Distinguished Ruffian

Southern Draw’s The Rose of Sharon

Rose of SharonSouthern Draw’s The Rose of Sharon is named after the owner Robert’s wife, Sharon Holt. They say is the mildest cigar the company’s offers to date. It is covered with an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper that houses a blend of a Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos that include Dominican piloto cubano and Nicaraguan seco and visas

The smell from the body is of light cedar and nutmeg. I removed the covering from the foot to get a better smell, the aroma is essentially the same but stronger and has the addition of damp hay. The wrapper is golden brown with a nice sheen to it, very smooth and with very light veining. The construction feels solid all the way through but gives when pressed.

Pre-light draw is light and sweet and reminds me of biting into a fresh plum.

The flavor is very mellow and bready with a hint of earthiness to it. There’s also a touch of sweet and spice to it on the finish. The draw offers good resistance but not to the point that you feel like you’re fighting with it and plenty of lightweight smoke is created with each draw. The first half keeps all of these flavors with the spice starting to out weight the sweet on the finish.

With the second half, flavors intensify a bit with the pepper, roasted nuts and hay flavors becoming more prominent than the bread taste. Still mild but a fuller flavor than when it started. The burn remains pretty sharp and the ash hangs on for as long as I like until knocking it free.

Entering the last third the flavor really picks up and the pepper and spice reaches a level of a solid medium flavored cigar. The burn, smoke and ash all do exactly what they should to show off a well-crafted cigar.

In all this was a great stick and could easily be recommended for beginning as well as seasoned smokers. It’s not overpowering but gives a great example of what you should expect from a cigar when it comes to construction and flavor dynamics. So far I continue to be impressed with what’s coming from Southern Draw (like their heavier bodied Jacobs Ladder) and look forward to smoking many more.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut

Filler: Nicaraguan and Dominican

Sizes: Robusto 5 1/2 x 54, Toro 6 x 52, Gordo 6 1/2 x 60

Price: $9.00-$10.50

Website: Southerndrawcigars.com

Drew Estate Undercrown Sun Grown

Drew Estate Sun GrownWith the Undercrown Maduro on one end of the spectrum and the Shade on the other people were left wondering if there would be something to bridge the flavor gap. In walks the Undercrown Sun Grown. Released at ICPCR 2017, the Undercrown Sun Grown is the third full release from Drew Estate in their Undercrown series and it offers the same use of the T52 leaf for the binder, an extensively aged ligero in the filler from Nicaragua and of course the Ecuadorian Sumatra seed sun grown wrapper. Following the same story line as the other Undercrowns it was blended on the factory floor but with the help of Willy Herrera.

The appearance of the cigar is great as always. The wrapper is the color of coffee beans with medium veining but still wrapped smoothly and with tight seams. It is full filled cigar that doesn’t offer much give when pressed between the fingers.

The smell from the body gives notes of cedar, leather and cocoa and from the foot hints of chocolate and a punch of leather. The pre-light draw has a medium pull with a touch of sweetness and the distinct flavor of raisins. The cap cuts easily with no damage to the wrapper as well as it lights easily and evenly.

First half gives flavors that are peaty and earthy with a bit of barnyard. It’s a bit tighter on the draw then I prefer but manageable. Smoke production is light until about a third of the way down where is begins to produce a rich thick smoke you can almost chew on. To me the flavor intensifies slightly while smoking the first half but note enough to make note of.

The second half has a touch more bite of salt to the tongue; sweetness and fruit kick in a bit more with pepper stalking the other flavors shortly after. By the last third the cigar really comes into its own, the smoke produced becomes lighter and all the flavors begin to mesh into each other making for a relaxed warm tasting smoke. The flavor overall, to me, is medium to medium heavy with a dark chocolate flavor accompanied with a hint roasted almonds and a slightly spicy finish.

