Brand guide
Drew Estate cigars
Drew Estate is a cigar company that started in New York in the mid-1990s and makes its cigars at La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate in Estelí, Nicaragua.
Drew Estate began at a World Trade Center kiosk
Drew Estate was started by Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel, two New Yorkers who first sold cigars from a 16-square-foot kiosk in the World Trade Center.
The start date depends on who tells it. The company's own history says 1995, in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn, "born under the Manhattan Bridge." Cigar Aficionado says Drew opened the kiosk in 1995 and Samel, his old fraternity brother, joined the next year, when the pair formed Drew Estate Inc. Same story. Different start line.
The first brand was La Vieja Habana. It was rolled at La Rosa Cigars in Manhattan at first, then at a friend's factory on Flagler Street in Miami. Drew Estate's site uses the founder's full name, Jonathan Drew Sann.
Who owns Drew Estate today?
Swisher International has owned Drew Estate since 2014, when it bought the company from its two founders.
The founder didn't walk away. In January 2017, Cigar Aficionado reported that Jonathan Drew signed a multi-year deal to serve as president, in charge of the whole brand portfolio. Glenn Wolfson had become CEO in July 2016.
Drew Estate's site also promotes J. Sann & Son, a project "from the Founder of Drew Estate." The site describes it as a planned cigar bar, supper club and music venue with a small family factory rolling 500 cigars a day.
Where are Drew Estate cigars made?
Production sits in Estelí, the tobacco town in northern Nicaragua, inside a building the company calls La Gran Fabrica.
The move south came out of trouble. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch hit Central America and knocked out production of La Vieja Habana. That fall, Jonathan Drew moved to Nicaragua and opened the first Estelí factory in a small house with six people.
It grew. Cigar Aficionado puts La Gran Fabrica at 174,000 square feet and calls Drew Estate the largest producer of handmade cigars in Nicaragua. The company describes the place as half factory, half hotel, and runs visitor tours there under the name Cigar Safari.
Drew Estate's tobacco, by the company's own spec sheets
Drew Estate publishes the wrapper, binder and filler for its core blends, and that leaf comes from the US, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.
Connecticut leaf does a lot of the work. Liga Privada No. 9 wears Connecticut River Valley Broadleaf No. 1 Dark. Liga Privada T52 wears a Connecticut Habano that is stalk-cut and stalk-cured, meaning the whole plant is cut and hung, not picked leaf by leaf. Both Liga Privada blends sit on a binder of plantation-grown Brazilian Mata Fina.
Undercrown shares a lot of that leaf. Drew Estate calls it an "inverse Liga Privada," and Cigar Aficionado says it uses many of the same tobaccos as Liga Privada No. 9 and T52. The company dates the Undercrown story to 2010. Undercrown Maduro wears a Mexican San Andrés wrapper. Undercrown Shade wears Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade over a Sumatra binder.
Herrera Estelí is named for Willy Herrera, who came from El Titan de Bronze in Miami and was hired in 2011. Drew Estate calls him its third Master Blender and describes the line as Cuban-style. Then there's ACID, the infused line, which Cigar Aficionado says uses essential herbs, oils and botanicals. Different product, same company. More on leaf color in the wrapper color chart.
Drew Estate flagship blends at a glance
| Line | Wrapper (as Drew Estate lists it) | Body (Drew Estate's word) | Notable sizes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liga Privada No. 9 | Connecticut River Valley Broadleaf No. 1 Dark | Full | Robusto 5 x 54, Toro 6 x 52, Corona Doble 7 x 54 |
| Liga Privada T52 | Connecticut stalk-cut, stalk-cured Habano | Full | Corona Viva 6 x 46, Belicoso 6 x 52, Corona Doble 7 x 54 |
| Undercrown Maduro | San Andrés, Mexico | Medium to Full | Robusto 5 x 54, Gran Toro 6 x 52, Gordito 6 x 60 |
| Undercrown Shade | Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade | Medium | Corona Viva 5 5/8 x 46, Gran Toro 6 x 52, Corona Doble 7 x 54 |
Drew Estate labels these by body, not strength. The two aren't the same thing, and the difference is laid out in strength vs body.
Drew Estate milestones by year
Drew Estate went from a New York kiosk to a Nicaraguan factory in about three years, then grew into a multi-brand company bought by Swisher.
- 1995: Kiosk in the World Trade Center; the company dates its founding to this year.
- 1996: Marvin Samel joins and Drew Estate Inc. is formed, per Cigar Aficionado.
- 1998: Hurricane Mitch disrupts production; Drew moves to Estelí that fall.
- 2007: Liga Privada first released, per Cigar Aficionado.
- 2010: The Undercrown story begins.
- 2011: Willy Herrera joins the company.
- 2014: Swisher International buys Drew Estate.
- 2017: Jonathan Drew named president under a multi-year agreement.
- 2022: Blackened M81 announced, made with James Hetfield of Metallica.
What to know before you buy a Drew Estate cigar
Drew Estate's core Liga Privada and Undercrown sizes run from a 4 x 32 Coronet to a 7 x 54 Corona Doble.
The fat one is the Flying Pig, 3 15/16 x 60. Drew Estate marks it a seasonal release, so it isn't always on the shelf. The product pages don't mark any of these sizes as pressed. Shape notes on the box are worth a look.
Read the band. Liga Privada, Undercrown, Herrera Estelí, Kentucky Fire Cured and ACID all come from the same company, but an infused ACID and a Broadleaf-wrapped Liga Privada are very different products. Drew Estate doesn't publish suggested retail prices on these pages, so price isn't listed here. To picture a 54 ring in your hand, try the size explorer.
Drew Estate questions people ask
Who owns Drew Estate?
Swisher International owns Drew Estate. Cigar Aficionado reports that Swisher bought the company from its founders in 2014.
Where are Drew Estate cigars made?
All of them come from Estelí, Nicaragua. The company opened its first factory there in 1998 and now rolls at La Gran Fabrica.
What wrapper is on Liga Privada No. 9?
Drew Estate lists the Liga Privada No. 9 wrapper as Connecticut River Valley Broadleaf No. 1 Dark, over a Brazilian Mata Fina binder and Nicaraguan and Honduran filler.
Is ACID made by Drew Estate?
Yes. ACID is a Drew Estate brand of infused cigars, which Cigar Aficionado describes as infused with essential herbs, oils and botanicals.
Where the Drew Estate facts come from
- About Drew Estate, Drew Estate
- Liga Privada No. 9 blend details, Drew Estate
- Jonathan Drew named president of Drew Estate, Cigar Aficionado
- Drew Estate company profile, Cigar Aficionado