2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown (Coop’s List): #18 - Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Desert Rose Lonsdale

“This is a cigar I could recommend to any cigar enthusiast, any time of the day. It’s a cigar I would smoke again and it certainly garners box-worthy consideration.”

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Claro
Binder: Nicaraguan Habano (Condega)
Filler: Honduran Corojo ’99, Dominican Piloto Cubano
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez de Nicaragua
Lonsdale: 6 x 44
Price: $11.99

Sponsor: No
Samples Provided for Initial Review: Yes
Review: Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Desert Rose Lonsdale (9/14/21)
Appearances on Countdown (By Year/Brand): 5 (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)

Coming in at #18 is the Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Desert Rose Lonsdale. The Desert Rose is an offshoot of the company’s popular Rose of Sharon line. Originally launched in a Belicoso Fino in 2019, that size landed on the 2020 Countdown at #13. 2020 also saw a couple of line extensions to the Desert Rose line, one of which is a 6 x 44 Lonsdale which lands on this year’s Countdown.

Rose of Sharon is Southern Draw’s premium Connecticut Shade line. Desert Rose utilizes a modified blend from the original Rose of Sharon and features a thicker, heartier Ecuadorian Claro wrapper the company calls “Cloud Grown.” The blend uses a Nicaraguan binder from the Condega region and a combination of Honduran Corojo and Dominican Piloto Cubano. As with all Southern Draw cigars, production comes from AJ Fernandez’s factory in Nicaragua.

The Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Desert Rose Lonsdale consists of notes of cream, berry, cedar, baker’s spice, and black pepper. This is a cigar that has plenty to offer in terms of flavor nuances and flavor transitions. The flavors delivered are medium-bodied. This cigar is not overpowering – delivering mild to medium strength in the first half before progressing to medium in the second third.

This is the fifth year Southern Draw Cigars has landed on the Countdown – all of those years have been consecutive since 2017. Nicaragua continues to be a dominant country of origin for cigars making the 2021 list. Of the thirteen cigars we have unveiled moving up the Countdown, this is the ninth one from Nicaragua.