Today we take a look at one of Drew Estate’s event-only cigars, the Liga Privada 10 Year Aniversario – A Savage Feast. It’s a special version of the Liga Privada 10 Year Aniversario blend in the Feral Flying Pig vitola size.

When it comes to companies exhibiting at IPCPR/PCA Trade Shows, Drew Estate’s new product lineup at the 2018 IPCPR Trade Show will go down in history. There were plenty of releases across many of the key brands, including Liga Privada. In 2018 Drew Estate was celebrating the 10 years anniversary of the brand, and the company commemorated the occasion by introducing two new Liga Privada lines: Liga Privada H99 Connecticut Corojo and the Liga Privada 10 Year Aniversario. These were special releases because they featured wrappers grown in the State of Connecticut where that region is not known for producing that kind of wrapper. The H99 features a Corojo wrapper from the Connecticut region, and the 10 Year Aniversario features a Criollo wrapper from the region.

There was a lot of anticipation and excitement from the releases, but there was one problem. As innovative as these tobaccos were for being used in these cigars, they were not tobaccos in abundant supply. As a result, the 10 Year Aniversario and H99 releases were quite limited. In many cases, allocations were made randomly available to retailers.

Fast forward to 2021, and both the 10-Year Aniversario and H99 are still quite limited. Both only had one ongoing offering in the form of a 6 x 52 Toro. It was a little shocking to hear that a second size of the 10 Year-Aniversario was coming out called “A Savage Feast”. But it would remain equally scarce – used only at events where Drew Estate co-founder Jonathan Drew is in attendance.

Currently, Drew Estate has three event-only cigars. These cigars replaced the Undercrown Manifesto which has been retired as an event-only cigar. The cigars are available at events that feature the following personalities:

• Liga Privada 10-Year Aniversario – A Savage Feast (Jonathan Drew): 5 3/8 x 60 Perfecto
• Herrera Estelí Caja China (Willy Herrera): 4 1/8 x 60 Perfecto
• Undercrown 10 Tuani (Pedro Gomez): 6 x 52 Belicoso

Without further ado, let’s break down the Liga Privada 10 Year Aniversario.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

In addition to the U.S. Connecticut Criollo wrapper, the Liga Privada 10-Year Aniversario features a San Andres wrapper and fillers from Honduras and Nicaragua. Production is handled out of Drew Estate’s La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

Wrapper: U.S. Connecticut Criollo
Binder: San Andres Otapan Negro Último Corte
Filler: Honduran, Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate

Vitolas Available

There have been two vitolas release in the Liga Privada 10-Year Aniversario line.

Toro: 6 x 52
A Savage Feast: 5 3/8 x 60

A Savage Feast is currently made available in two-count coffins at Drew Estate events hosted by Jonathan Drew.

Appearance

The U.S. Connecticut Criollo wrapper had a dark coffee bean colored wrapper. There was a light coat of oil on the surface of the wrapper as well as some mottling. There were some visible veins and some visible wrapper seams. There also was a slight toothiness to this wrapper. The cigar has a slight taper on each end. The tapering is sharper toward the footer.  The cap is finished with a swirled pigtail.

There are two bands on the Liga Privada 10-Year Aniversario Savage Feast. The primary band is a variation of the bands found on other Liga Privada cigars. The band has a black background with a gray pattern in the background. The lower portion of the band has the text “LA GRAN FABRICA DREW ESTATE S.A.” in gray font.  The center of the band has the text “Liga Privada” in a near-silver handwritten-style font. On the far right is a black and silver Liga Privada 10-Year Aniversario logo.

The secondary band is black with a silver pinstripe near the edge on the upper and lower portion. On the center of the band is the text “A SAVAGE FEAST” in silver font. To the left and right of the band are a series of silver adornments.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

As opposed to pulling the swirled pigtail off the cap of the Liga Privada 10-Year Aniversario Savage Feast, a straight cut was used to remove both the cap and pigtail simultaneously. Once the cap was removed, it was on to the pre-light draw. The cold draw delivered notes of coffee, cedar, and floral notes. Despite the presence of the floral notes, I still found the coffee notes enough to make this a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point, it was time to light up the Liga Privada 10-Year Aniversario Savage Feast and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The start of the Liga Privada 10-Year Aniversario Savage Feast picked up where the pre-light draw experience left off. There were coffee, cedar, and floral notes present. In addition, some natural tobacco notes also surfaced. The coffee notes quickly moved into the forefront early on while the natural tobacco, floral, and cedar notes settled in the background. As the cigar progressed through the first third, some black pepper notes also emerged in the background. Meanwhile, the retro-hale delivered an additional layer of cedar as well as a subtle layer of coffee notes.

During the second third of the Savage Feast, the cedar notes started to increase in intensity. They joined the coffee notes in the forefront and by the time the cigar experience progressed into the second half, the coffee notes had receded into the background. Meanwhile, in addition to the coffee notes, there were natural tobacco, floral, and pepper notes.

The last third of the cigar saw the cedar remain in control. The pepper notes increased in intensity and closed in on the forefront. There were still floral, natural tobacco, and coffee notes rounding out the flavor profile. This is the way the Liga Privada 10-Year Aniversario Savage Feast came a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

Overall while the burn of the Liga Privada 10-Year Aniversario Savage Feast maintained a straight path, it did require several touch-ups in our to maintain it. The number of touch-ups was slightly more than I preferred. In addition, the burn line was wavy from time to time. The resulting ash wasn’t overly firm, but it wasn’t loose either. This ash had a very light gray color. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

Draw

The draw to the Liga Privada 10-Year Aniversario Savage Feast performed extremely well. It had a touch of resistance – which is something that I like. At the same time, this was a low-maintenance cigar experience.

Strength and Body

In terms of strength and body, the Liga Privada 10-Year Aniversario Savage Feast delivered a medium-strength, medium-bodied cigar from start to finish. The was a slight increase in the intensity levels of the strength and body, but in the end, the Savage Feast remained in medium territory for both attributes until the end. Both the strength and body balanced each other nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

In terms of my experience of the Liga Privada 10-Year Aniversario Savage Feast, it was an average cigar and scored a respectable 88. On its own, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but keep in mind this is a cigar for which there were high expectations. Once you add in the fact that the Liga Privada 10-Year Aniversario has been a very difficult blend to obtain, and add the fact that the Savage Feast is an event-only cigar, the 88 suddenly looks a little more disappointing in the long run.  In the end, I’m still open to the 10-Year Aniversario blend – potentially another (including the current Toro) size and/or smoking the Savage Feast with additional aging.

Summary

Key Flavors: Coffee, Cedar, Natural Tobacco, Floral, Pepper
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Minus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium (1st Third), Medium to Full (Remainder)
Finish: Very Good

Rating

Value: n/a (Event Only Purchase)
Score: 88

References

News: n/a
Price: n/a (Qualifying Event Only Purchase)
Source: Drew Estate
Brand Reference: Liga Privada

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop