Drew Estate is having one hell of a year already in 2026 after a successful PCA show and making some major announcements that will move the company forward into the future. One of those announcements was the construction of a Dominican factory and starting another chapter in the Dominican Republic. One of the cigars that while currently is made at La Gran Fábrica Drew Estate in Nicaragua, is the new Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano. Along with the Deadwood Tobacco Co. Dominicana and Dominicana Buenas Noches cigars, these cigars will eventually see their production moved to the new Drew Dominicana factory once it is complete and up and running.

Early in the year, Drew Estate previewed this cigar, along with Deadwood Tobacco Co. Dominicana Buenas Noches, in their Early Access pack where they came unbanded and identified only by their code names, “Water” with was Buenas Noches, and Fire which was the name given for El Tigre. They both formally launched in April of 2026.

Under the Lid

• Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: La Gran Fábrica Drew Estate
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Sumatra Seed)
• Binder: U.S.A (Connecticut Corojo H99 Hybrid)
• Filler: Dominican (HVA & Criollo 98)
• Size: 6 x 50
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $13 (Boxes of 20, $260)
• Release Date: April 2026
• Production: Regular

Pre Light

The wrapper is very silky, soft and beautiful but at the same time very veiny. I will stress these are not rough veins or very bumpy, but prominent enough that you know they are there. The Undercrown El Tigre has a nice soft box-press to it, which I think is very nice and I usually enjoy a good soft box-press. There is a foot band on the cigar that reads “El Tigre Domincano” that matches the primary band with black and silver details which I think is a nice touch but I am more partial to black and gold myself.

First Third

Upon lighting the Undercrown El Tigre, the first few puffs blast me with black pepper, mustard powder and sea salt off of the foot. As the first few puffs begin to cool off and really settle into the first third, much of the pepper and spice goes away and it’s replaced by rich and dry earthy notes of leather, cocoa powder, and walnut. There is plenty of smoke production from this cigar and what I might add is much of it being blue smoke which I find quite beautiful to look at to be honest with you. I could watch this cigar smolder all day. In terms of construction so far, the draw has been perfect, the ash is nice and compact and the El Tigre is burning mostly even, not a perfect burn line so far, but even enough nonetheless. As the first third progresses toward the second third, it does remain earthy, but gets slightly creamier and gets a little bit more nutty.

Second Third

The walnut I spoke of earlier remains, but there’s also almost a hint of cashew as well. There is also an uptick in the spice again as the second third really settles in. The back of my tongue also picks up a ripe taste of anise and at this point a slight tangy sourness begins to creep in with it. I would consider this a medium plus to slightly full bodied cigar at this point. While I will write that as always, the standard that we smoke for an official cigar review is three cigars, I will tell you that I have already smoked more than that over the course of the last few months. This is probably my sixth or seventh EL Tigre overall by the time that I write this so I’ve had a very good sampling of these. Again, I really only track the dedicated performance of the three used of review but they’ve all been pretty consistent across six or seven cigars in terms of one flaw. Somewhere near the peak of the second third, the sourness continues to grow and then begins to get slightly bitter and this cigar begins to drop off for me. I’m still not quite halfway and I’m already almost an hour into the cigar so I have been smoking it pretty gingerly as well.

Another thing I wanted to point out here is the ash in the first third actually stacked on pretty well. I was able to get almost a good inch and three-quarters of it before it finally broke for the first time, ironically right as I was about to get a picture of it. However, getting into the second third, it still draws and burns very well, but it’s burning more uneven and I find that the ash begins to stack on a little lopsided and it’s not as neat as it was in the beginning. The third cigar I smoked while taking my photos was the best of the three and wasn’t as extreme, but the first two were a little more jagged. Not so bad that the cigars were junk after, but not ideal in a perfect world. I continue to rotate it and burn it as even as I can, but there’s only so much I can control. This seems to be the spot every time where the El Tigre takes a turn. I am also losing much of the flavors that I had begun to enjoy to this point.

Final Third

As I get to the final third, the burn continues to be uneven on the El Tigre but it does slowly start to correct itself or at the very least, get better, by the time I get down to the nub. In terms of body and strength, it continues to be medium plus as a whole, but a lot of the flavors are getting drowned out by this bitter finish on the backend that has taken over, which began to grow in the second third. It continues to be earthy and dry in flavor with more leather and some hickory notes before some pepper returns for a final bow, but I lost the nuttiness that I was starting to enjoy between the first and second thirds. The only issue I have in terms of construction is the uneven burn, but the draw smoke production and everything else seems to be going well. I do wonder how much of that uneven burn is also influencing what I am experiencing in terms of the flavor and complexity issues I have begun to see.

Smokin Wrap

While this is a good cigar and not a bad cigar, I do feel after smoking several of these that there is potential for them to be really great with some age, provided they burn better in the future. Time will have to tell us on that one. I have plenty on hand that I can let age and revisit in the future, possibly a redux review? I would be really curious to see where this particular batch is at in a year from now. But either way, the burn issues in the middle of the cigar are what sticks out to me. Outside of those, there wasn’t too much to complain about but inconsistency is where cigars lose points fast in a review.

Smokin Facts

• Cigars were sent by Drew Estate
• Drew Estate advertises with Smokin Tabacco

Purchase recommendation: Try a Sample

Smokin Wrap

Cigars Smoked for the Review: Three

Average smoking time: Two Hours and Thirty Minutes

SCORE: 87