Drew Estate

Drew Estate was born in New York. In 1995, Jonathan Drew opened a 16-square-foot cigar kiosk in the World Trade Center mall; in 1996, he and Marvin Samel, a university friend, formed Drew Estate Inc., according to the trade press (the house itself dates its beginnings to 1995). Its first brand, La Vieja Habana, was produced at Tabacalera Perdomo. The house's ACID page dates ACID's birth to 1996 and says it wanted to make the premium cigar affordable to people other than regulars in business suits.

ACID cigars are infused cigars: according to retailers (Simply Cigars, Element Vape), the ACID Kuba Kuba is a 5 x 54 inch robusto with a Sumatra wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder and fillers, infused with herbs and botanicals. The house does not detail these blends on its ACID page.

In 1998, Hurricane Mitch interrupted the production of La Vieja Habana; Jonathan Drew left for Nicaragua and, says the house, opened its first factory in Estelí in the autumn of 1998. La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate, where its lines are rolled today, opened in 2007 according to the trade press. In the same year, the Liga Privada No. 9 made its debut (Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, a blend from four countries, according to the same source); the house dates its Liga Privada brand to 2007.

On 20 October 2014, Swisher International announced an agreement to acquire Drew Estate in full, brands and factory included: the house would remain a wholly owned subsidiary, with its management team kept in place; the terms were not disclosed and closing was expected before the end of 2014 (trade press, 20 October 2014). In October 2026, the house's About page names no owner.

Range Depth

• ACID Kuba Kuba

  Wrapper Sumatra (per retailers) · Strength Medium

  Infused line from the house; the ACID page on drewestate.com (October 2026) mentions the Kuba Kuba only in an image caption and gives no detail of wrapper or infusion. According to retailers, a robusto of 5 x 54 inches (127 mm, ring gauge 54), Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers, infused with herbs and botanicals; medium strength according to those retailers.

  Kuba Kuba · Blondie · Dirty Rat · Deep Dish · Krush

• Liga Privada No.9

  Wrapper Connecticut Broadleaf · Strength Full

  Liga Privada, a brand the house dates to 2007; the trade press places the No. 9's debut in the same year, on a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper and a blend from four countries. The house describes it on its page by espresso and earth. The Flying Pig, a perfecto with a pointed tip (3 15/16 x 60 inches in 2018), is also made in T52 and Undercrown versions; the trade press notes a 2018 production limited to 2,500 boxes of 12 per version.

  Toro · Robusto · Flying Pig · Petit Lancero · No.9 Perfecto

• Undercrown

  Wrapper Varies by version · Strength Full

  Launched in 2010 according to the house: demand for Liga Privada was such that the rollers were asked to stop smoking it, and the workshop created a new blend, today's Undercrown Maduro. The trade press (2018) specifies that this torcedores' cigar used the binder and fillers of Liga Privada. The house lists Maduro, Shade, UC 10 and El Tigre Dominicano; the wrapper varies by version.

  Toro · Robusto · Corona Viva · Flying Pig · Shade · Sun Grown

• Herrera Estelí

  Wrapper Ecuadorian Habano · Strength Medium

  Willy Herrera's cigar — the El Titan de Bronze blender from Miami, hired in 2011 — launched in early 2013 on a recipe composed during his first visit to Estelí.

• Kentucky Fire Cured

  Wrapper Fire-cured Kentucky · Strength Medium-Full

  Kentucky tobacco cured over wood smoke, as for pipes, in a cigar rolled in Estelí. A line, not a house.

• Nica Rustica

  Wrapper Connecticut broadleaf · Strength Full

  2013 — the cigar rollers make for themselves, the house says: broadleaf, rustic, a single size at first.

• Herrera Estelí Norteño

  Wrapper San Andrés (Mexico) · Strength Full

  2015 — the full-bodied version of Herrera Estelí, San Andrés wrapper.

• Ambrosia

  Wrapper Undisclosed · Strength Medium

  Infused line: according to Corona Cigar Co., spices from Europe and South-East Asia, wine and rum on tobaccos from Honduras and Nicaragua, with, according to CigarPlace, four months of infusion followed by ageing in cedar cabinets. In October 2026, Corona Cigar Co. lists seven versions of it (Kaya, Mother Earth, Nectar, Spice Torpedo, Spice Triple Corona, Vann Reef, Clove Tiki) under Connecticut Shade, Habano, Sumatra or Cameroon wrappers, Cigars Direct gives the Clove Tiki cigarillo as hand-rolled, and Drew Estate's online catalogue does not list it.

• Blackened

  Wrapper San Andrés, Connecticut Shade

  A collaboration between Drew Estate, James Hetfield (Metallica) and Rob Dietrich (Blackened whisky), says the company. The M81, released on 18 October 2022 according to a press article, pairs a maduro San Andrés wrapper with a maduro Connecticut Broadleaf binder, in Corona, Robusto, Toro and Corona Doble; the S84 Shade to Black, in early 2024 according to Corona Cigar Co., switches to an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper, and drewestate.com presents these two expressions in October 2026.

• Chateau Real

  Wrapper Connecticut Shade

  Launched in 2006, when the company was making its debut in non-infused cigars, then abandoned, it was announced as returning on 9 November 2023 in Connecticut Shade over a Nicaraguan binder and filler, for the online retailers of the Drew Diplomat network. Drew Estate added to it a Habano for Cigars International in August 2024 and a San Andrés Maduro for its DDDP accounts on 1 November 2024, all rolled at La Gran Fabrica in Robusto, Toro and Churchill; in October 2026, the products page of drewestate.com does not list it among its lines.

• Factory Smokes

  Wrapper Undisclosed

  Cigars sold in bundles of 20 or 25: press release from the company dated 29 June 2018, presentation at the IPCPR in July 2018, four versions (Sweet with a Habano wrapper, Maduro, Shade, Sun Grown) on an Indonesian binder and filler, rolled at La Gran Fabrica in Robusto, Toro, Churchill and Gordito. In October 2026, drewestate.com presents it with Maduro, Sweet, Shade and Sun Grown.

🥃 Pairings

• Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

  Beer

  Stout brewed in Brooklyn, where the house says it began (DUMBO). An atlas suggestion, not taken from a page of the house.

• Woodford Reserve

  Bourbon

  Kentucky bourbon. An atlas suggestion, not taken from a page of the house.

• Cold Brew

  Coffee

  Cold-infused coffee. An atlas suggestion, not taken from a page of the house.

👤 Associated figures

• Jonathan Drew

  Founder of Drew Estate: he opened a cigar kiosk in the World Trade Center mall in New York in 1995, then left for Nicaragua in 1998 after Hurricane Mitch interrupted production of the house's first brand (trade press, 2017).

✨ Notable limited editions

• Drew Estate Liga Privada Unico Papas Fritas
• Drew Estate ACID Limited
• Liga Privada Year of the Rat
• Drew Estate Undercrown Maduro Special