We don't think Drew Estate ever came out and said it this way, but it seems to us like the Undercrown line is their attempt at taking some of what people love about the spendy Liga Privadas and bringing it in at an affordable price point. Certainly, they succeeded with the previous maduro and Connecticut iterations, which are nice cigars with appealing, borderline upscale packaging priced around the current "sweet spot" of $8.
This new Sun Grown however is perhaps the most exciting line extension yet. Not only because we love sun grown wrapper leaf, but because it comes in a corona format in addition to the usual chunky sizes. While it's actually technically a corona gorda (5 5/8 x 46), we'll still take it.
Blended by the always welcome Willy Herrera, it uses an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper over a USA Habano binder and Nicaraguan filler. Construction is solid and the wrapper's appearance is enhanced by classy red and gold bands. The price is a reasonable $7.80.
While we found the other Undercrowns pleasing, they were also relatively uncomplicated smokes. This Sun Grown on the other hand pleasantly surprised us with its complexity and unique character. The foundational flavors are a bready earthiness, but layered on top are notes of fruitcake, nuts, cocoa/coffee and slate. It's a nice interplay that never gets boring and only peters out when the cigar gets strong and one-dimensional toward the very end.
We'd be interested to see how this cigar performs in some of the thicker ring gauges, where there's less wrapper influence. Maybe it "opens up" and offers even more...or perhaps this particular ratio of wrapper to filler is necessary to generate this level of interesting aroma and flavor.
Either way, the cigar lacks that last little bit of refinement that would make it excellent, but it still earns a solid Very Good rating. While we're saying smoke these now, perhaps a little aging would bring out even more complexity and file off the few rough edges we experienced.
Blended by the always welcome Willy Herrera, it uses an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper over a USA Habano binder and Nicaraguan filler. Construction is solid and the wrapper's appearance is enhanced by classy red and gold bands. The price is a reasonable $7.80.
While we found the other Undercrowns pleasing, they were also relatively uncomplicated smokes. This Sun Grown on the other hand pleasantly surprised us with its complexity and unique character. The foundational flavors are a bready earthiness, but layered on top are notes of fruitcake, nuts, cocoa/coffee and slate. It's a nice interplay that never gets boring and only peters out when the cigar gets strong and one-dimensional toward the very end.
We'd be interested to see how this cigar performs in some of the thicker ring gauges, where there's less wrapper influence. Maybe it "opens up" and offers even more...or perhaps this particular ratio of wrapper to filler is necessary to generate this level of interesting aroma and flavor.
Either way, the cigar lacks that last little bit of refinement that would make it excellent, but it still earns a solid Very Good rating. While we're saying smoke these now, perhaps a little aging would bring out even more complexity and file off the few rough edges we experienced.
THE DETAILS5 5/8 x 46 Nicaragua W: Ecuador Sumatra B: USA Habano F: Nicaragua $7.80 | THE VERDICTCLASSIC EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD ---------------------- SMOKE/HOLD |
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