Pappy Van Winkle Barrel Fermented Toro (6 x 52) Cigar

Drew Estate announced a partnership with Pappy & Company late in 2014 to build a small-batch line designed to pair with the Van Winkle bourbon and rye products, working directly with members of the Van Winkle family; the cigars debuted in April 2015 and are sold exclusively through Pappy & Company. The defining element is Kentucky-grown, fire-cured tobacco fermented in retired Pappy Van Winkle bourbon barrels — a nod to the 200-year-old fire-curing tradition of Kentucky, home to the world's most famous bourbons. Jonathan Drew hand-selected the Nicaraguan core himself, and the full process is a roughly three-year wait from leaf to box.

A dual wrapper: a Kentucky-seed, Kentucky-grown leaf that is fire-cured in the traditional Kentucky method and then barrel-fermented, laid "tapa negra" style over a Mexican San Andrés base wrapper, with a Nicaraguan binder and long-fillers from Nicaragua and Kentucky. The fire-cured leaf travels to Saint James Parish, Louisiana, where up to 500 pounds of tobacco is compressed under heavy pressure into 53-gallon retired Pappy Van Winkle bourbon barrels for a 12–18 month perique-style fermentation before shipping south. Handmade in very small batches at La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate in Estelí, Nicaragua. Toro format, 6 x 52. Box count: 10 cigars.

Drew Estate describes the blend as offering distinct notes of charred oak, a scotch-like peatiness, and a mid-layer of burnt coffee. Reviewers pick up the fire-cured smokiness up front — campfire and cedar — layered over mocha and roasted coffee with a bourbon-like sweetness of charred wood, sugar cane and caramel, plus vanilla and cinnamon in the background.

Built from the ground up to pair with the Van Winkle bourbon and rye whiskeys, and the bourbon-tinged blend also takes well to spicier spirits such as rye.

Meant to be savored slowly — Pappy & Company pitches the Toro as a leisurely after-dinner smoke with friends.