Cigar Review: Norteño by Drew Estate

Vitola: Robusto Grande
Size: 5.5” x 54 ring gauge
MSRP ~$12
Purchased from Burns Tobacconist

Background

The first time I had a Norteño was almost two years ago, when I visited Drew Estate’s factory in Nicaragua. At the time, the Herrera Esteli was relatively new to the marketplace and all of us on the trip wondered what Willy Herrera would be doing for a follow-up. We were given a box-pressed maduro to smoke at some point in the trip and Willy asked for feedback. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t called “Norteño” then, but I’m also pretty sure it was an early version of the project. Later in 2013, those of us at the Chattanooga Tweet-Up got to try something new and different from Willy Herrera, which also ended up being a box-pressed Maduro…and was probably another early iteration of this cigar.

It wasn’t until somewhere in the middle of 2014 that the word came down on what the project was to be: Norteño. The word means (according to Google translate) “north” but can also be “Northerner” which I suspect is what is meant here, since Willy’s actual home is Miami (with a workplace in Nicaragua, that’s an awfully long commute). Or perhaps it’s a reference to the wrapper leaf, a Mexican San Andres, since Mexico is “north” of Estelí. Whatever the case, this cigar was officially announced in mid-2014 and made a “soft debut” at the 2014 Chattanooga Tweet-Up, although only for VIP ticket holders. It didn’t show up for sale at Burns until November or so and then only a few boxes were available. I got one of the last ones and saved it for this review.

All in all, there are 6 sizes of Norteño being made. It features fillers from Estelí and Jalapa (both in Nicaragua), a binder from Honduras and the Mexican wrapper I mentioned before.

Prelight

The band of the Norteño is the same basic shape as that used for the original Herrera Esteli release; that makes sense because according to the writing on the side (“Herrera Esteli by Drew Estate”) this should be considered a continuation of that branding. The paper stock is glossy this time, though and the coloration is cream and olive green. While the band of the original release was fairly plain text, this features an image of the Guardabarranco (or turquoise-browed motmot), the official bird of Nicaragua.

The box-pressing on the cigar is soft, with very rounded corners. The wrapper leaf was dark chocolate brown in color with a good amount of oiliness on the fingers and a pungent ripeness to the nose. I got a strong earthy manure smell mixed with some sweetness. The foot had a more “dirt” centered earthiness and a bit of cedar. The cold draw was good with notes of semi-sweet chocolate, dried fruit, earth and wood.

Flavor

The Norteño took a good, long firing to get lit fully and evenly, but once it was going I was pleased to find the flavor was not dominated by bitter earthiness, a flavor I had at one time come to expect from pretty much all Mexican-wrapped cigars. In the last couple years, either Mexican leaf has come a long way or people have learned better how to blend with it; either way, the result is a cigar like this where there is definite earthiness and a solid black coffee bitter note, but there is also rich chocolate flavor with a restrained sweetness, and lesser notes on the palate of raisin, anise and red pepper. The retrohale displayed some good pepper spice, though still not a nose-hair searing amount of it. By 10 or 15 puffs in, it was evident that this smoke would probably push into the full-bodied segment, but it was also complex and balanced in a way I hadn’t expected just looking at the country of origin makeup of the stick.

As expected, during the second third, the body did ramp up to the low end of full. I continued to get some sweet notes, but the anise really came on strong and there was more earth and espresso bean flavor. Pepper notes diminished on both the palate and the nose. One thing I did find interesting was how little this cigar tasted like other cigars with similar makeup that I also enjoy…say, the Padron 1964 Maduro or Crowned Heads Jericho Hill. Despite all 3 using Mexican wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers, the Norteño had a more unique flavor profile.

The last third of the Norteño had more earth taking the fore, with ample amounts of unsweetened cocoa and espresso bean just underneath that. There was still a bit of sweetness for balance and a touch of anise.

Construction

Construction here was flawless; I had a perfect draw, very even burn line and rock solid ash.

Value

I have to admit that the Norteño started out with a very high hurdle…every single vitola has an MSRP of $10 or more. This goes quite a bit beyond the original Herrera Estelí release and straight into Liga Privada pricing territory. So consider it like a Liga Privada when I say it is worth every penny.

Conclusions

The Norteño is not only an excellent follow-up to the original Herrera Esteli, but a cigar that rivals Drew Estate’s Liga Privada lines in flavor, balance and elegance. It’s not something I could afford to smoke every day, but it is a fantastic smoking experience that pushes the ball forward on re-defining what Mexican-wrapped cigars can—and should—be.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10