Drew Estate Liga Privada H99 (Super Ancho) – Gordo (6 x 60)
The Particulars
| wdt_created_by | cigarkey | brand | cigarname | vitola | strength | wrapper | binder | filler | infused | sweettip | origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mcclossm | Drew Estate Liga Privada H99 (Super Ancho) - Gordo (6 x 60) | Drew Estate | Liga Privada H99 (Super Ancho) | Gordo - 6.00" x 60 | Medium - Full | Connecticut H99 Hybrid, Natural (Corojo & T52 Habano) | Mexico (San Andrés Otapan Negro Último Corte) | Honduras / Nicaragua / Pennsylvania (Green River One Sucker Ligero) | No | No | La Gran Fábrica Drew Estate, Nicaragua |
| COMPANY / BRAND: | Drew Estate |
| CIGAR: | Liga Privada H99 (Super Ancho) |
| VITOLA: | Gordo - 6.00" x 60 |
| STRENGTH: | Medium - Full |
| WRAPPER: | Connecticut H99 Hybrid, Natural (Corojo & T52 Habano) |
| BINDER: | Mexico (San Andrés Otapan Negro Último Corte) |
| FILLER: | Honduras / Nicaragua / Pennsylvania (Green River One Sucker Ligero) |
| INFUSED: | No |
| SWEET TIP: | No |
| ORIGIN: | La Gran Fábrica Drew Estate, Nicaragua |
Prolegomenon and Other Random Thoughts
When us cigar nerds think of tobacco grown in the Connecticut River Valley, we usually go to the two historic heavyweights of American tobacco: the mellow, golden Connecticut Shade and the dark, gritty Connecticut Broadleaf. But for the 10th Anniversary of the Liga Privada line in 2018, Drew Estate introduced a brand-new hybrid that was grown in the legendary New England dirt. Combining Corojo ’99 and T52 Habano seeds, harvested stalk-cut style just like classic Broadleaf, the result is the oily, rosado H99 this cigar is named for.
| Journaling Date | Cigar | Appearance | Draw | Burn | Flavors | Overall Experience | Base Rating | Buy Again? | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-04-26 | Drew Estate Liga Privada H99 (Super Ancho) - Gordo (6 x 60) | Good | Good | Poor | Excellent | Great | 4.00 | Most likely (good stick, but look for a deal) | 7.67 |
| 2025-09-19 | Drew Estate Liga Privada H99 (Super Ancho) - Gordo (6 x 60) | Good | Average | Good | Excellent | Great | 4.25 | Most likely (good stick, but look for a deal) | 8.00 |
The Review
This review for the Drew Estate Liga Privada H99 (Super Ancho) - Gordo (6 x 60) is based on the journal entry dated 2025-04-26
Appearance & Construction (0-3): Good (3)
A beautiful reddish-brown; I mean, this is one of the nicer-looking wrappers I’ve seen. Oily, great mottling, and toothy with a number of small veins. It has a flawless-looking roll with tight seams and a clean, evenly applied cap. It has a very firm feel and appears well-packed. The red of the bands complements the natural reddish color of the wrapper wonderfully.
Draw (0-3) & Burn (0-4): Good (3) / Poor (1)
The draw is spot-on and the burn starts beautifully. It creates a very light gray ash, nearly white, that’s littered with oil crystals. Unfortunately, the burn starts getting wavy and ugly fast. By the end of the first third, one side was a full inch ahead of the other and needed a heavy correction. The correction helped, but after ashing, it started to canoe again and needed another heavy correction getting into the final third. One side just did not want to burn. 🙄👎
Flavor Profile (0-5): Excellent (5)
Initial flavors hit with zesty citrus sweetness, oaky woodiness, some musty earth, and a mix of baking spice and pepper. I start picking up cocoa, mild espresso, and toasty breadiness. This cigar has been resting for about 5 months and it seems to be in its sweet spot. I’m getting more flavor and spice than I did from the No. 9 and T52 at the same points. Occasionally there’s a little harshness from the pepper and mild leather, but overall, it’s got a nice creamy finish.
