Drew Estate – La Vieja Habana
Friday, April 23rd, 2010The La Vieja Habana is Drew Estates first brand, which was introduced in the mid 90’s. They come in four wrapper variations, the Cuban Corojo, Cameroon, Maduro, and Connecticut. I am doing the Cuban Corojo version. Unlike their flagship Acid line, this is a traditional cigar with no infused flavoring, and it contains mixed filler. They claim this to be medium bodied with lots of flavors. I paired up with water and jotted down my thoughts.
Wrapper: Cuban Corojo
Binder/Filler: Esteli & Jalapa Valley, Nicaragua
Size: 6 x 54
Price: Around $3.00
Pre-Smoke & Construction:
The wrapper was a little rough looking, with medium veins and quite a few bumps. Squeezing the cigar, I found it to be very spongy. The wrapper had a strange sweet, almost floral odor to it. The foot had that same odor along with woody notes. The pre-light draw was free, and had an earthy and woody flavor.
The burn required a few minor corrections, and the ash held for about half an inch. Pretty much typical of a short or mixed filler cigar.
Flavor:
The first third began with an easy earthy and natural tobacco taste. After about an inch, a slight spice kicked in. As I progressed towards the end of this third, the spice became a little peppery and increased in strength, but remained in the mild to medium bodied range.
The second third had the spice overtaking the earthy flavors. Every now and then I would get a slight sweetness, but it wasn’t consistent. The smoke became someone creamy, with a lot of smoke volume.
The last third had no new flavors. The earthy flavors were there along with the spice. The creaminess of the smoke increased slightly, as did the sweetness. The smoke volume remained huge. Clouds of smoke billowed out of this ting at all times.
Conclusion:
For the price, this was a decent mild to medium bodied cigar. It is pretty much in line with what I expected. There is no wow factor, and it is basically one dimensional. I enjoyed the huge smoke volume and smoothness. If I were to complain, I would say it was the burn rate. I didn’t time it, but I burnt though this cigar quickly. If you are trying cheaper cigars, I’d say this is worth checking out.
