Drew Estate Java Maduro Toro

by Brian Hewitt

I could be that this is the week sporting April Fools day, or it could be the near lethal amount of pollen in the air here in Atlanta, but I felt like a change of pace was in order for this week’s review. And then it came to me. I do have those couple of Drew Estate Javas in my humidor that I’ve been thinking about reviewing for, oh, about 6 months now. And when was the last time any sort of flavored or “infused” cigar was reviewed on the Stogie Review? I think the last time was approximately never. Target acquired. Fire.

Cigar Stats:
Size: 6 x 50
Wrapper: Brazil
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Smoking Time: 2 hours
Beverage: Water
Price: $6.40


Light there or be square

The Pre-Smoke
The Java maduro is a cool cigar. It’s sharply box pressed, with your standard band near the head, and a second at the foot. The background color of the bands is roughly the same color as the wrapper, but the lettering stands out nicely, looking a bit like worn bronze.


Ooo… Shiny…

And when I say sharply box-pressed I mean it. In examining the wrapper for flaws, I noticed that the edges are actually creased. You would think with such severe angles, you wouldn’t find many large veins in this cigar. Well, you’d be wrong, because both cigars had significant veins in them that handled the edges nicely.

Aside from noting the veins, my inspection of the wrapper didn’t turn up anything particularly exciting. The wrapper had a nicely consistent dark maduro color with just a slight sheen. I didn’t notice any obvious wrapper flaws anywhere. So I quickly moved on to testing the aroma of the wrapper. This cigar smells just like a “work mocha”. You know what I’m talking about: Some drip coffee from the break room coffee pot, with a full packet of hot cocoa mixed in.

So I moved on to clipping the cap with my cigar scissors to take a cold taste. Wow, let me tell you, this is cigar is a pain to cut with scissors. The absolute flat, square-ness of the cap makes it incredibly difficult to actually cut into the cigar. (I also suspect the interesting shape of the cigar might make a V-cut less than optimal.) So with the clap clipped, I took a cold taste. The cold taste was just like the wrapper aroma I noted, only much sweeter.

The Burn
You couldn’t ask for a better burn from a cigar. The cigar consistently produced inch plus lengths of solid white ash. I expected that the box-pressed shape of the cigar to gradually round out as the cigar smoked, but that wasn’t the case. The cigar kept is sharp edges throughout the duration of the smoke. And though the cigar was a bit soft to the touch, and well packed with tobacco, I never experienced any draw problems.

The Flavor
Much like the burn section of this review there isn’t a whole lot to day about the Java maduro’s flavor. The cigar starts out overwhelmingly sweetly, which I believe comes from the wrapper. After that syrupy sweetness fades a bit (or your taste buds become desensitized to it), you start to notice the mocha and cocoa flavors that dominate the cigar for the first two thirds.

It isn’t until the final third that more traditional cigar flavors began to appear. The first one I noticed was an earthy cinnamon, and some less “enhanced” coffee. And that pretty much covers it. We’re not talking about a large palate of flavors with the Java.

The Price
I paid $6.40 for these cigars at a local shop, and thinking about it, I feel like I paid too much. But maybe I’m being a cheapskate, it did have a excellent burn, and it was box-pressed.

The Verdict
My verdict on this cigar was obvious to me the day after I smoked the first Java. I knew I needed to smoke another for a properly thorough review, but man, I really didn’t want to. It’s not that I hated the cigar, I just really wasn’t in the mood for smoking hot cocoa. Maybe it brought back painful memories of accidentally inhaling the dust from those hot cocoa pockets in the office, but it was just really unappealing. And while smoking it, I couldn’t wait for it to be over.

On the other hand, this is the cigar my college buddies and I needed when we used to smoke gas station cigars on our way to the beach a little over a decade ago. It goes without saying that the Java beats the heck out of a swisher.

Liked It: No, it go old very quickly.
Buy It Again: No.
Recommend It: If you like hot cocoa and flavored cigars, give it a shot.

Tower of Burn
Here for your viewing pleasure is my trademark Tower of Burn.




Share and Enjoy:
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Mixx
  • Sphinn
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Print