Drew Estate Undercrown Shade
- Origin Nicaragua
- Wrapper Ecuador Connecticut
- Binder Nicaragua
- Filler Dominican, Nicaragua
- Strength Mild-edium
In the cigar business there are a few indicators that you may have a hit on your hands. You may see it in exceptional sales numbers or rave reviews from industry publications, or the people responsible for rolling the cigars themselves smoke too damn many of them. The latter is exactly what happened at Drew Estate with the rollers who make their prestigious Liga Privada line. When the company saw the balance sheet and noticed how many LP’s the rollers were smoking, they approached them with a unique proposal – blend your own cigar using similar components, and you can smoke as many as you like. They did, and their creation was so good that it became a regular production line dubbed Undercrown Maduro. Never one to rest on their laurels, Drew Estate has expanded the Undercrown line to include a Connecticut Shade version and most recently a Sun Grown version too.
Undercrown Shade was the first blend created by Willy Herrera, Drew Estate’s Master Blender, not to carry the Herrera Esteli brand name. Of course the inevitable goal of his hire, was to expand their range of premium, non-infused cigar lines. But, they felt he needed to establish his name in marketplace. Industry insiders knew him from his time working at his family’s El Titan de Bronze cigar factory on Calle Ocho in Miami. It’s there where he quickly gained a reputation as an up and coming blender and attracted Drew Estate’s attention. When they tasked him with creating a new version of DE’s popular Undercrown line, Willy wanted to create a blend that was a stark contrast from the original, but retained the complexity and quality of the original. The Undercrown Shade begins with a blend of Dominican Criollo ’98 and Nicaraguan Criollo & Corojo filler tobaccos. It is held together with a choice Sumatran binder and topped off with gorgeous, gold-colored Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper. It is a lush, complex, and smooth cigar featuring notes of caramel, cream, and vanilla with hints of pepper and baking spices. The result is an outstanding addition to Drew Estate’s lineup and worthy of bearing the Undercrown name.