Wrapper: Ecuadorian Shade Grown Connecticut
Binder: Honduran Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan (Estelí and Jalapa), Florida Sun Grown
Size: 6 x 52 Toro
Strength: Medium
Price: $13.40

I bought these sticks from Atlantic Cigar. They had pre-release cigars with no bands. It was cheaper than the current price, by $2.50 per stick. They are no longer available in the pre-release version. My stick does not have the cedar sleeve, the ribbon footer, or a cigar band.

This brings up an interesting question…Is the pre-release I have, the exact same blend as the official released cigars? Could it be these were the practice cigars? Or did Drew Estate merely do Atlantic Cigar a solid by giving them…what? Seconds? Or for some other reason? Either way, they are identified as 20 Acre Farm blends. And if they aren’t up to par because of one reason or another, too bad…soo sad.

I am betting that this bandless cigar is the real deal. My conspiracy theories hold no water…as usual. And I am hoping that this Cracker Jack prize might have a bit more aging on it. Why do I think that? Fuck me, I have no idea.

BACKGROUND:
From Halfwheel.com (11-12-21):
“Florida was once a big tobacco supplier for cigar factories in Tampa and beyond,” Borysiewicz said via a press release. “The farm that I bought just west of Orlando proved to be the perfect plot of land to resurrect Florida’s cigar tobacco growing heritage. We combined age-old tobacco growing practices along with the most advanced modern agricultural techniques to produce Florida Sun Grown tobacco, which is unique in every aspect of flavor, intensity and aroma.”

“Print to Borysiewicz beginning cultivating Florida Sun Grown tobacco, which is often referred to as FSG, tobacco growing in Florida had been dormant since 1977. This is the second cigar from Drew Estate to feature Florida Sun Grown tobacco; the first was the Florida Sun Grown by Drew Estate, which was released in July 2017. It has also been featured in a number of other cigars from several manufacturers.

“Jeff’s magnificent farm in Clermont has the feel of being directly transported from Cuba’s famed Vuelta Abajo region, where the best Cuban tobaccos are harvested,” said Jonathan Drew, founder and president of Drew Estate, in a press release. “While carefully blended into the cigar so it doesn’t overpower the rest of the tobaccos, the Florida Sun Grown tobacco serves as 20 Acre Farm’s backbone, and it leads every aficionado on an exclusive journey thru history, space and time to the gilded years of Cuban cigars.”

SIZES AND PRICING:
Robusto 5.5 x 54 $12.40
Toro 6 x 52 $13.40
Gordito 6 x 60 $15.40

APPEARANCE:
It is not an exciting looking cigar. Very ordinary in appearance so it better be good. The wrapper has a slight oily sheen to the Bambi’s dead mother hue. Lots of small veins. Seams are apparent everywhere and not especially tight. The triple cap is a total mess.

You charge your fan base $13-$15 for a cigar and you don’t give a shit what it looks like? Must taste like the nectar of the gods for the blender and rollers to not take its appearance seriously. The wrapper is smooth as glass.
Lastly, the cigar is light as a toothpick. I expect it to burn quickly and have some aggravating burn issues. It is under filled.

SMELL THE GLOVE:
Aromas are faint: vanilla, lemony, a touch of banana, creaminess, milk chocolate, cedar, subtle black pepper, with a little floral touch.
The cold draw presents flavors of creaminess, vanilla, creaminess, a hint of lemon zest, banana again, cedar, but no chocolate or spiciness.
The draw is wide open…confirming it is under filled. No need for my PerfecDraw draw adjustment tool unless this $13.40 cigar burns like a cigarette. I will use the PerfecDraw to stab it like Anthony Perkins stabbed Janet Leigh in “Pyscho.”

FIRST THIRD:
I am deluged by smoke like the first time I burned a house down.
No flavors. I guess I gotta suck on it for a bit.
Strength is barely mild. Almost like it’s not there.
No wallop of impending complexity. Tastes like any bundle Connie. Drat.

Oh lawdy, not another cigar that needs a year of humidor so it can reach a rating of 90.

I should be getting some hint of the blender’s intent but there is nothing driving this donkey caravan.

First up is a hint of white pepper. Next up is me wanting my money back.

This is what I predict on a good day…I am pissy throughout the first half. Then the second half takes a step into the center ring and shows its stuff…or it lays there like the armadillo run over by a 4×4 truck with a Texas license plate.

It is burning like a cigarette. I have watched 1” burn in 6 minutes. Fuck a Playboy Bunny.
The burn is decent so that’s good.

Meanwhile, the cigar tastes like yesterday’s newspaper.

Man, this thing advertises aged tobacco…I don’t taste anything aged unless I give myself a hickey on my forearm.

Creaminess, vanilla, grassy, some lemon, cedar, a mild touch of cinnamon, with that itty bit of floral.

This is not a He-Man’s cigar. You give this cigar to your friend who smokes liquor store cigars and loves them.