Into the second and final third, no new flavors appeared, just a varying presence of the flavors mentioned upfront. But the charred hickory, cinnamon, and pepper with the fruity and molasses sweetness, combined with cocoa and toasted breadiness, all over a little musty earth, is a robust and complex mix of flavors. This is a great blend. 🔥
Overall Experience (0-5): Great (4)
I have this one in a number of vitolas, so I’m looking forward to seeing the differences between them. I have the Flying Pig, Robusto, Toro, Lancero, and another Gordo all resting. Hopefully, they burn better, as that was the main issue with this one and greatly affected the final score, but it’s been my favorite of the Liga Privada line thus far. 🔥🔥🔥
Review Base Rating (0-5):
4.00
Would I Buy It Again?
Most likely (good stick, but look for a deal)
Review Final Score (0-10):
7.67
Overall Score and Individual Journal Entries
While the review is based off one instance of journaling this cigar; there’s a number of reasons you can have different experiences smoking the same cigar multiple times. A blend can evolve with age (for better or worse), palates evolves, preferences change, and sometimes you just get a bad example! This section captures the ratings from each journal entry and the related journal photo. Below you’ll find an aggregate score based on every time the cigar has been journaled. Unless it was a gift or on-off smoke, this section will be updated every time I journal this cigar!
| Times Journaled | Base Rating | Buy Again? | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 4.13 | Most likely (good stick, but look for a deal) | 7.84 |
| Journaling Date | Cigar | Appearance | Draw | Burn | Flavors | Overall Experience | Base Rating | Buy Again? | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-04-26 | Drew Estate Liga Privada H99 (Super Ancho) - Gordo (6 x 60) | Good | Good | Poor | Excellent | Great | 4.00 | Most likely (good stick, but look for a deal) | 7.67 |
| 2025-09-19 | Drew Estate Liga Privada H99 (Super Ancho) - Gordo (6 x 60) | Good | Average | Good | Excellent | Great | 4.25 | Most likely (good stick, but look for a deal) | 8.00 |
Journaling Photos
The Flavor Wheel
| Category | Strength |
|---|---|
| Baking Spice | 1.50 |
| Pepper | 2.00 |
| Coffee / Espresso | 1.50 |
| Anise / Licorice | 0.50 |
| Sweet | 2.50 |
| Chocolate | 1.50 |
| Bready / Toasty | 2.50 |
| Woody / Charred | 2.50 |
| Grass / Hay | 1.00 |
| Earth | 1.50 |
| Leather | 1.00 |
| Floral / Aromatic | 0.00 |
| Fruity | 2.00 |
| Nutty | 0.50 |
| Salty / Mineral | 0.50 |
| Creamy | 2.50 |
| Musty / Barnyard | 1.00 |
| Bitter | 0.00 |
| Smooth | 2.50 |
| Harsh | 1.00 |
With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience. These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out. When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.
The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.
- 0: No flavor detected
- 1: Mild flavor
- 2: Medium flavor
- 3: Strong flavor
Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.
With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience. These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out. When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.
The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.
- 0: No flavor detected
- 1: Mild flavor
- 2: Medium flavor
- 3: Strong flavor
Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.
| Category | Strength |
|---|---|
| Baking Spice | 1.50 |
| Pepper | 2.00 |
| Coffee / Espresso | 1.50 |
| Anise / Licorice | 0.50 |
| Sweet | 2.50 |
| Chocolate | 1.50 |
| Bready / Toasty | 2.50 |
| Woody / Charred | 2.50 |
| Grass / Hay | 1.00 |
| Earth | 1.50 |
| Leather | 1.00 |
| Floral / Aromatic | 0.00 |
| Fruity | 2.00 |
| Nutty | 0.50 |
| Salty / Mineral | 0.50 |
| Creamy | 2.50 |
| Musty / Barnyard | 1.00 |
| Bitter | 0.00 |
| Smooth | 2.50 |
| Harsh | 1.00 |
Questions on how the ratings work?
Check out the detailed explanation here.
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