Drew Estate has always been synonymous with Nicaraguan tobacco — from Liga Privada to Undercrown, it's been the foundation of everything they've built. The El Tigre Dominicano changes that. This is Drew Estate's first foray into Dominican tobacco, and if early reactions are any indication, it won't be their last.

Born on the Factory Floor

[Alan Britt]: Undercrown's been around since 2010. There's a really cool story behind it — Drew Estate was blowing up with the Liga Privada line, and the rollers were smoking so much of it that they needed something to subsidize their own stash. So Undercrown was born as something for the factory floor, and they decided to offer it to the public. Undercrown holds a really special place in my heart from my early days of cigar smoking, and since then they've released more iterations — the Shade, the 10th Anniversary, which was like a Mexican hot chocolate in cigar form, and now we've got the Dominican version.

[Tyler Caldwell]: The demand for Liga Privada was incredibly high, and the rollers — the buncheros — were loving the blend just as much as the consumers. Drew Estate had to tell them to slow down on their own stock, and that's where Undercrown came from. I believe the phrase on the box is "Born on the factory floor." Undercrown is your everyday weekly smoke. Liga Privada is your weekend, celebratory, just loving life addition to your rotation.

[AB]: Exactly. Liga Privada was celebratory and a bit higher in price. Undercrown was that everyday cigar with a similar enough profile that if you loved the Liga Nine, you could smoke an Undercrown Maduro and get through the week without breaking the bank.

[TC]: And now we've got the Dominican version. Drew Estate released the early access pack earlier this year, labeled simply as Fire.

[AB]: Which is an apt descriptor. This is Drew Estate's introduction into Dominican tobacco. Steve Saka and Nick Melillo pushed for traditional style cigars back in 2010, and Liga Privada and Undercrown exploded the market for Drew Estate — but everything's always been Nicaraguan. As a lover of Dominican tobacco, I'm super stoked about this. And this is actually my first time smoking it. I'm super impressed.

[TC]: It might be too early to say this, but I believe you're going to find this cigar on many top lists by the end of the year. This is a possible contender for cigar of the year for me.

[AB]: I agree. It's early, but that's 100% factual.

El Tigre Dominicano Characteristics

[AB]: The cigar features an Ecuadorian Sumatran seed wrapper — which I'm a big fan of — Dominican HVA and C98 fillers, and a binder that's actually a lower priming of the wrapper leaf used on the H99, Connecticut Corojo hybrid. If you're a fan of the Liga Privada line, the H99 was insanely popular when it was released. I think it marked the beginning of the transition from those heavy Nicaraguan-forward blends toward something more refined.

[TC]: In traditional Undercrown fashion, you've got a multitude of sizes — Corona Viva, Robusto, Toro, and a Gorda at 6" x 60 for the big ring gauge fans. I typically lean toward Lanceros and Coronas, but so far the Toro has been my favorite.

[AB]: Although I'm typically a smaller ring gauge smoker, I feel like Dominican fillers tend to sing in larger formats. The cigar also features a soft box press, which I love. It makes the cigar feel a bit smaller than the ring gauge actually is, and it rounds out the profile in a way that really suits this blend.

[TC]: The soft box press also really helps with the mouthfeel. And the construction on this is just killer — burning perfectly.

[AB]: There's no way smoking this blind I would have pegged it as a Willy Herrera or Jonathan Drew product. I assume Willy blended this, and he's done something remarkable here. As a Dominican cigar lover — big fan of Davidoff, big fan of what the Venturas do — that profile is super apparent in this.

Flavor Profile

[TC]: The flavor is completely outside of what you expect from Drew Estate. There's a white pepper and citrus-y twang up front — that tingle on the tip of your tongue — with an earthy, roasty espresso quality in the background. On the body, I'd put this squarely in the medium range. It's not so strong you couldn't have it first thing in the morning with an espresso, but not so light you couldn't take it into the evening with a cocktail. Something with a sweet rum profile would really bring out the tobacco's natural sweetness.

[AB]: That Dominican twang is exactly what I mean. We're pairing it today with a medium roast Colombian that's anaerobically fermented — lots of floral notes that work beautifully with Dominican tobacco. There's a barnyard-y funk in there, and I say that as lovingly as possible, balanced by something floral. It's a really special combination. I see myself smoking a lot more of these.

[TC]: Completely out of the norm for Drew Estate, and in the best possible way. If I smoked this without knowing what it was, I would have never called it.

An Excellent Starting Place for Dominican Tobacco

[TC]: The audience for this is broad, but if you're a Drew Estate fan who's lived in the Nicaraguan world and always wanted to explore Dominican, this is your on-ramp. It's the perfect introduction to that profile from a brand you already trust.

[AB]: And for the guys who prefer balance over boldness — the Davidoff smokers, the guys who want flavor without getting knocked around by nicotine — this is absolutely in your wheelhouse. It'll be a touch fuller than you're used to, but it's a flavor bomb that stays in control the whole way through.

[TC]: If you want to know what the future holds for Drew Estate and what they can do with Dominican tobacco, this is where you start: The El Tigre Dominicano by Undercrown. We've got them online — check them out and let us know which size is your favorite.

[AB]: If you've already smoked the El Tigre Dominicano, let us know what you think in the comments.