It’s picking up…milk chocolate, a minute touch of sweet berries, but mostly an ice cream sundae. Not a lick of complexity. No transitions. The finish is all black pepper. No idea where the white pepper went.
There is nothing attractive about this cigar. Dudes…

I guess we are meant to believe the bullshit press release and bow down and squirt into our Depends being in the presence of this fine cigar.

The burn gets cranky…like me. Nicely aged tobacco my ass.
Maybe years of humidor time.

Isabela and Southern Draw…you can smoke their cigars right out of their cellos. Time does help but you can immediately taste the blender’s intent due to the seriously aged tobacco. This is a fool’s errand.

I could form a pointy hat from a yarmulke and sit in the corner til Charlotte says my punishment is finally going to begin. That woman can crack a whip as good as an old cow hand.

Strength remains at mild.

I am getting pissed off. Every time I read that the tobacco used in this ‘special’ cigar is gift from the gods, it always ends up being a big dud. The P.R. merely smoke and mirrors.

SECOND THIRD:
Took 15 minutes to get here. Are you kidding? A 45-minute Toro? This is where I should end the review. For over $13, you’d think that Drew Estate could have at least made sure the cigar was packed heavily with the special tobacco…but no.

Still, it is a relief for me that it is burning like a cheap cigarette…it minimizes my torture.

Not a thing is happening. I might as well be smoking a no name $2 bundle cigar.
It is a weak stick.

With a couple months of humi time, there should be available a hint of complexity. This cigar wishes it were linear.
The second half won’t matter. A poorly made cigar with bullshit tobacco.

They should have called this cigar the John Wilkes Booth. At least it would have some panache.

On the positive side, no construction issues…except the burn line is in and out…over, under, sideways, down.

I am literally willing this cigar to do something that won’t make this review a total loss.

Don’t you dare buy this cigar. If it were $6, I’d give it a hall pass.

I get to the halfway point 5 minutes after starting the second third. Jesus, this cigar is going to have a new land speed record. Alert Guinness.

I cannot say a positive thing. It is dead in the water and has not made a single transition since light up. Of course, you could buy them for Hanukkah 2022 and use them as candles. But I’m afraid they would burn quicker than the regular candles.

A sip of water and I taste pancreas.

Truly aged tobaccos are always perky and enlightening from the word go.

This cigar is so under filled; I believe I can use it as a sex toy…for me. I can easily fit my schmekel into a 50-ring gauge.

I wonder if I am having a reaction to getting a BJ from Sammy the Cat last night.

Ever wonder why cigar manufacturers hate me? This review is why.
Mustiness arrives on a silver platter. I always love the taste of floor sweepings.

Hopefully, you read the background info above. You’d think that you are about to smoke a cigar that becomes an event…like pulling out of Vietnam.
I had sex with a Vietnamese young lady…and I remembered to pull out.

Not a single iota of anything. All the adjectives and nouns that reviewers use mean nothing for this blend.

I can taste a cigar’s future even if it isn’t ripe yet. I did not find whether this is a limited edition or regular production. I sincerely hope it is limited. Once word gets out this cigar is a spittoon filled to the brim, well my dear friends, you will see it on auction sites in 6-9 months.

Watch…some reviewer will wait one more month than I did and will love it to death. But I hardly doubt it.

As I reach the last third, some pleasant mild flavor points arrive. They do not give me hope that this blend will mature into a killer cigar.

Cigar manufacturers: Do not use the word “aged” in your incredible story of the birth of the blend if it is going to taste like fly paper.

LAST THIRD:
As a backup check, I light up a tampon for comparison. No difference.
I’m going to catch so much hell for this review.
It took 35 minutes to get here. Fuck me.

I proceed to do the voo doo you love so well. I light a human sacrifice on fire. Don’t worry…it’s just the neighbor whose dog barks all day long while he is not at home.

I think I taste some generic sweetness. Could be me digesting my hemorrhoids.
So, Mrs. Lincoln….

There should be some factor screaming at me telling me that extensive hibernation will cure all. I can’t hear out of my asshole.

The last 2” shows some improvement. The improvement is merely a couple flavors showing up with their heads draped in hoods. Off to an out of country interrogation prison. Maybe waterboarding or battery cables hooked up to the cigar’s testicles will bring out the truth.

At least these last 2” shows something akin to a cigar. This cigar has Dutch Master written all over it. Dr. Torquemada would have found this cigar perfect for an instrument of terror.

The char line has been wonky throughout this delightful experience.

I saw a comment section on a cigar forum discussing my top 25. One smoker says he liked me in the past, but lately I’ve changed. No shit, brother. Try half a year of not sleeping. If not for smoking glass just before my review, I would not be able to write at all.

The end comes to a glorious finale.
A 40-minute Toro.

A cigar guaranteed to ruin your day. But at least it was expensive.

But then, I go back to an earlier statement where I made the presumption that this pre-release blend is not the real deal. I will never know until I see reviews of the final releases.

RATING: 65

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS