Oh, look…it’s a Halloween-themed cigar review…no, not because the imagery of these is scary…more because they are loaded up with more sweetness than most trick-or-treaters ever come home with…
For their eighth Freestyle Live social media-powered cigar reveal, Drew Estate added a new blend to the Deadwood lineup. Deadwood is also known as the cigar line that used to be “Natural”…then “Larutan.” They have been known for decades as cigars that are not flavored, but do have a sweet cap and use some pipe tobacco in the blend, making them almost seem like flavored cigars. The “bold evolution” of the Deadwood lineup was to make a totally traditional cigar with a sweet cap. And to make it with some Dominican Criollo 98 tobacco in the filler (but we can assume there’s probably Nicaraguan, as well), a Mexican San Andres binder, and a Connecticut Shade wrapper. I got a couple at a recent DE event…actually the rep insisted I try it, so I did…and now I’ll share my thoughts.
For a company not known for their milder cigars in quite some time, they have produced a decent number of Shade sticks recently…20 Acre Farm, Blackened Shade to Black, now this. Dominicana is a good-looking cigar and honestly had notes of sweet hay and earth that I expect on any decent mild cigar.
Holy shit, the cap is aggressively sweetened! I was told after the first one, “Don’t take a cold draw, it just increases the sweetness.” So the second time I just toasted then fired up…and it was a little better…but still waaaaaay too much saccharine taste on the cap. No, it doesn’t really taste like sugar…more like the intense, but fake, substitutes. Fortunately, I know that the whole sweet cap thing fades away in 5 to 10 minutes and becomes a rather nice mild cigar, exuding flavors of light grassiness, bread, and a touch of earth.
To help counteract the sweetness at the beginning I sipped Baker’s Single Barrel Bourbon, which at 107 proof and with a decently high rye content, provided an adequate amount of spice to help balance the beginning of the cigar. It probably would also go well with black coffee…and if you forget sweetener for the coffee, you could probably just dip the tip of the cigar in it and stir it up.
Seriously, though…surprisingly good cigar once you get past the sweetened cap. If they sweetened it on the same level that Saka has the Dunbarton Sobremesa Brûlée sweetened, it would be even better.