Over all I enjoyed the stick although I didn’t notice a very large difference between the Undercrown Maduro and the Undercrown Sun Grown. I will say the main difference I noticed with this stick is that depending on what you choose to pair it with will have a heavy influence in what notes you pick up in the cigar. (And yes before everybody chimes in this is usually the case HOWEVER with this particular blend I found it to be more so than usual. The flavor profile seemed to change so much that I went through several of these before finally making the decision to smoke one with just a glass of water to write this article.) Be sure to pair what you’re drinking when you smoke this to the taste you want at that time. My personal favorite was having a strong bourbon on the rocks, which really brought out the spicy notes. The price point is more than reasonable and the overall construction makes it a solid win for your next cigar purchase.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra Sun Grown

Binder and Filler: Connecticut River Valley Stalk Cut/Cured Sun Grown Habano, Nicaraguan

Size smoked for this article: Corona 5 5/8 x 46

Price: $8.00-$9.00 depending on size and area.

Website: Drewestate.com

Rating: 4.1 out if 5 pints

Pappy Van Winkle Tradition

Pappy Van Winkle TraditionAs someone who drinks bourbon on a daily basis the idea of the Pappy Van Winkle Tradition cigar was an exciting event for me. Whether it had anything to do with the whiskey itself really didn’t matter it was the idea that a blend had been made for us whiskey drinkers and gotten the seal of approval from Julian Van Winkle himself. I might have been a little over zealous in texting photos to everyone I knew once I got them using the unicorn emoji and #bejealous but like I said I was excided. (What can I say, my friends and I are all immature.)

Willy Herrera made this particular blend during his tour of the Drew Estate factory in Nicaragua while deciding to join the Drew Estate team. Several other blends where given to Julian to sample and ultimately this was the one he found himself going back to and like that the Tradition was born. Now that we have the quick history behind it, on to the important stuff.

Construction of the cigar is solid as is the case with pretty much anything you get from Drew Estate. The seams on the wrapper are tight and even and the feel of the cigar throughout the body is full with no dead spots. The wrapper itself has very minimal veining giving it a smooth complexion. The color is a light roasted coffee bean with a just a hint of the oily sheen you’d expect from an Oscuro. The feel of the cigar is full but yielding to pressure between the fingers

The smell from the body is woodsy and semi-sweet. From the foot there is the distinct smell of raisins, leather and, perhaps it’s my imagination because of the excitement but bourbon as well. I choose a straight cut for this cigar and the cap comes off easily and has no effect on the integrity of the cigar. The pre-light draw is firm but not to the point that you feel you’re fighting with it. The pre-light flavor is that of fresh brewed tea and hay.

It lights easily and burns evenly as it starts with mild resistance on the draw. The cigar produced plenty of smoke that had a light mouth feel and had a nice sweet scent. The initial flavors to me were spice and pepper with a citrus finish but remained mellow making this an easy to smoke cigar and paired well bourbon. This flavor carries on for the first half of the stick.

The second half of the smoke shows the peppery flavor becoming slightly more prominent with the taste of fresh bread and hints of leather nudging its way on to the pallet. The ash was light grey and held tightly for the duration of the smoke, only falling off when requested. The burn stayed consistent and even through the duration of the cigar.

The overall construction of this cigar was top notch and the Belicoso size was perfect for me. The flavors were fantastic and were blended to the point that none of the flavors were overpowering but mingle together to as a great smoke. This made for a rich, complex smoke that you could either pay attention to all of the subtle nuances or just sit back and relax and enjoy. Not surprisingly this cigar paired very well with bourbon but could easily be enjoyed with coffee or sparkling water. If you happen to come across these pick up whatever you can because you will not be disappointed.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro

Filler: Indonesian and Dominican

Sizes: Coronita 4 x 46, Robusto Grande 5.5 x 54, Toro 6 x 50, Belicoso Fino 5 x 50

Also available in these sizes but only available in certain ways.

Churchill 7 x 48: Exclusively available at Drew Diplomat Spirits Retailers

Lonsdale 6.5 x 44: Box Exclusively at Drew Diplomat Rewards Events in October, November and December 2017

Corona 5.5 x 44: Available exclusively from Jonathan Drew and Julian Van Winkle

Price: $21.00-$26.00

Website: Drewestate.com

Rating: 4.7 out of 5 pints