Liga Privada Unico Velvet Rat (6 1/4 x 46) Cigar
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The Liga Privada Unico Serie is Drew Estate's "one blend, one size" program, and the Velvet Rat is its softer-spoken Rat — a lighter, sweeter counterpart to the Dirty Rat, built in the same 6 1/4 x 46 format as the Unico Ratzilla. It debuted in October 2012 as a prerelease at Tesa Cigars in Chicago, limited to 100 bundles of 10 at $14 a cigar, then resurfaced at Drew Estate's first Connecticut River Valley Barn Smoker in 2015. A run of 5,000 cigars rolled at La Gran Fabrica in January 2015 rested in the cold rooms until 2016, when it was released through the Drew Diplomat Event Series — which is why the Velvet Rat remains one of the hardest Ligas to track down.
A Connecticut Broadleaf "High" Mediums wrapper over a plantation sun-grown Brazilian Mata Fina binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan long-fillers. Handmade at La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate in Estelí, Nicaragua, and finished with a Cuban-style pigtail cap. Lonsdale format, 6 1/4 x 46. Packed in 10-count bundles and boxes.
Smoother and sweeter than its Liga stablemates, leading with cocoa and espresso over leather and a sweet, spicy finish. Reviewers find cedar, burnt coffee and sharp pepper early, dark chocolate arriving after the first inch, and earthier notes with white pepper building through the middle. The final third turns toward cedar, oak and a raspberry-like fruitiness.
Pair it with a dark-roast coffee or a bold single malt Scotch.
