The Undercrown, there are many stories about the creation of this cigar but the one that I hear most is that the rollers at the Drew Estate factory tweaked the Liga Privada with a new wrapper so that they could smoke a great cigar after they weren't allowed to smoke the Liga Privada anymore because of the limited available wrapper. I like the story and I was very curious about the cigar as I am a big Liga Privada fan. I got this cigar at the Intertabac trade show from Jonathan Drew as they aren't available in Europe yet. The Undercrown robusto will make a European debut on the Dutch Big Smoke on october 30th.
This 5x54 robusto is wrapped in cellophane and will get a € 6,50 price tag for The Netherlands. The band looks like a signet ring and the wrapper is dark and mild oily with just a few small veins. The construction feels good and the predraw tastes like sweet tobacco with some peanuts. The cigar smells like a barnyard with some added sweetness.
I taste a spicy and mild peppery earth flavor with some coffee and a mild sweetness. Soon I taste spicy earth with herbs and some pepper on the background. After half an inch I taste wood with herbs, the pepper is almost completely gone, the sweetness is completely gone and there is a mild freshness in the flavors. After three quarters of an inch I taste herbs with a mild fresh aftertaste. There is some wood on the background. After an inch the flavors are herbs which are getting more spicy and I taste pepper too. There is a peppery but fresh aftertaste.
Halfway I taste some sweetness with the herbs and the pepper. The freshness in the aftertaste is getting more pronounced. Soon after I taste a beautiful and well balanced mixture of cedar, pepper, herbs and some sweetness with a fresh and peppery aftertaste. After two thirds the cigar gets a bit more spicy. The flavors are now herbs with pepper, the aftertaste is still fresh and peppery. I also taste some sweetness and a toasted flavor.
This cigar lasted me for ninety minutes. The draw is great and I got a lot of thick smoke. The burn is beautiful and straight. The light colored ash is firm. This cigar is full flavored and medium to full bodied.
Would I buy this cigar again? Oh yeah!
Appearance: 9 / 10
Construction: 8 / 10
Draw: 8 / 10
Burn: 8 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 8 / 10
Aroma second part: 8 / 10
Aroma third part: 8 / 10