If you’ve spent more than five minutes within the cigar world, then you definitely have come across a cigar that comes from the Drew Estate umbrella. Drew Estate is an iconic company that hails from New York City. Starting off with a passion-turned career, founders Johnathan Drew and Marvin Samel didn’t start like most cigar companies. No, they didn’t start in the fields of Nicaragua. Yet, they started selling cigars in a small kiosk in the World Trade Center in New York City around 1996.

Fast forward 26 years later,  Drew Estate is one of the biggest companies within the industry and has an even bigger following. From amazing events such as the Barn Smoker, to delicious private labels such as the the Nightshade, Drew Estate is for everybody who loves cigars.

So without further ado, here is Nick, covering the Top 5 Drew Estate Cigar for 2022. Don’t forget to click the link below for a limited-time sampler.

 Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf

Binder: Brazilian Mata Fina

Filler: Nicaragua/Honduras

Wrapper Shade: Maduro

Strength: Full

Size Available: 5 x 54

Smoke Time: 65-75 minutes

Leading off the Top 5 Drew Estate Cigars is the one cigar that put Drew Estate on the map in 2005. The Liga Privada No. 9 is an award-winning smoke that even novice smokers want to enjoy on the daily basis. When Nick Melillo of Foundation Cigars and Steve Saka of Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust were members of Drew Estate, the two perfected the cigar for enthusiasts across the globe.

After being hand-fermented over an 18-month period, once the cigar is rolled, it’s aged another year. Lushy and earthy flavor notes flow throughout the smoke once it’s lit. Rated 90 on Cigar Aficionado’s Top 25  Cigars of the Year in 2013, Liga Privada No. 9 is available in nine different sizes comes in a box of 12 and a box of 24.

 Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Wrapper: Mexican San Andres

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Nicaragua

Wrapper Shade: Maduro

Strength: Medium-Full

Size Available: 5 x 50

Smoke Time: 65 Minutes

Next up on our Top 5 Drew Estate Cigars is a cigar honoring a brand line that turned 10 years old in 2021. Undercrown has been making extremely successful cigars since 2011 all thanks to master blender Willy Herrera. For the Undercrown 10, Herrera created this delicious smoke by utilizing a Mexican San Andres wrapper cloaked over Nicaraguan tobaccos in the binder and filler.

Landing number 2 on our 2021 Top 25 list for a good reason, some delicious flavor notes you’ll detect while smoking the Undercrown 10 are chocolate, cocoa, leather, and honey.

Chose one of the five different sizes that come in a box of 10 to celebrate Undercrown’s achievement of making top-tier premium cigars over the past decade.

 Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Wrapper: Ecuador Habano

Binder: Honduras

Filler: Honduras/Nicaragua

Wrapper Shade: EMS

Strength: Medium-Full

Size Available: 7 x 48

Smoke Time: 95-105 minutes

Last year we were fortunate enough to have a handful of manufacturers create special cigars for us to celebrate our company’s 50th anniversary in the cigar world. We reached out to Willy Herrera and Drew Estate to see if they’d partake in our celebration. Both sides were eager as anything to collaborate after the success of the Drew Estate NightShade. So landing smack dab in the middle of our Top 5 Drew Estate Cigars is the Herrera Esteli JR 50th Anniversary.

This 7 x 48 Churchill is a medium to full-bodied smoke that is only available in a box of 10 in one size. Very limited and rare at this point, the Herrera Esteli JR 50th Anniversary has delicious flavor notes of chocolate, oak, black pepper, and espresso throughout all three thirds.

If you’re new to cigar smoking and are looking to just get a quick taste of what Drew Estate is all about, then the Herrera Esteli JR 50th Anniversary is the one for you.

 Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Wrapper: Mexican San Andres Maduro

Binder: Honduras

Filler: Nicaragua

Wrapper Shade: Maduro

Strength: Full

Size Available: 6 x 44

Smoke Time: 85-95 minutes

Next up, comes the hands and mind from master blender Willy Herrera, who seems to have his creative minds and hands in a lot of the cigar lines under Drew Estate. The Hererra Esteli Norteno is in fact the first line that was created when Willy joined Drew Estate back in 2014.

Tobaccos utilized in the 6 x 44 Lonsdale were created with only the fine handpicked tobaccos from the Esteli and Jalapa region in Nicaragua. Cloaked in a Mexican San Andres Maduro wrapper gives off delicious flavor notes such as chocolate, roasted nuts, black pepper, and cocoa on the backend.

Available in six different sizes, that come in a box of 25, the Herrera Esteli Norteno is the perfect cigar to see what Willy Herrera’s blending process is all about.

 Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Wrapper: Connecticut Habano

Binder: Indonesia

Filler: Dominican Republic/Nicaragua

Wrapper Shade: Maduro

Strength: Medium-Full

Size Available: 5 x 52

Smoke Time: 85-95 Minutes

We’ve talked about this cigar at nausea at this point, but this cigar is so damn good we shouldn’t stop talking about it! NightShade by Drew Estate was a private label created by…you guessed it, Willy Herrera for us here at JR Cigars.

This medium to full-bodied smoke comes in eight different sizes, but the 5 x 52 in this sampler is the more popular one due to its smoke time and the flavors you will experience once it’s lit.

Some flavor notes you’ll detect while smoking this gem are raisins, chocolate, pepper, and espresso on the backend. When this came out in 2020, the NightShade just added to the titan that is Drew Estate and further established this brand as a top-notch brand that rules the industry.