Toro, 6" x 52 ring gauge / Price UnknownThis here is Drew Estate's latest cigar in the Liga Privada line. I received this cigar, and one other, at the Dirty Rat launch party at Maxamar's Cigars from Alex the local DE rep. There isn't much information out there as to what the cigar is made up. The one thing that I could find is that the wrapper is the same type, a stalk cut habano, as found on the T-52. As far as the insides most of the speculation was that it was a stronger blend than the other two lines.
The wrapper on the cigar is very dark brown with a few veins on it. There is also a good amount of tooth to the wrapper. This sample was slightly oily to the touch as well. When I gave the cigar a squeeze I was able to detect a slight amount of give but there were no soft spots. Putting my nose to the wrapper I was able to discern aromas of tobacco with barnyard coming from the foot. After I clipped it and took a cold draw the flavors of chocolate were the post predominate. The draw was pretty good.
As soon I lit the cigar up the first taste that hit me was dark chocolate. There was also a red pepper spice on the tongue, with wasabi spice on the retrohale. If it kept up this way it would be great. Progressing through the first third I also got flavors of leather and earth. It reiminded me more of the No. 9 at this point more than the T-52. The draw was great and it produced a large volume of smoke. It didn't seem to be hampered by the rain that was coming down while I smoked this on my patio. The ash did need to be tapped off at about a half an inch because it was starting to curve and I didn't want to drop ash on myself. The ash was pretty dark, almost black in color.
Unfortunately as I started the second third the flavors fell flat. That is to say that the flavors dropped in intensity. I could detect chocolate, tobacco, spice and sweetness but they seemed to be muted. The draw and burn continued to be great so that didn't hamper the smoking experience.
The final third didn't see much change. The flavors stayed pretty much in the background and would only occasionally get temporarily more intense. The burn did get slightly uneven but it didn't effect the draw or amount of smoke produced.
Overall while it wasn't a bad cigar. There were by no means any unpleasant tastes and the construction was very good. However it was no where as good as the No. 9 or Dirty Rat in my opinion. If this was on the shelf I don't think I would end up picking it up. Now if the cigar was like it was in the first third all the way through then we'd have a different cigar. Overall it was sort of disappointing. I hope they can tweak the blend to make it more enjoyable before it is released.
The wrapper on the cigar is very dark brown with a few veins on it. There is also a good amount of tooth to the wrapper. This sample was slightly oily to the touch as well. When I gave the cigar a squeeze I was able to detect a slight amount of give but there were no soft spots. Putting my nose to the wrapper I was able to discern aromas of tobacco with barnyard coming from the foot. After I clipped it and took a cold draw the flavors of chocolate were the post predominate. The draw was pretty good.
As soon I lit the cigar up the first taste that hit me was dark chocolate. There was also a red pepper spice on the tongue, with wasabi spice on the retrohale. If it kept up this way it would be great. Progressing through the first third I also got flavors of leather and earth. It reiminded me more of the No. 9 at this point more than the T-52. The draw was great and it produced a large volume of smoke. It didn't seem to be hampered by the rain that was coming down while I smoked this on my patio. The ash did need to be tapped off at about a half an inch because it was starting to curve and I didn't want to drop ash on myself. The ash was pretty dark, almost black in color.
Unfortunately as I started the second third the flavors fell flat. That is to say that the flavors dropped in intensity. I could detect chocolate, tobacco, spice and sweetness but they seemed to be muted. The draw and burn continued to be great so that didn't hamper the smoking experience.
The final third didn't see much change. The flavors stayed pretty much in the background and would only occasionally get temporarily more intense. The burn did get slightly uneven but it didn't effect the draw or amount of smoke produced.
Overall while it wasn't a bad cigar. There were by no means any unpleasant tastes and the construction was very good. However it was no where as good as the No. 9 or Dirty Rat in my opinion. If this was on the shelf I don't think I would end up picking it up. Now if the cigar was like it was in the first third all the way through then we'd have a different cigar. Overall it was sort of disappointing. I hope they can tweak the blend to make it more enjoyable before it is released.
Body: 6/10
Strength: 7/106
Complexity: 9/105
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 7.5/10
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