Back in 2009, I recall sitting in a New York City Cigar Shop is a shoe shine chair with David Lafferty of Drew Estate. It was right around the time of a Cigar Aficionado function that might have been The Big Smoke or something entirely different. It was here that I was gifted with my first Dirty Rat. Over the years it feels like the Dirty Rat went from cult status to a cigar that […]
Back in November of 2015, right here at Two Guys Smoke Shop, Steve Saka unofficially launched his first brand of cigars since leaving his position as President & CEO of Drew Estate in 2013. Sobremesa is a cigar Steve blended to fit his palate; he wanted something that had a lot of flavor and complexity that wasn’t overpowering with strength. According to Saka, the Sobremesa Elegante en Cedro features what he feels are the best […]
The success of Steve Saka’s newest brand Sobremesa will be labeled hit or miss in the coming days as he begins to send out the second shipment of his freshman release under his company Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust. Will those who bought the initial release return to make a second purchase or are they one and done customers. According to Steve Saka, the cigars have two different blends with the thinner ring gauges being tweaked versus the larger […]
This past week the most anticipated cigar of 2015 began shipping to retailers and one of the first events for the cigar was held at Two Guys Smoke Shop in Salem, New Hampshire. Invites to members of Cigar Cartel were extended for this private event that featured Steve Saka as a guest on The Cigar Authority podcast along with a Q & A period for members of the Cartel with the creator of Sobremesa. The […]
This summer saw the launch of Foundation Cigar Company by Nick Melillo who had his career start at the retail level while living in the state of Connecticut. From here he would go on to Drew Estate where he would oversee their factory operations and he was responsible for blending Liga Privada No. 9, T52, Dirty Rat, L40, Nica Rustica as well as others. Nick would eventually leave Drew Estate to start his own business […]
Living in New York at the time that Liga Privada No. 9 came out; I remember how the cigar set the world on fire so to speak. Limited to a certain amount of accounts they became the holy grail of cigars for cigar geeks such as myself. A couple of years later Drew Estate would release the Liga Privada T52 and it would surpass the No. 9 for me in terms of a cigar I […]
Even though I wrote this a few days prior as it posts I am in pre-op waiting to have my gallbladder removed. I wanted to review something to get some discussion going, so I invite you to look at the question at the end of the review and let me know your thoughts. According to Drew Estate, “Translated to English, “Liga Privada” means “private blend.” It is the perfect name, as this cigar was originally […]
Drew Estate Announces Updated Liga Privada Papas Fritas Packaging Miami, FL – Drew Estate announced today that they would begin offering their Liga Privada Papas Fritas cigar in a newly designed 50-count box. These new boxes will replace the 4-count tins / 28-count boxes that the Papas Fritas line is currently offered in and will, as a result, reduce the single cigar retail price to $5.25 MSRP from it’s current price of $6.40. When reached for […]
One of the most sought after cigars right now is the Ratzilla. It’s holiday release seems to have surpassed that of the Opus X and Anejo at least around the cigar geek community. Part of the Unico Serie, the Liga Privada Ratzilla by Drew Estate from Swisher Sweets comes in 12 count bundles. The first Ratzilla was released in 2012 with 400 bundles put in distribution and there is no word on the size of […]
What started as a rumour on the cigar forum BOTL, before being discussed on The Cigar Authority and becoming a controversial post over at The Cigar Nut, has finally been validated. Swisher International has purchased Drew Estate Cigars. The company will continue to operate with its existing management team, but will now have to answer to tobacco giant, Swisher International. As part of the deal, Swisher acquires all of the Drew Estate brands as well […]