ABC Fine Wine & Spirits

Drew Estate

Drew Estate

TL;DR: A connie with a kick, but I think the Undercrown Shade is better (and cheaper). ——— 71% RH @ Cap, 67% RH @ foot - Home humidor aged 5 months. ——— Initial observations - Quality all around in the presentation. I love the red foot band, the cedar roll around the body with the 20 Acre Farm/D.E. logo printed on it, and the main band itself with the white, red, and gold color way. The band size is great and well-placed. The foot band and cedar roll come off easily enough, but don’t try to use the cedar to light the cigar since there’s tape on it (even if you remove the tape, there will probably be some glue left on it that you won’t want to burn and inhale). The wrapper itself is a nice brown-paper-bag color. The veins and seams are obvious, but the stick still looks clean. The complexed cap is set cleanly, straight, and deeply. My cigar has a clean, evenly cut foot with no nicks or splits (thanks, in part, to the banding). It feels very firm to the touch and I can see that it’s packed well. Unlit wrapper scents include cinnamon, coffee, and hay, and the foot smells the same, all pretty standard for a quality cigar, especially a connecticut. ——— Cold draw - The cap took my double guillotine cut well, and the cold draw is spot on. I got flavors of cinnamon, coffee, a spice (white pepper?), and hay. ——— Light up - Initial flavors were almonds, peanuts, a floral note, and a touch of cedar on the palate. The retrohale had white and red pepper, cream, and graham crackers. No discernible finish. A touch of cinnamon gradually works its way in as the first third burns. ——— First third - Right off the bat I could tell that this wasn’t a typical connecticut. It has a bit more nicotine strength (mild plus, almost medium), and the pepper is very present, both in the palate and ESPECIALLY in the retrohale. Along with that pepper was almonds, cedar, and a touch of cinnamon up front, as carried over from the light up. The retro continued with red pepper, cream, graham crackers, and a floral note that almost got missed due to burn in my sinuses. I learned very quickly not to retrohale this too much. The finish that developed let the cream linger along with a hint of cedar and pepper just sitting at the back of my throat. The ash was a dark gray, stacked, and moderately flaky. I found the room aroma to be a little more pungent than the average cigar, which is kind of odd to me considering the price point. It’s been my experience that cigars with cheaper tobaccos tend to smell more foul than others, so I was not sure what to make of that. Additionally, the cigar ashed itself before a whole inch burned. If I had been handed this cigar blindly, I’d have thought it was a Factory Smokes with a different binder or something. The burn was less than razor sharp and in fact stayed wavy almost the entire burn. The increase in cream presence brought in the second third. ——— Second third - Not too much change from the first third. Like most Drew Estates cigars, the foot put off tons of smoke. My nose was running from the pepper at this point. A grassy hay showed up in the finish, but the palate and the ratio stayed the same, for the most part. Not much sweetness, and toward the end of this third I actually got a smoked mineral meatiness. Go figure. ——— Final third - The burn canoed on its own. No breeze outside to speak of, so…who knows. Leather showed up as an unexpected palate note, and the floral note added some citrus to it. The main band came off easily. The draw got noticeably loose, which only added more smoke to an already very smoky stick. ——— Other notes (aroma, ash, finish, burn line, pace, strength, draw, etc.) - To say that I was NOT impressed would be putting it mildly, unlike this cigar’s pepper. The toro may be a better vitola, but I don’t know if I’ll venture to find out. I will entertain the idea that I might have gotten a bad stick, but I don’t know. All said, I actually like some connecticuts, like the Rose of Sharon, the Undercrown Shade, the My Father connecticut, even the Casa de Garcia, but this one just wasn’t for me. I didn’t care to smoke my cigar past a 1” nub, and that took 1 hour, 10 minutes. ——— Personal Final Score - 73

