The_Pope_of_Greenwich_Village_by_Drew_Estate_(Part_of_the_Smoke_Inn_MicroBlend_Series)
The Pope of Greenwich Village by Drew Estate

The Pope of Greenwich Village is the tenth installment of Smoke Inn’s Microblend Series. The Smoke Inn Microblend Series concept involves the South Florida retailer teaming up with some of the biggest names in the cigar industry to produce a small batch limited run exclusive to its shops. The series was originally launched late in 2010 to commemorate Smoke Inn’s 15 years in business. It was originally planned to be a four set series, but since then has grown to become one of the most successful shop exclusive lines in the history of the cigar industry. Today, we take a look at this installment by Drew Estate known as The Pope of Greenwich Village. Overall this cigar keeps to the standard of excellence this series has been known for.

The cigar name matches the popular 1984 motion picture that takes place in New York City. Drew Estate co-founders Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel hail From New York.

Here is a list (in chronological order) of the Smoke Inn Microblend Series releases:

Technically, The Pope of Greenwich Village is not the first Drew Estate shop exclusive sold at Smoke Inn. Last year, Smoke Inn was the exclusive retailer for the Undercrown Dogma. The Dogma was a commemorative cigar for Cigar Dojo and was not part of the MicroBlend Series.

The Pope of Greenwich Village had a soft-launch back in February, 2015 at a VIP Dinner held by Smoke Inn on the eve of the 2015 Great Smoke event.

Without further ado, let’s break dow The Pope of Greenwich Village and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

While this has not been mentioned specifically as being a Drew Estate Undercrown blend, there are parallels between The Pope of Greenwich Village in terms of its wrapper, binder, and filler. It is entirely possible these are different tobaccos from a vintage and priming.

This also becomes the second Smoke Inn MicroBlend to incorporate a Mexican wrapper. The other cigar is the previous installment, the Illusione PACTUM also utilized wrapper from Mexico.

Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Connecticut Stalk Cut Habano
Filler: Brazilian Mata Fina, Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate SA)

Vitolas Available

The Pope of Greenwich Village is available in one size. At 6 x 40, this panatela becomes the thinnest Smoke Inn MicroBlend to be released to date. The cigars are packaged in 10 count soft bundles.

Packaging of The Pope of Greenwich Village(Photo Credit: Drew Estate Tobacco Company)

Appearance

The San Andres wrapper to The Pope of Greenwich Village has a dark roasted coffee bean colored wrapper with some colorado red mixed in. The surface of the wrapper is smooth with a decent amount of oil on the surface. There are some thin visible veins. Most of the wrapper seams are either well hidden.

The band of The Pope of Greenwich village has a red background with gold font. The front of the band has a shield-like design to it. The text “THE POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE” appears on the front of the band surrounded by gold trim. To the far right of the band is the Drew Estate logo in gold.

One note, the band design has changed from the soft-launch in February. That band featured a Papal Tiara design.

The Pope of Greenwich Village (Soft Launch Banding)

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Before lighting up The Pope of Greenwich Village, I went with a straight cut to remove the cap. Once the cap was successfully removed I proceeded with the pre-light draw. The dry draw delivered notes of mocha, earth, and a light spice. Overall I considered the pre-light draw of The Pope of Greenwich Village to be very good. At this point I was ready to light up this cigar and see what the smoking experience would bring to the table.

Flavor Profile

The Pope of Greenwich Village started with a mix of spices consisting of cedar, black, and white pepper. I also detected a syrupy espresso flavor (a flavor that delivers thicker, sweeter coffee flavor that coats the palate). The syrupy espresso flavor became primary early on while the spices receded to the background. I also detected some earth notes in the background At the same time I found the combination of spices to be present on the retro-hale and at times quite sharp.

By the end of the second third, the primary flavor transitioned from a syrupy espresso flavor to a rich chocolate cake-like flavor. Meanwhile the mixed spices and earth notes remained in the background. I also picked up a nut flavor in the distant background. This flavor profile continued into the second half.

During the later part of the second third, the earth notes increased and joined the chocolate cake notes in the forefront. These two flavors interchanged as to which was the dominant note. I also noticed an increase in the spice notes. By the last third, these spices were in the forefront. Toward the very end, the flavor profile exhibited some harshness, but at this point it was time to put down the cigar. The cigar finished up with a nub that was soft to the touch, but cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

Overall the burn performed quite well for The Pope of Greenwich Village cigar – in fact well enough to garner the Cigar Coop “exceptional” score on the burn”. The burn path remained on a straight path from start to to finish. There was a slight curvature to the burn line early on, but it became razor sharp as the cigar experience progressed. The resulting ash was silvery gray in color and quite firm – coming off the cigar in clean chunks. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

Burn of The Pope of Greenwich Village by Drew Estate

The draw was a little more open that I prefer. It was not too tight, nor too loose. Like many Drew Estate maduros, this cigar produced quite a large amount of smoke.

Strength and Body

While this wasn’t an overpowering cigar, this cigar still had a enough strength to qualify as a medium to full strength cigar in my book. Meanwhile, when you factor the retro-hale into this smoking experience, it puts quite a bit of depth on the flavors. As a result, I assessed this as a full-bodied smoke from start to finish. In terms of strength versus body, I found the body had a significant edge.

Final Thoughts

I found The Pope of Greenwich Village is an excellent cigar and a fine addition Smoke Inn MicroBlend Series. It should satisfy Drew Estate fans who enjoy cigars such as Undercrown (Corona ¡Viva! blend) and Norteno. While this didn’t smoke exactly like an Undercrown or Norteno, it did have some many qualities similar to these cigars. I also felt this cigar didn’t exhibit as much complexity as some of these other San Andres releases. While this cigar delivers on performance, I just felt it was a little lacking in the originality of the flavor profile. Overall this is a cigar I’d probably steer more toward an experienced cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this is a cigar I’d smoke again – and it’s certainly worthy of a box split.

Summary

Burn: Exceptional
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Full
Finish: Good

Assessment: 3.5 – Box Split

Score: 91

References

News: Smoke Inn MicroBlend “The Pope of Greenwich Village” by Drew Estate Details Announced
Price: $8.50
Source: Cigars Provided by Retailer
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