Drew Estate Blackened Cigars

From humble beginnings in the mid-1990s to now one of the most recognized and regarded names in the industry, Drew Estate was among the first popular boutique brands and is now a leader in the cigar world. Heritage brands had dominated the cigar landscape for decades, and it was rare to see new brands established without some historic cigar-making legacy or family tie. Jonathan Drew, though, wasn't interested in established conventions or tradition; he wanted to start a rebirth.

In 1996, Jonathan and his college friend Marvin Samel began selling cigars out of a small kiosk in New York City. Two years later, Jonathan moved to Nicaragua to establish his own factory relationships despite no previous ties to the industry, and he partnered with Nick Perdomo to produce Drew Estate's first blend: La Vieja Habana. The next year, Drew Estate introduced Acid Cigars in collaboration with urban artist Scott "Acid" Chester, offering unique handmade cigars infused with herbs, botanicals, and oils. The series catapulted Drew Estate to the forefront of the industry and became one of the best-selling long-filler cigars.

With this newfound success, Jonathan and Marvin built La Gran Fábrica Drew Estate in Nicaragua, able to produce 100,000 cigars a day. They also wanted to continue crafting traditional cigars, like La Vieja Habano and Undercrown, so the pair established the Liga Privada line: The series was made at the behest of then-executive Steve Saka and focused on small-batch blends and rarer, more limited tobacco varietals.

By 2014, Drew Estate had become as well known for its traditional cigars as it had for the infused Acid line, so Jonathan and Marvin hired established cigar blender Willy Herrera to be the company's Master Blender, entirely devoted to creating new premium cigars. In the years since, Drew Estate has only continued to solidify its prestige and quality, consistently crafting some of the best cigars available and faithfully filling humidors around the world.