Drew Estate Undercrown Sun Grown Corona (5 5/8 x 46)

Video review HERE.

(Description taken from Cigar-Coop.com website)

A third blend has been added to the Drew Estate’s Undercrown Brand – and this one introduces a blend with a Sun Grown wrapper. At this year’s 2017 IPCPR Trade Show opening July 11th in Las Vegas, the Drew Estate Undercrown Sun Grown made its debut.

Perhaps what is most interesting thing about the Undercrown Sun Grown is the use of the Ecuadorian Sumatra seed Sun Grown wrapper. This is the first major traditional premium hand release by Drew Estate to use this wrapper (Sumatra has been used on its infused cigars).

The blend also features a Connecticut River Valley Stalk Cut/Cured Sun Grown Habano and what is described as a “powerhouse” blend of Nicaraguan fillers. The company says that one leaf of extensively aged Ligero from the Nueva Segovia region along the border of Honduras has been used to enhance the strength of the blend. The cigars will be available in seven sizes with one of the sizes being Drew Estate’s signature Flying Pig size.

“Returning to Drew Estate as the Fourth President is immensely inspiring and satisfying. The collaborative consortium of creative talent at every level is our core competency. Challenging Willy Herrera and the Undercrown Blending Team to create the new expression after finally securing Sun Grown Tobacco is extremely exciting, as we have tried to secure this Sumatra Ecuador tobacco for over 15 years. The new Sun Grown continues the legacy of ‘Blended on the Factory Floor'” commented Drew Estate President Jonathan Drew.

Willy Herrera, Master Blender of Drew Estate, added, “The people of Estelí, Nicaragua opened their hearts to me and my family ever since I joined Drew Estate. Creating cigars from the ground up with the Undercrown Blending Team challenges my comfort zone and pushes the company to more impactful blends.”

Blend Profile

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra-Seed Sun Grown

Binder: Connecticut River Valley Stalk Cut/Cured Sun Grown Habano

Filler: Nicaraguan

Country of Origin: Nicaragua (La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate)

Vitolas Available

Each of the sizes is available in 25-count boxes, except for the Flying Pig which is in 12-count boxes. Pricing is per cigar based on the SRP Box Price.

Corona: 5 5/8 x 46 (SRP $8.20/cigar $205.00/box) REVIEWED TODAY

Robusto: 5 x 54 (SRP $8.48/cigar, $212.00/box)

Gran Toro: 6 x 52 (SRP $9.00/cigar, $225.00/box)

Belicoso: 6 x 52 (SRP $9.84/cigar, $246.00/box)

Gordito: 6 x 60 (SRP $11.20/cigar, $280.00/box)

Corona Doble : 7 x 54 (SRP $10.38/cigar, $259.50/box)

Flying Pig: 3 15/16 x 60 (SRP $12.72/cigar, $152.64/box)

Photo by Drew Estate

The cigar is a beautiful reddish brown in color and it goes perfectly with the red and gold Undercrown band. The cigar has an average feel in the hand for a cigar of this size.

The test draw after cutting the cap was good with just a touch of firmness. In a word, perfect. The initial flavors at light up were a nice orange citrus, caramel, cinnamon, light leather, and black coffee. There is an element of buttery flavor also. There was black pepper which I rated at an 8. Good start. Lots of great flavors. I am a huge sun grown wrapper fan. Ever since I had my first Ashton VSG I knew sun grown wrappers were for me.

2 inches in (24 minutes) the flavors are going along very nicely. The leather is a clean leather and not intrusive. The caramel notes give the cigar a lot of sweetness. The brown sugar and citrus add more sweetness. The cigar continues to have some buttery notes. The cigar is medium to full bodied at this point. It will move up, however. The finish is a nice, sweet caramel with good lingering black pepper. The finish is smooth and sweet. 

At, or just past the midpoint (39 minutes) dark chocolate notes have entered into the picture. They are quite intense and came on rather quickly. They compete with the sweeter flavors for dominance. The black coffee adds even more depth to the cigar. The citrus notes are starting to change over to a sweet cedar. You still have the brown sugar and caramel but they are matched by the dark chocolate. The cigar is full bodied now. It is a manageable full bodied at this point. 

The Undercrown Sun Grown corona  lasted 1 hour 8 minutes. The flavors continued along their previous path but the cigar got very full bodied in the final third. Here at the end here are your flavors; cedar, leather, dark chocolate, cinnamon, caramel, brown sugar, and black coffee. Of those primarily you get the cedar, brown sugar, caramel, and dark chocolate with black coffee. The cinnamon is very faint and the leather is rather faint. The finish is still a sweet caramel with a nice lingering black pepper. This corona has been a very good cigar. I'm curious how the larger rings will be and will probably try the belicoso soon. You Undercrown fans should really like these so look for them on shelves very soon. You can purchase these cigars HERE.

Score: 94