Drew Dominicana Rosado by Drew Estate Cigars | Cigar Reviews by the Katman

Wrapper: Colorado Rosado
Binder: Nicaraguan (Proprietary)
Filler: Nicaraguan (Proprietary)
Size: 6 x 52 Toro
Strength: Medium
Price: $8.75 MSRP (As low as $5.00 online)

Today we take a look at the Drew Dominicana Rosado by Drew Estate Cigars

BACKGROUND:
From the Atlantic Cigars web site:
“Not much is known on this new line from Drew Estate; except this blend in made in the Dominican Republic and was supposed to be a future release that is now being closeout due to FDA regulations; something we are going to see a lot of in the next year or so.

“What we do know about this brand is that this blend is made with 100% long-filler tobaccos and are available in three wrapper styles; Shade, Maduro & Rosado all of which are very close in color. The Drew Dominicana’s are a non-infused blend, and once they are gone these smokes will be gone for good. The cigars come packed in boxes of 20 cigars.”

SIZES AND PRICES (MSRP):
7 x 50 $9.00 (Atlantic Cigars: $4.95)
5.75 x 46 $7.50 (Atlantic Cigars $4.13)
5 x 54 $8.25 (Atlantic Cigars $4.54)
6 x 52 $8.75 (Atlantic Cigars $4.81)

DESCRIPTION:
The cigar enjoys an oily, hickory/ caramel/gingerbread colored wrapper. The cigar is nicely constructed with invisible seams. It also contains small veins with a couple large ones to create the illusion of my old man hands. The triple cap is applied with flawless care.
The cigar seems evenly packed. Fingers crossed.

AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
From the shaft, I can smell cream, red pepper, caramel, floral notes, cinnamon, slight touches of white chocolate and black coffee, black raisins, and cedar.

From the clipped cap and the foot, I can smell a lovely combination of caramel/cream/pepper/milk chocolate/café au lait/& dried fruit.

The cold draw presents flavors of white pepper, malts, graham cracker, cinnamon, milk chocolate, and cedar.

FIRST THIRD:
The first puffs draw well but flavor is at a bare minimum. No explosions. No excitement incurred by the blend.
A few puffs later, flavors begin to blossom: Red pepper, creaminess, milk chocolate, malts, caramel, cinnamon, dried fruit, and graham cracker.
How odd that it went from 0-60 in just moments.
Strength hits medium immediately.

It’s now lovely to see that I’m getting a bitter aftertaste. Buzz kill.

There is a bedrock of barnyard and hay elements that seem to want to give their lives for the cause.
As quickly as some nice flavors arrived, they disappear into a fog of blah.

I had amazing luck with yesterday’s review of the Boneshaker Full Body Cast that was in the same price range as the Drew Dominicana Rosado. Which by the way seems to be an Atlantic Cigars exclusive.
Tastes more like a pitiful second to me. While the Boneshaker tasted like a $10 stick.
Construction is good. The char line starts to get a little wonky on me.

Flavors return…so it’s going to be one of those blends…unsure of itself and poorly blended with no thought of giving the blend some consistency.

The MSRP is a joke. This is a mere $5 stick…should probably be less.

Six flavors stand out: Creaminess, malts, spiciness, caramel, milk chocolate, and graham cracker.

They are listless flavors without much redemption. At this early point, all I can think of saying is shame on you Atlantic Cigars. You got some half assed cheap blend from Drew Estate that couldn’t make the cut in their regular line, gave it some hype, and called it a cigar.

All within the confines of the first third, the flavor profile has turned on and off like a 3 year old playing with a light switch.

And the Drew Dominicana Rosado has had more than enough humidor time.
It is becoming apparent that the stick is schizophrenic in its approach to keeping the customer satisfied.
The first third ends with disappointing results.

SECOND THIRD:
Smoke time is 20 minutes.

As I touch up the foot, a dozen tiny, unseen cracks in the wrapper emanate little tornadoes of smoke rising from the fissures. Not a pretty sight. Clearly, inexperienced rollers were used.

Creaminess and malts keep recurring trying to maintain the cigar from slipping into the deep morass committing suicide for the benefit of all mankind.

