First of all congratulations to Drew Estate! They are the winners of Smokin Tabacco’s 2021 Cigar of the Year! What they have done with Undercrown 10 has been fun to watch and experience for ourselves. From the Freestyle Live and trying to get people to guess what this mystery cigar was to the beautiful presentation of the “Factory Floor Edition”, they really hyped this one up good but it also lived up it. Job well done.
For those who don’t know, this cigar was created and named in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Undercrown line. Undercrown was developed from the torcedores at the factory who were rolling Liga Privada. The rollers were allowed to smoke as many cigars they wanted to while they worked, except they began to smoke too many and they were told to cut back.
But then the rollers did something that changed everything and spawned a whole new line. They created Undercrown, a cigar made with many of the same tobaccos however with different vintages and primings. This cigar is what we all know and love today. It was first released in 2011 and has spawned Sun Grown and Connecticut shade varieties as well as some limited edition collaborations.
The new Undercrown 10 is a celebration of that and what has become a staple in the Drew Estate portfolio. It uses the same San Andreas wrapper as the original Undercrown but the blend below the wrapper is slightly different. It uses a Connecticut River Valley broadleaf binder and Nicaraguan fillers.
This cigar really got us excited. When we first smoked it, we had Joe Gro of Drew Estate on the show with us just as the Freestyle Live event was announced. We were one of the first people to smoke these when they were still un-banded. It was described as “New Ultra Preimum Brand” headed to the market after its reveal in a live event back in May. We both thought it would be a new Liga Privada based on that description and it’s quality.
Low and behold, it was an Undercrown. How could we not even think of that? This cigar surprised us right away. Intense flavor from first light that kept us wanting more all the way down to a tiny, chewed up nub left at the bottom of a stinky ashtray. This cigar is very complex, mouth watering and keeps you so hungry for more you will probably grab another one and smoke them back-to-back.
“Undercrown 10 offers smokers an experience of Mexican hot chocolate … naturally sweet with hints of raisin and cacao … waves of intense black pepper … along with notes of sun-dried cherries, espresso, woodiness and earthiness,” says La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate Factory Spokesman, Pedro Gomez.
We found the best of its available six vitolas to be the Toro. Powerful in flavor and combustion with plenty of smoke production. It is available for $12 per cigar or a box for $240. Do yourself a favor, buy the box. Head over to your local brick and mortar retailer and don’t just ask, demand it. You won’t be disappointed. Once again, congratulations to Drew Estate. This cigar deserves it!
