(Please see update at the bottom. I would not buy this cigar today)
The cigar:
The Liga Privada is Drew Estate’s premier cigar line. Drew Estate is known for their infused cigars which I detest so I was reluctant to try these. I bought a five-pack and this is my second time smoking one of these.
- 5.0″ x 52
- Wrapper: Connecticut broadleaf maduro
- Binder: Brazilian
- Filler: Nicaraguan and Honduran
- Price: $15
First impressions:
- This is a Beautifully constructed cigar.
- It has a VERY dark, oscuro maduro wrapper with very small veins
- Extremely dense, tightly packed, and firmly rolled. Easily the most tightly rolled cigar that I’ve ever seen.
Pre-light:
- The foot smells of earth, fermented tobacco, and dried fruit.
- Cold draw is surprisingly open with a very potent flavor of sweet, dried fruit and almost nothing else
First third:
- Billows of smoke fill the entire area during lighting and continue throughout the smoking process.
- The first few puffs have none of the usual bitterness but tastes and smells like a campfire.
- The raisin sweetness continues and is extremely evident in the aftertaste.
- It has a woody flavor with a very oaky quality that I love in both cigars and scotch.
- I feel like a little more pepper would do it some good.
- I don’t usually retrohale but an accidental one yielded the oak, fruit, lots of vanilla, a little bit of cinnamon. The cinnamon was more like cinnamon gum or candy and not the spice (and, yes, there’s a difference).
- After the accidental retrohale, the vanilla note is now more obvious to me in the flavor and aroma.
Second third:
- In the second third, the dried fruit has evolved into more of a fresh-baked fruit pie with only a tiny hint of nutmeg and cinnamon. The fruit is specifically pear and raisin.
- I got my wish, there’s some black pepper coming through now.
- The ash is beautifully formed and about an inch-and-a-half long now and making me nervous. I still had to force it loose.
- The fruit is almost completely gone but it still tastes and smells like pie crust or some other kind of fresh baked, sweet pastry.
Final third:
- The sweetness has now evolved to a very heavy, dark syrup or molasses flavor
- There’s a bit of cocoa present now
- Final third is dominated by burnt sugar, molasses, and chocolatey coffee liqueur.
- There’s an ever so slight, minty aftertaste.
Ratings:
- Strength: medium
- Construction: 10
- Taste: 9
- Aroma: 10
- Value: 9
Impressions:
Overall Score: 10
- If cigars are like food then this cigar is the after-dinner flambé dessert. It is a rich, extravagant, decadent cigar. I’m almost embarrassed for the cigar industry that this thing was made by a company that specializes in infused cigar. However, it’s clear that they invested in the highest quality, aged, fermented tobaccos and utilized meticulous rolling techniques. It is the finest crafted cigar that I’ve ever seen or smoked. I’ve smoked two of these so far and neither one required a single touch-up the entire smoke, all the way down to the nub. My only complaint about the flavor is that I wish it had a little more spice or pepper in the first two-thirds but that’s just a matter of personal preference. This isn’t something that I would smoke regularly, especially due to the price tag, but it’s a perfect special occasion cigar or a special treat after a rich meal.
UPDATE:
This particular cigar was from a stash that had been from the early days of the Liga Privada line when they were made from much higher quality tobacco. I’m guessing the cigar in this review was rolled in ~2014. The quality of this brand has tanked since this review. Even the next batch I purchased in 2017 were sub-par. They’re being massed produced now and the blend doesn’t even taste the same. The color isn’t even the same. They’re more of a medium-dark maduro rather than the ultra-dark oscuro. They’re decent cigars that probably exist somewhere between a 5 and a 7 on my scale. For the price, you can do much better these days. I wouldn’t bother with them now. It’s a shame because it was one of the best cigars I’ve ever had and all 5 in the sampler pack I purchased were insanely good. Shame on Drew Estate.
Oklahoma Cigars 