I was very excited to
have the opportunity to review the Drew
Estates Liga Privada T52 Robusto, these are a
very hard to find cigar in central Ohio, as they sell through very
quickly. I was able to locate a few at
House of Cigar’s Montecristo Lounge, I was also able to pick up a few Liga Privada
no.9’s in the same size as the T52.
After going through the boxes looking for the best cigars I picked up 4
of each to start my reviews.
I’m a huge fan of Drew
Estates, especially the Undercrown and Norteno lines, so stepping up to the
high end of the line is exciting:
|
Strength:
|
Full
|
|
Shapes:
|
|
|
Wrapper:
|
Sun Grown
|
|
Origin:
|
Nicaragua
|
|
Brand:
|
|
Price per cigar $19.00
however when purchased from Cigars International they typically retail between
15-17 USD.
These are beautifully
constructed cigars and the smell right out of the box is fantastic, you can
tell right away with the oily wrapper it’s going to be a full body cigar. The Liga
Privada T52 is a departure
from the flavored cigars that Drew Estates is know for, and is the second cigar
created by Steve Saka for his own
personal enjoyment but released to the market due to its phenomenal
characteristics, now I don’t use the word phenomenal very often however this is
a time when It needs to be! The blend consists of full-flavored, premium
Nicaraguan tobaccos just as the No. 9 but comes cloaked in a beautiful, toothy
and oily Habano wrapper.
The combination
brings a rich, unique complexity to the palate with more spicy characteristics
and a beautiful earthy flavors with strong finish. Almost no sweet nuances are
noticeable as the blend builds from the start and perfectly complements a
hearty meal. This is not a cigar for an empty stomach.
As I sat down to
start the review, I started to light the cigar carefully getting the tobacco
started, I them started the initial draw, the oiliness of the wrapper was a
beautiful thing, you could just tell this was going to be an experience, within
a couple minutes I noticed that the wrapper had begun to unwind, and not in a
good way, I started to wonder if this was an issue with the humidification of
the cigar from the shop, I decided to check both my humidor and a second cigar.
There were no issues on my end, so I took a second cigar punched it and begun
the lighting process, the second cigar was rolled tight has a beautiful boquet
and was ready to go.
One thing I’ve
learned from smoking the Liga Privada line, there is no shortage of smoke! I’m
not even puffing on it to get it going the wrapper just burns this way. If you
wanna talk about complexities in a cigar this Liga Privada T52 is
the stick for you. Now because this cigar hit so many taste buds that it was
hard to keep up with it. The truth is, I loved it though! I’m constantly
surprised at how on the outset I can smell sweet notes from the foot and the
wrapper, but once I light the cigar up I’m quickly blown away and I mean blown
away. How does that happen? Of course looking at the wrapper you might be
inclined to think that it’s not going to be spicy that it should be smooth and
creamy.
Liga Privada T52 starts
out with a big burst of spice. This mellows out into a nice creamy texture
which then transforms into some nutty and leathery notes. It’s like a constant
wave of change. Even though I’m a big fan of constant flavor. Just when the 1st
third is finishes, it starts all over, spice, cream, leather and a nutty burst.
The 2nd and 3rd are much the same, I read another review
where this cigar was compared to riding a huge rollercoaster and I agree, so
many flavors and so much complex excitement with this cigar it’s truly hard to
explain.
Would I buy the cigar
again? Without a doubt, even though I had issues with the construction of the
first cigar the draw the flavor made up for it.
Is It an Every Day Smoke? No, or at least it shouldn’t be. it’s
hard to come across these smokes, and for it to be an everyday cigar you would
have to buy boxes. I would rather let other people try this cigar than for me
to buy boxes. Coming across these cigars is like coming across a bottle of rare
bourbon. When you see it, you buy it and smoke it when the time is right, but
not everyday.
In conclusion
The Liga Privada T52 is
a great cigar, an amazing ride of flavor. I decided to give this cigar a 94 I
believe that it would have been a 95+ had I not had issues with the wrapper on
the first cigar and the overall draw, but I could see the final rating of the Liga Privada T52 at 96 out of 100
For more information
about Drew Estate cigars and the Liga Privada T52 check them out here: http://drewestate.com/?portfolio=liga-privada-t52-cigars
No comments:
Post a Comment