Video review HERE.
The Undercrown Shade is a completely new blend from the original Undercrown cigar.
Willy Herrera, Drew Estate’s master blender, said this about the blending process:
Since day one, Drew Estate has demonstrated that no premium cigar company better understands its team, and that the heart of the company is the production floor and factory. This is why I chose to work closely with the rollers responsible for the original Undercrown blend, and challenged them to create a Connecticut blend that would satisfy my palate. It was a long road, taking more than a year to develop. In the end, it was a very rewarding process, as finding a Connecticut blend to fit my palate wasn’t easy.
Available in these sizes:
Corona (5 5/8 x 46, $7.50)
Robusto (5 x 54, $7.75)
Gran Toro (6 x 52, $8.25)
Belicoso (6 x 52, $9)
Corona Doble (7 x 54, $9.50)
Gordito (6 x 60, $9.95)
Blend:
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Sumatra
Filler: Dominican Criollo 98, Nicaraguan Corojo & Criollo
The cigar is a golden brown; very light in color especially for a Drew Estate cigar. The wrapper is very smooth and the cigar is well made. Here is a shot of the foot.
The test draw after cutting the cap was perfect. The initial flavors were light boysenberry notes, white chocolate, light caramel, dry wood, and black pepper at a 6 1/2. The pepper is already very good on the finish, which is one of sweet cream. The cigar is mild to medium at this early stage.
About 2 inches in the flavors are sweet boysenberry and sweet cedar, white chocolate, and light caramel giving the cigar some added sweetness. There are also a lot of dry wood notes. The pepper is now at a 7 on the front end and if you rated the finish it would be around an 8. The cigar is medium bodied at this point. The lingering black pepper on the finish is the star of the cigar at this point. The cigar is very light in flavor and power at this point.
With about 2 inches remaining the ash is still intact and appears very tight. The flavors are more of a sweet cedar and white chocolate. The dry wood has gone away but in it's place there is some black coffee. There is still light caramel on the front end. The finish is a sweet cream. The pepper continues to increase on the front end and finish. I am really liking the pepper.
The cigar ended with the full ash intact! That's around a 4" ash! I am impressed with the construction of this cigar. The sweetness did continue to improve to the end. I was not impressed at the early stages but at this point the flavors are very good. The black pepper continued to improve also. The cigar ended at medium to full bodied. One thing is for sure, the cigar improved from the very first puffs. Averaging out the scoring the cigar winds up being pretty good. I wish it had the flavors in ended up with at the beginning. Good cigar and well worth trying. The tight ash was impressive.
Score: 91
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