Undercrown Shade Gordito (6 x 60) Cigar

The Undercrown line was born on Drew Estate's factory floor: the torcedores rolling Liga Privada were told to stop smoking it because the tobacco was too scarce, so they built their own "signature liga" from the same crops using different vintages and primings. Undercrown Shade, unveiled at the 2015 IPCPR trade show, is the Connecticut-wrapped turn in that story — and the first release blended by Drew Estate Master Blender Willy Herrera that does not fall under the Herrera Estelí brand family. Herrera went back to the same rolling team behind the original Undercrown and challenged them to build a Connecticut blend that would satisfy his palate, a process that took more than a year.

A golden, shade-grown Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper over a Sumatran binder and long-fillers of Dominican Criollo '98 with Nicaraguan Criollo and Corojo. Handmade at La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate in Estelí, Nicaragua. Gordito format, 6 x 60. Box count: 25 cigars.

Mellow to medium-bodied but far from thin — rich and well-balanced, with notes of toast, almonds, mild spice and cream closing on a pleasant sweetness. The cold draw on the Gordito is fragrant with ripe fruit, cocoa and hay, and the first puffs open decidedly sweet.