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Undercrown by Drew Estate

Drew Estate cigar company really hits home with me.  They believe in the rebirth of cigars, specifically in the United States.  Their story is simply quite amazing, if you were to ask me.  They did not start out like the typical and traditional cigar company that you may be familiar with.  No, the creators of Drew Estate were simply a couple of frat boys with a small 16 square foot kiosk at the World Trade Centers in NYC. There website states that the Drew Estate story is one of daring, heartbreak & success but, most of all, one of passion for cigars and the country of Nicaragua, where we have been making cigars since 1998.  I highly recommend that you give their website a look over, specifically the “our story section”.  http://drewestate.com/our-story/

Now to the Undercrown story.  The torcedores in the Drew Estate cigar factory were smoking too many Liga Privada cigars, enough so to affect the export levels of that cigar.  So Drew Estate asked them to smoke less of them, and so the torcedores did just that...but they started to smoke something else, something that they created and blended themselves.  The Undercrown is like an “underground” cigar...maybe that played into its naming, maybe not.  However, the cigar itself deserved to be “smoked by all”, and that is why I’m able to review it for you today.

The cigar boasts a dark brown San Andreas Maduro wrapper.  The band of the cigar is elegant and classy, in fact it makes me feel like I’m smoking something of royalty--which is ironic considering how it was first created.  The packing was fairly firm, but the draw was amazing!  The wrapper quality is excellent with minimal large veins.  The easily discernible cap made for an easy cut, and I was off to the races!

The first third of the cigar was rather mild, but I do have to admit the level of smoke produce by this stick is simply fantastic.  Anyone who saw the smoke puffing off of this stick or out of your mouth may assume its creator to be fireplace.  I can’t say enough about the quality/level of smoke produced, and I really hate to stop talking about it.

The second third of the cigar was not what I was expecting.  The rather mild first third disappeared, and this cigar transitioned into a strong medium to medium full blended stick of insane tobacco phenomena.  <--Was that too much?  Even if you think so, it really wasn’t.  This cigar is as great as I can possibly make your mind believe.

Getting into the final third at about the 45 minute mark, the cigar started to give me the tell tale signs that it was nearing its useful lifecycle.  I ended the burn at the 55 minute mark in effort to avoid any strongly acidic puffs that would ruin my experience.

The cigar maintained itself quite well throughout the entire burn, producing a long gray ash.  I did have to provide some minor maintenance burns to the wrapper to keep it even, but this was most likely due to the overly humid night.

All in all, I highly recommend this cigar.  Especially to someone who has not tried a darker maduro cigar before.  I know there are a lot of new cigar smokers that may shy away from the darker cigars, but I would say that this is a great starter maduro.  Additionally, the strength and out right enjoyable burn of this cigar and the smoke that it produces makes me highly recommend it to seasoned smokers as well.  

Overall: 8.5/10

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Sons of Anarchy by Black Crown

Okay.  So I’ve been a fan of the hit television series “Sons of Anarchy” for some time.  Even so, I’ve yet to try their branded cigar that is being produced by Black Crown--a company which, by the way, is very difficult to find more information about...

The cigar was purchased via www.cigar.com on special.  The cost was $34.99 for a Mazo of 10 cigars.  All things considered, I believe this was a very good price at roughly $3.50 a stick.

This Honduran cigar is very pleasing on the eyes.  It’s a 6 x 50 toro that came in a nice tubos (images below).  It is a very nice and firmly packed cigar, and although I was initially worried about the wrapper at the foot of the cigar, it slides off nicely without damaging the Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper.  Both the main band and the band near the foot of the cigar display some awesome artwork.   The wrapper displays some nice veins, but nothing to drastic on this nicely wrapped stick.  The cap is very easily identifiable which allows simple cutting with a guillotine style cigar cutter.

The cigar toasted and lit very well, and throughout the entire hour of burn time, it maintained a generally even burn.  Although I did have to provide maintenance to keep the burn even, it was not a lot nor was it often.  As you can see by the images below, the cigar produced a nice white ash from the start.  The ash broke once around the 30 minute mark, and was getting close to a second break before it reached its useful end state.

All in all, this cigar is a medium to stronger cigar--and it was noticeably so at about the mid burn point.  The first 20 minutes where nothing really to speak about, although it was enjoyable.  From about the 30 to 40 minute mark is when the strength of this cigar became very evident.  I ended the burn at approximately the 60 minute mark in effort to not “oversmoke” this cigar and leave with a negative impression.  In other words, this cigar could have burned for another 20 minutes or so, but I felt it would have detracted from the overall experience.

To “wrap” things up, would I buy this cigar again? Yes.  Would I recommend it to other cigar smokers?  Absolutely.  Would I recommend it for a new smoker just getting into the cigar life?  No...unless they happen to be huge fans of the Sons of Anarchy televisions show ;)

Hope this helps! My overall rating: 6.5/10 

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Get a Hold of Your Smoke

Greetings!  This blog is coming to you from a tobacco investment corporation known as Smoke Holdings.  Smoke Holdings is establishing itself as an ethical corporation fighting for the rights of social tobacco smokers.  With a growing national focus on health in the United States, more and more restrictions are being placed on individuals who enjoy smoking tobacco.  Cigarette smokers, cigar smokers, and even hookah smokers are constantly given the “evil eye” while smoking in public.  Understanding the reason behind this, Smoke Holdings is attempting to promote the social aspect of tobacco on all fronts.  Giving support to politicians who fight for smokers rights, investing in tobacco startups, and sponsoring social smoking gatherings are just a few insights into what Smoke Holdings is about.  This blog is dedicated to giving insight into the social smoking world...although it may lean heavily on ratings cigars ;)