Cigar Review: Herrera Estelí Lancero by Drew Estate

Vitola: Lancero
Size: 6.5” x 38 ring gauge
Price ~$10-11
Review samples provided by Drew Estate

Background

Timeline:

• June 2011: Willy Herrera leaves El Titan de Bronze and joins Drew Estate
• Early 2013: Herrera Esteli release, initially to only 50 stores nationwide
• August 2013: At the Chattanooga Tweet-Up, Willy hands out a few Herrera Esteli Lanceros…he calls it “a work in progress”
• December 2013: Lancero officially announced
• April 2014: Herrera Esteli Lancero officially released as a “Limited Edition 2014”
• May 2014: As I wrote this timeline, it was announced that Willy Herrera is now the Master Blend for all of Drew Estate lines

It’s my understanding that there is no set number of Lanceros being produced, but the production run is limited just by the number of rollers working on it. I could find nothing in the way of an MSRP for this vitola, although I’m guessing somewhere in the $10-11 range, based on the other sticks in the line. I found pre-release news on this cigar listing it as a 7.5” or 7.0” stick, but it is, in fact, 6.75” long, which I guess would make it a “petite lancero” but I’ll defer to Willy’s judgement in calling it a “lancero” and just be thankful he didn’t decide to break random on us and call it a “No. 9” or “Estupendioso” or something like that. (Rant over…)

The Herrera Esteli blend is made up of Nicaraguan fillers, a Honduran binder, and an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. As is indicated by the name, it is made in Esteli, Nicaragua, at the Drew Estate factory. Keith took a look at this one a couple weeks back…read his review HERE.

Prelight

When I got these cigars and took them out of their shipping packaging I immediately noticed something…different…about them. Yes, there is the secondary band which reads “2014 Edicion Limitada.” That was a little unexpected, but it does have a rather traditional look about it, being done in black and metallic gold ink (I think it’s ink…could be foil, but I don’t think so), on heavily textured paper with a bit of embossing. The thing that really stood out to me was the type on the primary band. In earlier incarnations, it read “Herrera Esteli Imported from Nicaragua.” Now it reads “Herrera Esteli by Drew Estate.” This is a small change, but addresses what could be the biggest issue I heard when the Herrera Esteli came out: seeing it, people do not associate it with Drew Estate. I’m guessing we’ll be seeing this new band show up on all vitolas as stock is depleted and replaced.

The care and skill of construction of the Herrera Esteli rollers was evident when looking over the cigar. The seams were flat, the roll was smooth and the cap was perfect. The wrapper leaf was oily to the eye and to the touch and had a faintly earthy aroma with just a whiff of cedar, as well. The foot had a stronger barnyard scent. The prelight draw was excellent, tasting mostly of cedar and natural tobacco.

Flavor

The Lancero lit up really quickly and instantly produced a tons of thick, aromatic smoke. Again, I tasted a good deal of cedar in the mix right away, with lesser notes of molasses, earth and coffee. I got pepper on the nose right away, and before long I started to get a black pepper heat on the palate as well.

That same basic flavor profile held up for the second third, with just an increase in the molasses sweetness, which I felt improved the balance a bit. In the final third, the earthiness took prominence with notes of cedar and pepper bolstering the blend.

Construction

As with other Herrera Estelis I’ve smoked–and pretty much all Drew Estate products, for that matter–construction was nothing short of excellent on this stick.

Value

Great cigar. Limited production. It’s (probably) well under the $15 mark. Definitely worth it, although I can’t say I’ll be buying a ton of them if they get too far above $10.

Conclusions

The Herrera Esteli has been one of my go-to smokes since it came out; I’ve gone through more than a box of Lonsdales so far. This Lancero vitola is everything the Lonsdale is and perhaps a little more…but just a little. I ended up scoring this size the same as the Lonsdale, a 9.5/10, so almost the exact same amount of enjoyment. Construction is superb and the flavors are very well-balanced. It had a medium-to-full body so I can easily recommend it to all leaf enthusiasts except those who are just beginning their journey.

By-The-Numbers

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