The Unico Serie, we all know it, we all like it, and we all try to get our hands on them. While the original 2016 release of Year of the Rat was challenging (to say the least) to get a hold of, Drew Estate’s launch of the Liga Privada Unico Year of the Rat 2020 will be available at upcoming Drew Diplomat events to coincide with the Chinese New Year.

Now, normally I don’t waste time talking about the labels or packaging, you have eyes, you can see what it looks like, I don’t need to describe it to you. However in this case it bears mentioning. While the bands are your classic style DE Unico bands the gold foil really makes this cigar stand out and makes you feel a bit like Charlie unwrapping his Wonka Bar to find the Golden Ticket underneath.  Once the foil is removed the wrapper underneath has the color of dark aged rawhide. While the seams are nice and tight, there is some veining noticed giving it a great rustic look and feel. The cigar feels well rolled and full but complies when pressure is applied with the fingers.

The smell from the body is earthy with notes of fresh cut wood and a chocolate sweetness, the sweetness is more prominent from the foot. The cap cuts with no issues and from the cold draw flavors of rich tobacco and chocolate are present.

The first half starts with the taste of red pepper and earth with a good meatiness to it. There is loads of smoke production that’s nearly heavy enough to chew on. The draw is easy and it burns evenly.

In the second half the flavor becomes even greater. A rich mocha coffee flavor comes to the front with pepper kicking its way in on the finish. It ended with a soft creamy finish, similar to reaching the bottom of a latte with a splash of licorice on the finish. The burn remained even and only had to be re-touched with the flame once due to operator error. The smoke production remained full and heavy for the duration of the cigar.

While each article is summed up by saying I enjoyed the cigar (this is because I choose to only write about cigars I like, who wants to waste their time reading, or writing, about a bad cigar) this was really a lot of fun to smoke. The flavor was very rich and complex combined with impeccable craftsmanship, this is one I smoked down until my fingers burned because I didn’t want it to end. The Year Of The Rat 2020 is only available for purchase at Drew Diplomat Retail events. Each store hosting a Drew Diplomat event will be able to purchase up to four boxes that will be made available for sale to us consumers. So while it might be a little difficult to find its worth searching out a DDRP event and pick up as many as you can get your hands on.