Brand Drew Estate – They call it “Rebirth of Cigars.” There is an inspiring story behind the brand—the Story of two young fellows with determination not to give up and a passion for Cigars.
Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel had no family legacy in cigar making. Still, they got into the cigar industry only because of their passion. It all started in 1996. They were making cigars in Nicaragua and selling them in America. They had a small retail outlet in WTC, New York City. It seems like easy money, but It was challenging to maintain consistency in profit. To make things better, In 1998, they released a great brand in the market, La Vieja Habana, but luck didn’t favor them. They had to put it on hold because a natural disaster (hurricane Mitch) devastated Nicaragua, which put their business under stress; they started feeling the pinch and desperately wanted to do something different to survive.
By the end of 1998, Jonathan moved to Esteli with great hopes while Marvin held the ground in NYC, running around for money to keep the business alive. In Esteli, Jonathan struggled to get the right blend to hit the market. To achieve what they were longing for, “the Rebirth of Cigars.” And he returned after a year with magic blends in his hands, and with the help of an artist Scott Chester, they launched the brand “Acid.” It was an instant success, and ‘Acid’ put them back on the map.
Then in 2000, they launched Natural, followed by the reintroduction of La Vieja Habana in 2001. They subsequently grew into a giant cigar company that created a cult following in America. In 2014 Drew estate was acquired by Swisher International.
We have selected some of their top-rated cigars for you that are listed below.
La Vieja Habana -This one is the first blend of Drew Estate, which gave them the kickstart. This medium-bodied cigar is constructed with unique Nicaraguan leaves from Jalapa and Esteli with three wrapper variations: Cuban Corojo, Connecticut Shade, and Brazilian Maduro, which gives a slight taste difference. Cuban Corojo has a spicy note, while the oily Brazilian Maduro wrapper is a bit sweet and the Connecticut shade wrapper variant gives a nutty flavor. It comes in seven vitolas.
Acid—This brand elicited the “Rebirth of Cigars” for Drew Estate and is considered one of the best brands in the flavor-infused cigar category. It is one of a kind that tastes unorthodox, and their experiments churned out many unique blends in the Acid line with a wide variety of vitolas. We selected two cigars that are uniquely unique from the crowd.
Kuba Kuba Maduro -- This mild cigar is made with specially cured & infused Nicaraguan leaf wrapped in Connecticut Maduro Broadleaf. It’s a 5 x 54 fat Robusto with primary acid flavor enhanced by Connecticut broadleaf’s sweet, creamy notes.
Acid Blondie- A 4 x 38 tiny powerhouse wrapped in Connecticut shade leaf and is infused with various herbs and oils, making it one of a kind. This pig-tailed petit corona gives a perfect draw and has a complex taste of sweet, creamy butter and caramel.
Herrera Esteli Habano –Willy Herrera is the man behind this cigar. Do you know who he is? He is the former master cigar blender of El Titan de Bronze of Little Havana, Miami, Florida. He joined Drew Estate in 2011. Herrera Esteli Habano is rolled with Nicaraguan filler tobacco held together with leaves from Honduras and wrapped in Ecuadorian Habano and has very much of a Cuban gene in it. This medium to full-bodied cigar comes in seven vitolas and tastes a fusion of cream, spice, and nuts prominently.
Herrera Estelí Norteño – Norteño, another creative blend from Willy Herrea, crafted with
extensively aged filler leaves from Jalapa and spicy binder leaves from Honduras wrapped in Maduro leaves from San Andres, Mexico. It is a full-bodied cigar in six sizes: Short Corona Gorda, Pyramide Fino, Robusto Grande, Toro, Lonsdale Deluxe, and Edicion Limitada Churchill and full of cocoa and coffee flavors with a mild spicy note.
Undercrown -- There is a story behind Undercrown. Drew Estate says they faced a shortage in the export of Liga Privada cigars and found that the torcedores smoked many of them while rolling, causing the issue and asking them to smoke less Liga Cigars. The torcedores venged by rolling a unique cigar for them, the Undercrown.
Maduro is a medium to full-bodied cigar made with Brazilian Mata Fina and Nicaraguan Cuban Seed filler leaves rolled in T52 Connecticut River Valley Stalk Cut & Cured Habano wrapped in Otapan Negro Último Corte and comes in eight vitolas.
Shade – Shade, on the other hand, was made later by Willy Herrera, who worked extensively with the torcedores who blended the original to bring out an extension to the original one.
It uses a different blend altogether. Its filler is Dominican Criollo, and Nicaraguan Corojo and Criollo leaves and uses Dominican Criollo 98 and Nicaraguan Criollo & Corojo fillers. Undercrown Shade comes in eight vitolas.
Tabak Especial Negra & Dulce– Do you know that DE used to make Kahula Cigars Delicioso, a Kahula infused cigar? When Pernod Ricard bought Kahula in 2008, they discontinued the production agreement with DE. Jonathan Drew sprung into action. He crafted two beautiful cigars in two styles, though it took five years, infusing the most refined coffee essence from Nicaragua.
Negra – Dark Maduro with Nicaraguan filler and binder wrapped in Connecticut Maduro broadleaf.
Dulce— Lighter shaded with a Nicaraguan filler, binder, and shade-grown Connecticut wrapper.
Deadwood Fat Bottom Betty— Fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin’ world go ’round.” Have you heard the Queen song? - Just flashed into my mind. Along with Drew Estate, the Deadwood cigar company created a line of cigars called Yummy bitches, and Fat Bottom Betty is one of them. Fat Bottom Betty is a medium to full-bodied Robusto draped in Connecticut Broadleaf and can curb your cigar appetite with its exotic flavors.
Undercrown Maduro 10 – Undercrown was launched in the year 2011. To commemorate the 10th anniversary Year, Drew Estate brought out “Undercrown 10 “ in 2021. Drew Estate is getting “All Dekked Out,” a tag line that denotes Undercrown 10’s elegant and sophisticated packaging and reinforces the pride of Undercrown’s ten years of excellence. It uses Rare Nicaraguan Tobacco fillers rolled in Connecticut River Valley Broadleaf and wrapped with - Mexican San Andres dark Tobacco and comes in five vitola.
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