Vitola: Box-pressed Robusto- 5” x 52 ring gauge
- $10
- Samples provided by Drew Estate
Background
In 1999, Drew Estate introduced a cigar that would turn the cigar industry upside down. Jonathan Drew had this to say about one of the most iconic brand names in the past quarter century:
The ACID Cigar brand was born under the Manhattan bridge, on the Brooklyn side of course, with a raw & honest vision of boundless freedom. Urban culture and massive style supercharged the ACID brand, shaking the foundation of the traditional cigar empires across the globe. ACID’s impact was much more than just disruptive, as it essentially cracked the mainframe of the sleepy status quo. Over twenty years, we transformed from a scrappy little crew on Jay Street, Brooklyn to an organized, viral network of distinguished Diplomats rocking every street in America. ACID is everywhere, like savoir faire, percolating and reconnoitering.
So I can actually hear some people snickering, sighing, laughing or rolling their eyes at me calling ACID an “iconic” cigar brand. Like them or not, though, ACID-branded cigars probably sell a lot better than what you’re smoking right now, so literally a lot of people DO like them. I personally have not cared for the ACID brand since about 2004-2005 when I feel like I “outgrew” the whole flavored (Drew Estate would prefer you call them “infused”) cigar scene. Still, I was working at a cigar store in summer 2019 when the ACID 20 was introduced and was given the chance to try it for free. I ended up liking it enough to smoke more and put it into my review rotation. Also, I have to say I can feel at least one person silently judging me right now (and probably will hear some not-so-silent judgement from him later); well, brother, I’m silently (because this is text, not video) judging you, too, for smoking so many Warped Cigars that you are reflexively starting to grow a man-bun…or bitch-biscuit…whatever.
ACID 20 is a new blend in the brand’s lineup, featuring Nicaraguan fillers, an Indonesian binder, and a Mexican San Andres Maduro wrapper leaf, a first for ACID lines. The press release announcing the blend describes the infusion as “truly unique, and worthy of the double decade title.”
I ended up with 3 ACID 20s given to me either by my boss who went to the IPCPR trade show and brought samples back or our local rep. I smoked two of them before this review sample that I ended up sitting on for about 3 months. Just about every store in America carries ACID, but if yours doesn’t have the 20, Small Batch Cigar does.
Prelight
The box is covered with silver, including a heavier silver “20” logo on both inside and outside of the lid. It’s cool and dramatic compared to the normal ACID boxes you’ve seen for the last couple decades. The band repeats the silver and black attack on both regular and foot bands.
The cigar itself had a wrapper that was dark chocolate brown in color with a fairly rough texture, but a good amount of oils present. The aroma from it was very floral, warm and sweet with a touch of sandlewood; mostly that was just infusion and not the aroma of the tobacco leaf by itself. Surprisingly, the foot of the cigar had less infusion aroma, allowing notes of earth and cocoa powder to come through a bit. I have to be honest, though, any time I sniff an infused cigar that much and get it into my nose, it’s hard to smell anything else for a while. The experience of it is just overpowering to the senses.
And then comes time for the worst part of this cigar and the most overpowering to my palate…I clipped the head with my Xikar Xi and got a good draw, but the amount of artificial sweetener added to the goma on the cap of this cigar is almost sickening. Honestly, it’s hard to taste anything else and it leaves a fake sugar sweetness on your tongue and lips for a very long time. If they got rid of the sweet tip on this cigar—or at least dialed it down—I think it would be much more accepted by “traditional” cigar smokers.
Flavor
From previous experience, I knew the sweet tip would dissipate after about 10 minutes, but it was still very present when I fired up the ACID 20. Along with the cloying sweetness there was a bit of the sandlewood and floral note and some earth on the palate, along with a cinnamon and pepper finish. The retrohale was nice and peppery, while also giving up a little cedar aroma. Sure enough, after a few minutes the sweetness started to die down a bit and allow other flavors to come through more. I was getting a more solid earthiness and a bit of coffee bean along with the floral notes.
By the time the second third rolled around, the sweetness was just another element in the mix of espresso, semi-sweet chocolate, earth, and red pepper. The infusion proved light and somewhat delicate with the floral notes blending very well into the whole.
Deep into the final third, the ACID 20 had less sweetness from the sweetened cap and more from the actual wrapper leaf, which came through in an increasing amount of chocolate, while the earth and coffee notes faded a bit. There was still a good amount of pepper and a mild sandlewood infusion note that was rather nice at this point.
Construction
I had a great draw, very even burn line and solid ash.
Value
The ACID 20 is actually less expensive than some of the other very popular sizes of ACID, especially some of the “Grande” or “Deluxe” releases. If infused cigars are your thing, that makes this excellent value.
Conclusions
Yeah…I liked the ACID 20…so sue me! Or applaud me for actually giving it a fair shake. Whatever. After getting past the first few minutes and the overwhelmingly cloying sweetness, the cigar is actually very nice, with a medium-plus body and notes of earth, chocolate and pepper mixing with the infusion in an unexpectedly natural way. If the first third had been as enjoyable as the second and third, the Flavor category would have scored higher and I would definitely add this to my rotation on an occasional basis. As it is, I’m not longer a “hater” of ACID…you just really have to find the right one for you. So I would like to request a “ACID 21” that uses Broadleaf and no sweetened cap.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
