Pre-light Experience

Seth: The Drew Estate Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano Corona Viva is a little rough in hand. It is not nicely pressed, and it begs the question if this cigar was meant to be pressed. Soft milk chocolate coloring is present on the wrapper that I would classify as dark Natural with Colorado coloring. Smooth in texture with aromas of leather, tobacco, barnyard and spices.
John: The Drew Estate Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano Corona Viva has a Colorado-colored wrapper and appears to be either a Corona or Corona Extra with a rounded square-pressed format. I weighed the cigar at 14.3 grams and measured the humidity at 57.2% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included light barnyard and dry wood. From the foot, I was getting similarly light notes of dry wood, hay and tobacco.
Jiunn: The Drew Estate Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano Corona Viva has an even Colorado shade. There’s very little give to the soft box press. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well capped. Pre-light aromas provide pungent barnyard.

Drew Estate Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano Corona Viva

First Third

Seth: The first third begins with damp wood, barnyard and spice notes. There are some earth qualities as well, but the cigar is not overly complex. The cigar is fairly one-dimensional, and lacking complexity. Not a flavor profile that speaks to me as well. Medium in strength and body.
John: The first third begins with herbal tobacco up front, followed by mildly dry wood that lingers into the finish. At light plus strength, some background baking spices come into the post draw after a short delay. A few puffs in, some tobacco sweetness works its way to the front of the profile. Light chocolate moves into the retrohale as the first third continues. Musty tobacco joins the finish as the cigar progresses towards the halfway point.
Jiunn: The first third’s opening is sweet and creamy in nature with a side of stale oak and bread. Quarter inch in, the cigar opens up, providing added dried red pepper spice and minerals. Retrohaling gives greater minerals and dried red pepper spice. The finish shows trailing stale oak. Strength and body is medium.

Drew Estate Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano Corona Viva

Second Third

Seth: The second third is in line with the first. No change in flavor profile, and it is not that great of a flavor profile to begin with. Medium in strength and body.
John: The second third leads off with creamy, musty bread and wood, with herbal notes following through the middle of the profile and dry, musty wood carrying the finish. Tobacco sweetness defines the center of the profile as the second third settles in. The flavor profile remains largely unchanged for the remainder of the second third.
Jiunn: A bitter bite forms in the second third. Both the minerals and oak wood now have a bitterness but also provides some decent tannins. The profile is also less sweet and creamy. Strength increases to medium-full while body remains medium.

Drew Estate Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano Corona Viva

Final Third

Seth: The final third shows no change from the second third.
John: The last third opens with mildly tannic wood followed by creaminess through the center of the profile and dry wood through the finish. Mild bread and wood combine through the retrohale as the cigar continues. Musty tobacco returns to the center of the profile as it settles in. Through the bottom half of the final third, dry wood and musty tobacco carry the profile. Bitterness is present on the finish as the final third continues.
Jiunn: The final third is the same as the second third. The profile’s baseline isn’t sweet and creamy anymore, replaced by bitter minerals and oak. Strength and body finishes the same medium-full and medium, respectively.

Drew Estate Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano Corona Viva

Burn

Seth: The burn was average from start to finish.
John: The burn was straight through the entire review process.
Jiunn: Burn performance was great, providing an even burn, tight ashes, good smoke production and cool burning temperatures.

Drew Estate Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano Corona Viva

Draw

Seth: The draw was slightly snug.
John: The draw measured 46 inches of water on the Cigar Medics draw tester. Subjectively, it was at most one notch towards the resistant spectrum, which put it in the ideal range between open and resistant.
Jiunn: The draw was also great, providing ideal air flow and resistance.

Overall

Seth: I am not blown away by the Drew Estate Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano Corona Viva, and I have no interest in coming back to the cigar. The presentation and delivery were terrible, and this is coming off as a cigar that needs the packaging help. What’s next?
John: The Drew Estate Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano Corona Viva delivered a profile built around herbal tobacco, dry wood and musty tobacco, with only modest evolution from start to finish. The first third offered the most complexity, as tobacco sweetness gradually emerged to balance the herbal qualities, while light chocolate through the retrohale provided a brief layer of added complexity. Despite those changes, the profile remained fairly restrained in both intensity and flavor nuance. The second third settled into a comfortable but repetitive combination of creamy, musty bread, wood and herbal notes, with tobacco sweetness providing the focal point of the profile. By the final third, the cigar leaned further into dry and tannic wood, with musty tobacco returning to accompany an increasing bitterness on the finish. While the flavors remained balanced enough to avoid becoming unpleasant, there wasn’t enough complexity or progression to elevate the smoking experience beyond an Average rating. Construction was excellent throughout. The burn remained perfectly straight from first light to the nub, and the draw sat squarely in the ideal range, making for a smoking experience that was effortless from a performance standpoint. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 4 minutes.
Jiunn: I enjoyed the initial third’s baseline of sweet and creaminess the most. Past the first third, the Drew Estate Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano Corona Viva became a bit more stale and highlighted bitterness in minerals and oak wood. Overall, it’s not a flavor profile that I enjoy but I can see others enjoying this style of cigar.

Seth Geise

SCORE

3.93

Cost/Point

$2.92

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$2.00

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$1.89

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Drew Estate Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano Corona Viva