Now it’s time to say shame on you Drew Estate for pawning off this shit bird as a real blend instead of Quorum’s kid brother.
I like that the red pepper seems to be more on an even keel now giving the lifeless cigar a touch of zestiness.
I do believe I now know why there aren’t any reviews of this cigar.
It takes a sucker to do that, and today, I have sucker stamped on my forehead.

There are no transitions. There is no complexity. The finish is diminutive.
Plain and simple, this is just a red haired step child holding a big turd.
I am dismayed that I must finish this review instead of just shit canning the whole thing and go a day without a review.

Like clockwork, flavors return for their brief appearance: Creaminess, red pepper, milk chocolate, malts, graham cracker, cinnamon, cedar, and raisins…a momentary tear in the fabric of time. This too shall pass.

Halfway point. Smoke time is 35 minutes.
Strength remains at medium.

When I review a blend like this, I forgo the halfway photo. Too much work for an unworthy cigar blend.
It’s been a few minutes now and the flavor profile remains intact. No magic disappearing act.
Still, too little, too late.

Even with the renewal of flavors, they are static and stagnant and without any redeeming characteristics.
The Drew Dominicana Rosado is very reminiscent of a $3 Torano.

There are also versions with a maduro and shade wrappers. I have no desire to see if they are better. Probably not. It’s the guts of this blend that make it so unappealing and I doubt a different wrapper would help much.

Dead on arrival…once again. This is the Hannibal Lecter of DE blends. “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.”

Actually, fried baby liver and onions would be an improvement for this blend. It would, at least, awaken me from my stupor.

They’re baaack. Creaminess, malts, chocolate, pepper, graham cracker and raisins.
The Drew Dominicana Rosado is merely a one trick pony. No depth of character. No nuttin’ honey.

A good review channels the mood of the day for me. An unabashed rant about how great a cigar is euphoric. Ranting about how bad a cigar is like being ushered to a mental hospital bathroom with a big red rubber enema bag hanging from a pole.

Honestly, this cigar can be diagnosed with an unsound mind…hence getting it off from any trial at The Hague.

Oddly, the char line remains mostly on point.

I just can’t believe Atlantic is getting any resale from the Drew Dominicana Rosado. While a box only has a price point of around $65-$85, I feel sorry for smokers that paid for it. After one cigar, I’d be ruminating who I can pawn these cigars off on…some unsuspecting noob. There is no honor among smokers when it comes to getting ripped off.

That’s why it is so important you seek out reviews of a cigar prior to purchasing it. You don’t find any? That’s a sign of things to come.

A generic sweetness appears. It helps…a little.

Can you imagine paying almost $9 for this dog turd? But then we all know that most MSRP is phony. Some made up dollar pricing to make the consumer feel like he is getting a great deal for paying only half or less.

LAST THIRD:
Smoke time is 45 minutes.

This has been an exercise in futility. No redemption in the second half. Just a continuation of incompetence and arrogance.

I should know better by now. A big manufacturer with quality goods makes and sells crap for online stores to have their very own limited edition blend. Atlantic should be whipped and run out of town on rails. And DE should be dragged right behind.
I’m running out of insults.

At this point, I’d give your right testicle just to see the Drew Dominicana Rosado make a big grand finish. A foolish wish.

I have a quote on the top of my page that says: “Tastes do change as we evolve and mature.”

Maybe to lesser trained palates, this is a popular cigar…but I doubt it. I’m afraid the PR did its job…until a customer has smoked one and said, “What the fuck?” There just cannot be any repeat business on this one.

The char line needs a touch up. Smoke pours, in those little tornado plumes, throughout the remaining shaft.

I’m not even sure if the Drew Dominicana Rosado would qualify as a second.

It’s too bad that Atlantic doesn’t have an auction site. They could dump these cigars for only $2 a pop and be done with the experiment.

“Whole Lotta Love” by Zep is playing. In college, I did an extracurricular assignment using my electric bass to show stuff to the other kids in my music appreciation course. I wrote down the main riff to the song, in bass clef of course, on the chalkboard and challenged the other students to figure out what it was. And then I played it and all the girls swooned. This is all true except for the swooning girls part.

Thank God this quick burning Toro is coming to an ignominious end.
If you buy this cigar, in any of its incarnations, I will have the JDL or Mossad make you and your family disappear within 12 hours of my request.
While not completely a masochist, I think I’m done. Put a fork in the Drew Dominicana Rosado.
Final smoke time is one hour.

RATING: 21