Drew Estate

TL;DR: A moderately complex assortment of dark flavor notes through two enjoyable thirds, but beware of the end. ——— 70% RH @ Cap, 65% RH @ foot - Home humidor aged 5 months. ——— Initial observations - Dark chocolate mixed with milk chocolate colored wrapper. Very visible seams. A couple visible veins. There’s a matte look and texture to the cigar, not a lot of oil or “tooth”. The cigar has a good firmness. The foot is tidy and shows densely packed filler. The foot band is impressive and classy without being overly opulent. Font and color choices are spot on, along with the texturing that does not appear on the main band. Scents off the unit wrapper are of coffee, dark chocolate, cinnamon, and hay. The foot scents are significantly more muted; there is a faint cinnamon, maybe coffee, but that’s it, and it’s hard to pick up without a long inhale. The foot band doesn’t slide off like a traditional one, rather it is peeled off like a regular main band. The complex cap is set well, straight, and deeply, and took my double sided scissor cut well. ——— Cold draw - The draw itself is a little on the tight side, but still workable. Flavor notes included coffee, cinnamon, and a slight nuttiness. ——— Light up - Flavors were bold on the palate and included espresso, walnut, oak, and black pepper. The retrohale had black pepper and dark chocolate. A slight finish started to come on quickly. ——— First third - A canoe started on the burn almost immediately, but I can’t fault the cigar because of the slightly breezy conditions I smoked in, and the difficulty I had with my lighter trying to get the stick lit. All the same, I afforded it the opportunity to correct itself. The ash itself was light gray and flaky. A lot has been said about the power and pepper of this stick. And while I did feel black pepper sitting at the back of my throat fairly early on, it wasn’t anything I hadn’t felt before from other cigars. The pepper is also very present in the retrohale, but I’ve definitely smoked other manufacturers that tried much harder to obliterate my sinuses. One thing that really did stand out to me was how dry the smoke texture was, and how it made my whole mouth feel dry after every exhale. All that said, through the first third, the flavor notes I got were espresso, leather, a little bit of earth, and some walnuts on the palate, along with black pepper, a faint dark chocolate, and cedar on the retro, with black pepper, espresso, and hay in the finish. The cigar ashed itself with 0.5” left in the first third. Transitioning into the second third and I started to get a couple more sweet notes like maple and sweet cream. ——— Second third - There was a decent room aroma of a standard cigar with a touch of woodiness. Strength ramped up from medium plus to full bodied. The canoe corrected itself, but the burn line stayed slightly wavy. Flavor notes transitioned and changed somewhat, but not a ton. Dark chocolate, minerals, espresso, reduced black pepper, some cooking spices like nutmeg, and hay were on the palate. The sweetness in the earlier transition melded into a nice bready, non-toasty note, or perhaps a candied walnut. The retro had milk chocolate, cedar, cream, hay, and sweet tobacco, while the finish stayed espresso and hay. My cigar ashed itself again at the end of the third. No notable transitions into the final third aside from the increase in nicotine strength. ——— Final third - Leather and mineral notes returned on the palate and in the finish along with musty earth, but the darkness got darker. The espresso note started getting bitter. The dark chocolate did too. Tobacco flavor began hanging around longer. The oak became a charred oak. Mineral notes got saltier, and the retrohale pepper got a lot spicier. Interestingly, a floral note appeared on the finish about halfway through this third. The last unintentional ash happened less than a 0.5” from the main band. The final band came off easily…once I got my nail under it, which itself was a little struggle. ——— Other notes - Overall, I enjoyed the first two thirds much more than I expected to, but the final third let me down and got worse as I smoked it. One positive note, the tobacco flavor itself never got bitter, even when other flavor notes did. I took 1 hour and 25 minutes to get to a 1” nub. ——— Personal Final Score - 81

Nub

Nice chocolate brown wrapper. The cigar had a foot band for extra protection, which is always appreciated. The “Nuance” is a line of infused cigars and this one smelled of coffee and chocolate. It also had a sweetened cap, which I wasn’t expecting. After a straight cut and light up, I got flavor notes of coffee with cream, and chocolate. Tons of smoke. The retrohale had no pepper, but did have general baking spices. Burn line was sharp. 1st third’s tasting notes: Vanilla plus coffee. Clove came out on the retrohale. Mild strength and flavors. Very aromatic. 2nd third: smooth flavors continued. Not complex. Ash held tight. Final third: tobacco showed up with 1.5” left. Coffee and caramel on retro. Unfortunately the good burn canoed. Overall this was pleasant, but just okay.

Drew Estate

Secondary cap is deep, but the top layer is shallow and a little ugly. All the same, it handled the double guillotine cut like a champ. The wrapper smells as most Connecticuts do, coffee, hay, and brown sugar. Seams are visible and done mottling is present, but it’s not too bad. Solid stick with just a little give. Cold draw has notes of bread, honey, cinnamon, and barnyard. Light up was easy. Immediate notes of buttered toast, sweet cream, and hay. White pepper and nutmeg on the retrohale. Into the first third and the burn canoed, requiring touching up. Grass notes come out, no doubt from the short filler of this Cuban sandwich. Ash is flaky and the foot smoke smells cheap. The grassy note turns to hay before the end of the first third. Ash falls in 1.5” chunks. As usual, the second third is the best third. White pepper turns to black pepper, but it exists only on the retrohale. Plenty of thick smoke. Flavor notes don’t change as much as the blend together better. Buttered toast, hay, a little cream, and a little cinnamon. Burn didn’t canoe, but it was wavy. Spice picks up a little. Foot smoke stays aromatic. Once the band is reached, the best of the cigar is over. Choose to quit due to the decline in flavor, or continue for the nicotine buzz. Final third and the sweet tobacco comes on strong. Pepper lingers. Foot smoke turns foul-ish. Band comes off easy with heat. As with most Drew Estates cigars, it really starts putting off a lot of smoke here. Under the tobacco taste, there’s a hint of coffee with cream, but that’s about it. The short fillers aren’t doing you any favors here. Draw lightly to avoid a mouthful of bitter tobacco. I stopped with an inch left after an hour. The finish is short throughout. Medium flavors, mild strength. The Maduro version of this cigar is probably the best in the line, but this one isn’t bad. Better inexpensive Connecticuts also exist for less than a dollar more, but this hangs with the competition. Probably won’t buy many more of these (if any), but I certainly don’t regret getting these 2.

Drew Estate

TL;DR - Oaky, chocolate, tobacco, bread. Chocolate and cinnamon notes come off the unlit wrapper. The cold draw has bready notes of wheat and baking spices. Initial light up is mostly tobacco some hints of coffee and a touch of leather. Lots of smoke and a decent burn. Wrapper imparts natural, chocolatey sweetness through the first third. The foot put off a lot of smoke at first. Very little bitterness to begin with, and foot scent isn’t off-putting. Ash holds well. Second third finds no flavor changes, but what is present intensifies. Flavors and strength (nicotine) is medium. Final third adds earth and ash to the bready note. Foot smoke turns ever so slightly foul revealing the cheaper side of this cigar. Ash still holds well, though. Bitterness shows up at the end. Power through it to get a taste of anise in the end. Overall a GREAT smoke for the money, and this will be a regular fixture in my humidor.