Liga Privada T52-3

Cigar: Drew Estate Liga Privada T52-3

This cigar is an experimental release from Jonathan Drew. Some were given to T.G.; who shared them with several BOTLs, including myself.
Vitola/Wrapper/Binder: unsure

Drink / Food: Sam Adams Boston Lager
Outside Factors: Beautiful night spent on front patio with my wife
Construction: First thing that hits you is the look of this wrapper. It has an almost antique varnished look to its sheen. Some minor black mottling added to the attractiveness, rather than being objectionable. Some small veining along wrapper. Nice cap and decent bunching. Cigar is firm throughout, without being hard.
Prelight: End has a sweet tobacco scent. The wrapper has a very unique scent to it. I ask my wife what she thinks. I said an herbal scent and thought tarragon; she smells it and says tarragon. In the spice rack later, we realize we were both wrong, it was marjoram. Richly sweet and enjoyable scent regardless. End cuts nicely.

First Third: Lights up well after toasting the end. Cigar comes in with a warm spice flavoring. A welcome break from the harsh pepper blasts many of the sticks I’ve had lately start with. It reminded me of warm mulled cider. The aftertaste and mouthfeel are dominated by a cedar finish. I can’t say it was a creamy taste, but certainly not the antiseptically dry taste cedar can have either. Soft cedar is the easiest way to describe it.

A half inch in and a little snap on the back of the throat comes in. A light pepper that adds, not dominates and overwhelms. Soon a leather and oak taste comes in and out of the aftertaste along with the cedar. Some cinnamon drifts in occasionally.
Draw: A little firm, but my humidor was running around 70-72% lately
Burn: Not razor sharp for sure, but decent. No correcting necessary. Very slow burning. Clear your schedule, this cigar takes a while.
Ash/Smoke: Dingy gray ash that was very solid. Marbling and tooth coming through always cool to see.

Second Third: Some vegetal qualities come in to play. An herbal note, but not sure what. Cedar remains dominant on the aftertaste. Strength of cigar starts to kick in. This is a sneaky strong cigar, as the flavors don’t lead you to believe it will have this kind of kick.

Needs relit and I purge the cigar while doing so. Cigar shoots flames like a torch for several seconds. Some serious tar built up! A little spice enters after purge. Cigar is very clean tasting, without a lingering funkiness left on your palate.

Final third: Some pepper has stepped up in the final third. Cigar needs relit a couple more times; possibly due to before mentioned high humidity. Cedar never leaves the aftertaste through entire cigar. I guess my main criticism is that it dominated the cigars flavor profile throughout. Not offensive, but made the cigar easy to put down when it was done.

Strength: Very full Flavor: full
Overall Impression: This cigar seems to be J.D.’s entry into the uber-full cigar market. I’m glad he chose to walk his own path, rather than jumping on the pepper onslaught bandwagon. This cigar was very unique to me, and was an enjoyable change of pace. It was stronger than I prefer, and the cedar being continuous also didn’t hit my wheelhouse. I would have this cigar in my humi as a special occasion or a different road traveled cigar; not in my regular rotation. I definitely recommend this to anyone who likes to change it up, or enjoys the flavors described.

Construction: 10 10
Prelight: 5 5
First Third: 14 15
Draw: 8 10
Burn: 9 10
Ash / Smoke: 9 10
Second Third: 8 10
Final Third: 7 10
Overall impression: 17 20
Total Score: 87 100
Rating: B+

Thanks to T.G. for giving me the opportunity to try this great stick and to Jonathan Drew for sharing these ahead of schedule.