Vitola: Pequeño- 4” x 44 ring gauge
- MSRP $5.50
- Samples provided by Drew Estate
Background
On January 23, Drew Estate officially announced that they would be launching an extension to the Undercrown Shade and Maduro lines at the TPE (Tobacco Plus Expo) trade show in Las Vegas, held from January 29 to 31. They have remarked that the new vitola is “perfect to light up on the go or on those frigid winter days.” They recently sent me a few samples each of both Shade and Maduro and I’ve decided to feature them (appropriately enough) in “short take” types of articles.
The Undercrown Shade features Dominican and Nicaraguan filler leaves, a Sumatra binder, and an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper. It was the first Undercrown product that Willy Herrera blended after he came to Drew Estate and has continued to be a popular choice among milder cigar smokers for several years now.
This article is based on the second time I smoked the Pequeño vitola. They are available nationally, but if your local shop doesn’t carry them, Leaf Enthusiast sponsor Small Batch Cigar does.
Notes
From an appearance standpoint, this looks exactly as you would expect—a diminutive version of the full-size Undercrown Shade. The main and foot bands are proportionately smaller. The wrapper leaf is an almost luminous golden hue with virtually no flaws or mottling. It had an aroma of cedar and grass. The foot of the cigar had notes of earth, sweet hay, and bread.
Once clipped I got cold draw flavors of earth, bread, and a subdued sweetness. Fired up, the Undercrown Shade Pequeño gave up notes of cedar, earth and black pepper, followed closely by mild honey sweetness and roasted nuts. Although this little stick would probably be naturally paired with some coffee in the morning, by the time I got to it for this review it was nearly 5:00 in the afternoon on a late winter day…sunny and chilly, so I opted to pair it with some of my remaining George Dickel Bottled In Bond Tennessee Whisky.
The whisky was oaky with notes of caramel sweetness and a significant amount of alcohol burn on the finish. It was a nice accompaniment to the cigar, though, amping up the sweet factor.
I’m admittedly not a big fan of this blend, but I did really enjoy it in this small vitola. Whether that was due to the change in the way it tasted because of the smaller ring gauge or the fact that it was just a much shorter smoke, I really couldn’t say; but I would definitely add these to my “morning smoke on the way to work” rotation because of the combination of good flavor, inexpensive price point, and ability to complete smoking it before the drive to work is over.
