Cigar: Liga Privada Unico Year of the Rat
Size: 5 1/2 x 46 (Unico)
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Brazilian
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran MSRP: $159.97 per box of 10
Samples provided by the manufacturer.
Back in January, Drew Estate announced at the TPE convention the release of the Liga Privada Unico Year of the Rat. With its fan tail synonymous among the Unico vitola, the cigar’s release was to coordinate with that of the Chinese New Year and sold via Drew Diplomat events only. Like David said in his review of this cigar a few weeks ago, I’m not sure if or how those events went down due to COVID-19. Regardless, I’m happy to give his cigar a proper welcome and review and thank Drew Estate for the opportunity to review this cigar.
The cigar reviewed was the fourth out of five received. No construction issues detected upon examination. The pre-light aromas brought about rich earth and faint wood notes while the cold draw left me with minor touches of earth on the palette. I was careful to not over-cut the fan and was luckily able to cut along the top of the cap with my guillotine cutter. The light brought a balanced draw with a slight pull of resistance. I found it to have a medium-to-full start in regards to the strength while bringing flavor notes of frontal spice and pepper, earth and light wood in the middle of the palette and hints of cocoa on the aftertaste. Regarding the strength and flavors, everything held as-is until the 26 minute mark when the noticed increase in strength jumped into full bodied range. By this point, the spice and pepper was nearly diminished from the palette while coffee-like notes entered into the palette. The cigar finished out with heavy earth and coffee notes. Total smoking time came in at 0:45.
One issue came to be while smoking this cigar. Within the first five to seven minutes, the draw on the cigar became tight and a chore to draw anything from the cigar. It took a minute or two of working the cap around to loosen whatever the issue was to open the cigar back up. Not enough to take off for but something to mention. The others previously smoked I encountered no issues.
By-The-Numbers
Pre-light: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 0.75/1
Total: 8.75/10
To recap the Liga Privada Unico Year of the Rat:
- If you are looking for a fuller bodied cigar in a smaller package (but want something bigger than the Undercrown Corona Pequeña, this is certainly an option to try.
- And like the Undercrown Corona Pequeña, this cigar is not going to appeal to every cigar smoker due to the fuller bodied strength.
- Nearly $16.00 per cigar is steep for my wallet unless it’s a gift or special occasion.
- I certainly enjoyed the cigar but I don’t think it would see my humidor more than a couple times of year due to the price.
A big thank you once again to Drew Estate for the opportunity to review the Liga Pravada Year of the Rat Unico. And thank you all for reading. Stay safe and have a nice weekend.