Southern Draw
- Founded in
- 2014 — Robert et Sharon Holt, Estelí
- Factories
- Tabacalera A.J. Fernández, Estelí, Nicaragua
- Countries
- Nicaragua
Southern Draw is a couple's house. Robert and Sharon Holt founded it in 2014; he is a US Army veteran, and the house says so rather than keeping quiet about it.
It has its cigars rolled in one place only: Tabacalera A.J. Fernández, in Estelí. That is rare among houses without a factory — Crowned Heads, Dunbarton and Room101 each use several, and that spreading has become the norm on the boutique scene.
Its best-known range carries his wife's name. Rose of Sharon is a plant, but it is first of all Sharon Holt, and the house makes it the centre of its argument — what it calls a culture of honour, built on family, faith and fellowship.
The other ranges take the names of plants and landforms of the American South: Kudzu, Cedrus, Jacobs Ladder, Manzanita. It is a claimed regional anchoring, for a brand whose tobacco all comes from Central America.
Range Depth
Rose of Sharon
The range that carries Sharon Holt's name. Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, a mild register — it is the entry to the catalogue, and the one that made the house known.
Robusto · Toro · Corona
Kudzu
Kudzu is an invasive vine of the American South that covers everything it touches. This is the fuller side of the catalogue, and the name is not neutral.
Robusto · Toro
Jacobs Ladder
The densest range, its vitolas named in biblical vocabulary — Brimstone, sulphur. The house owns the imagery.
Brimstone · Robusto
Quickdraw
2015 — the house's small sizes, in several wrappers.
Firethorn
2016 — the firethorn shrub of the American South, in Ecuadorian Habano.
Desert Rose
2018 — dedicated to the women of the Holt family, the house says.
Fraternal Order
2019, for Cigars International first, national since 2020 — fraternal orders, by band colour.
Source : southerndrawcigars.com et famous-smoke.com (Robert et Sharon Holt, 2014, A.J. Fernández, Rose of Sharon) ; southerndrawcigars.com et cigardojo.com « Southern Draw Announces Fraternal Order Duo » (Quickdraw, 2015 ; Firethorn, 2016 ; Desert Rose, 2018 ; Fraternal Order, 2019, d'abord pour Cigars International, national depuis 2020) — chez A.J. Fernández