Vitola: Robusto- 5.5” x 54 ring gauge
- ~$10.25
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
According to Wikipedia, Kudzu was introduced to the United States from Japan at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia…and came to the southeast a few years later at the New Orleans Exposition. It was sold as a great way to provide shade for porches, cheap feed for cattle, and erosion cover for soil. Unfortunately after a boll weevil infestation and crop failure in the late 1940s, millions of acres of kudzu plantings went unchecked for a few years…and that was all she wrote. Today close to 7,500,000 acres of land in the southeast is covered with the fast-growing vine.
Hoping to replicate that kind of success, Southern Draw produced Kudzu as their first blend in 2014. The cigars are made at the AJ Fernandez factory in Nicaragua using Nicaraguan and USA fillers, a Nicaraguan Ometepe binder, and an Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper. It is available in 6 sizes, 3 of which are regular production items and the other 3 of which are limited editions.
I’ve smoked 2 or 3 of these prior to this review sample, which I bought at Burns Tobacconist in Chattanooga. If your local shop doesn’t carry Southern Draw, you can find them on Small Batch Cigar, a Leaf Enthusiast sponsor.
Prelight
The boxes for most of the Southern Draw lines are fairly plain and unadorned. Too plain, if I’m being honest, as they tend to disappear in a crowded humidor. The banding on these is nice, though, with a dark reddish and brown background overlaid with gold foil in a look that to me is very “old west.”
The wrapper was a shade darker than milk chocolate brown and nicely oily under my fingertips. It had a rich earthy aroma to it with hints of cocoa powder and coffee. The foot had stronger notes of chocolate in the mix.
Once clipped, the Kudzu had a fairly easy prelight draw that tasted of earth, espresso bean, bell pepper, and unsweetened cocoa powder.
Flavor
I fired up Kudzu with my single-flame torch and soon had a steady, even burn established. I got initial flavors of cedar, cinnamon, and earth up front, with semi-sweet chocolate and red pepper coming in closely behind. The retrohale had an intense pepper fire, followed up with roasted nuts and cedar.
As I got into the second third, I got a lot more wood in the profile, both cedar and oak at this point. There was a slight citrus sweetness in the mix and the continuation of bell and red pepper notes.
The final third had a return of some unsweetened cocoa mixing with the cedar and oak notes. Pepper spice diminished quite a bit as the last third went along.
Construction
I had a very good draw, very even burn line, and solid ash.
Value
Very good cigar at about an “average” price, so good value.
Conclusions
The Southern Draw Kudzu is a very nice first blend for any company…and the fact that the company has stuck around and grown for 7+ years now proves that I’m not the only one who thinks so! I found it to be medium-plus in body with a really nice amount of complexity that continued to please my palate from end to end.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
