Drew Estate La Vieja Habana Bombero Corojo (6x54)

There have only been 2 cigars that I have actually bought in box quantity, the CAO Gold Perfecto being the first a number of years ago, and the Drew Estate La Vieja Habana that I bought last year from an online retailer.  The first time I smoked this cigar was at the cigar bar near our home Stogie's and I chose the Drew Estate in response to another Corojo wrapper cigar I had smoked the time before that I had quite enjoyed (I can't for the life of me remember the name of that cigar but I can tell you it was good).  

The price point on the Drew Estate is what made me select it to smoke as it was over 1/2 the price of the previous Corojo wrapper cigar I had smoke.  I enjoyed the Drew Estate so much I bought a box of them online bringing the per stick price down to about $3.00 which I think is a fair price point offering great value.  Additionally, given the price point it was a great cigar to break out and share when friends where over who may not be the biggest of cigar "snobs" if you will.

Anyways, back the cigar.  I used a punch every time I enjoyed this cigar, and roasting the foot was a pretty easy ordeal as these cigars took flame easily and offered a good draw each time I smoked it.  The initial draw offers some spice that makes this a stronger cigar, but one that is not overpowering at all.

The smoke was full, however I noticed it was important to keep the cigar cool as the smoke could get a little hot which in turn increased the spice and made introduced a hot pepper element to the smoke.  Again, I noticed this nuance only when the cigar was burning hot, like right after I ashed (more specifically the ash fell).  Speaking of ash, it was looser than most of the cigars I smoke, and getting an inch of ash on it was good I learned as it did tend to fall pretty early, but while on the stick it was of a darker charcoal color with grey graining interwoven.

The biggest drawback to this cigar was in the final third of the stick.  It tended to become "clogged" up making you have to draw harder on it to get some smoke.  I learned after a few stick to allow it to extinguish itself after it became harder to draw on as the possibility of getting an unpleasant stale smoke taste in your mouth occurs, and that can ruin the cigar for you.  I chalked up this to the price of the cigar, and seeing as the first 2/3's of the cigar gave you a solid 30-45 minutes of smoking time, losing the last 1/3 of the cigar to an ashtray seems like a fair compromise given the price point.

The flavor of this cigar leans more to the one dimensional side of cigars, but it is a good one dimension so don't let that be a negative.  Again, considering the price I think this is a great cigar.  Of course the true test of any cigar is whether or not you'd smoke it again, and for me I can attest to the fact that I would certainly not only smoke this cigar again, I'd buy a whole box and put it into the humidor.  This Drew Estate is certainly a great cigar to have on hand to not only enjoy, but to share as well.

I won't bore you by writing 15 reviews of this cigar, but that is probably about how many of these I've smoke during the last year.  The cigar is bold and on the stronger side, but since it doesn't overpower you I'd have no issue recommending this cigar to a newbie, I think it does offer a great smoking experience.

I'd encourage you to try one if you get a chance, I'm confident you'll enjoy the experience.

Until we smoke again...