Originally published at Tiki Bar Online
Toro, 6” x 52 ring gauge / $6.95, MSRP
Today I will be doing a preview on one of the cigars released at the recent IPCPR show, the Drew Estate Nica Rustica. When I heard about the blend info and the price I was very excited to give it a try. The filler is comprised of tobacco from Esteli and Jalapa, a Mexican San Andres Dark binder with a Connecticut Broadleaf Medium wrapper. They come in a 50 count cab and at this point only this one size. This show sample was the only one I was able to smoke.
The wrapper on the cigar is a very dark almost black brown in color. There was some darker mottling present as well. It had a different color than the Liga No. 9 and even though it was classified “medium” it was about the same color as many of the Ligas I’ve seen. The wrapper had a good amount of oils to it and was slightly velvety to the touch. The wrapper has a pigtail cap and the wrapper covers the foot of the cigar. I’m not too crazy about the wrapper covering the foot as it can cause the cigar to be a pain to light and you have to watch out for flying tobacco so you don’t burn a hole in your clothes. The cigar was fairly firm to the touch, similar to many of the Undercrowns or Ligas I’ve had. As I put my nose to the wrapper I got a very intense aroma of barnyard, with the foot adding some cinnamon notes in. After clipping and taking a cold draw on it I got some cocoa notes with a good draw.
Once I lit it up I got an intense burning red pepper spice on the tongue and retrohale, nice. After a few more puffs I got some cinnamon and cocoa flavors coming through. The draw was great and it produced a large volume of smoke even at rest, which is typical of the Liga/Undercrown line. About half way into this third the spice started to tone down with some coffee and earth flavors with a sweet finish starting to come through. I did feel like I had to keep puffing on the cigar or it would go out. It started in the medium-full range in regards to strength.
The spice almost fell off completely as I moved in the second third. The sweet chocolate, leather, coffee, earth and cinnamon flavors intensified to fill the void. The burn line got a little wavy but didn’t require an application of the lighter. The strength mellowed a bit into the medium range.
As I got into the final third the spice started to come back and I started to get a bit of a nicotine buzz from the cigar. The draw continued to be perfect, other than having to keep puffing on it so it wouldn’t go out and the burn line evened itself out. The flavors were pretty similar to the second third. The cigar did start to get back into the medium-full range as well.
When I first heard about this cigar I was wondering how it would fit in with the Liga and Undercrown lines, and from this one sample I say it does very easily. It is definitely different than the other two, sweeter than the Undercrown, but not as complex as the Liga. I will definitely be picking up some of these when the come in. If you like Liga or Undercrown I would highly recommend giving this a try.
