to start on the traditional side of things so that the company could establish itself quicker with pipe smokers than it did with cigars. Jonathan Drew and others will admit that it wasn’t until the introduction of Liga Privada, first in 2006 and formally in 2007, that the company really gained legitimacy in the traditional premium cigar market, something Drew Estate learned from and hopes to avoid as they enter the pipe category.
The packaging not only reflects the more traditional approach, but also the company’s past.
“When I started with the company, we were there,” said Cellucci, referring to Brooklyn. “The Brooklyn Bridge is something I always associate with our company.” Normally, the company uses a picture of the Manhattan Bridge in its marketing, but for Drew Estate Classic, it went with a different landmark.
“It made more sense to go with the Brooklyn Bridge, it told the story a little better.”
In addition to more blends in the future, the company will be hosting pipe events at select retailers and Cellucci even said he will be at a “handful” of them, although admitted his duties as president would limit him to only a few. In addition, the company is in the early stages of creating its own pipes, although Cellucci and Drew wouldn’t elaborate much further on the topic.
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