In 2024, Southern Draw Cigars released its Decennium cigar to celebrate the company’s tenth anniversary. The term “Decennium” refers to a ten-year period, making this release a special milestone for the brand. This marks the second anniversary cigar released by Southern Draw, as they previously launched the Kudzu Lustrum in 2019 to commemorate their fifth anniversary (with “lustrum” meaning a five-year period). What makes the Decennium release particularly notable is that it is the first Southern Draw cigar produced outside of AJ Fernandez’s factory in Nicaragua. For this occasion, Southern Draw partnered with the renowned El Titan de Bronze factory located in Little Havana, Miami.

According to a press release from Southern Draw, owner Robert Holt explained how things came about for Decennium and El Titan de Bronze. “Having personally known Ms. Sandy (Cobas) since her factory opened, smoking a plethora of El Titan de Bronze Gold lanceros and applauding each of their award-winning cigars. DECENNIUM was originally commissioned as an exclusive by one of our oldest retail partners, but things change, and we are honored to now share the cigar with all our valued retail partners (their most loyal customers), and to extend an option for future production of this blend to our supporting retail partners.”

Without further ado, let’s break down the Decennium and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Southern Draw Decennium – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The blend for the Decennium is multinational. It consists of a Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper over a Dominican Criollo binder. The fillers are all Nicaraguan.

Wrapper: Brazilian Arapiraca
Binder: Dominican Criollo ’98
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: United States
Factory: El Titan de Bronze

Vitolas Offered

The Decennium cigar is offered in a single size known as Lonsdale, which measures 6 x 46. If we were to put the name of this vitola to a vote, it would likely be referred to as a Corona Gorda. However, we will respect Southern Draw’s choice of name for this particular vitola.

Packaging-wise, the cigars come packaged in three-count cardboard sleeves. There was no box option. We will break this down later during BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES.

Appearance (*)

The Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper of the Decennium had a rich and dark roasted espresso-bean color. Upon closer examination, some darker mottling was still present on the wrapper. The wrapper itself had a slight amount of oil on it. There were some visible veins on the wrapper. At the same time, the dark wrapper did a good job of hiding the wrapper seams.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

Before lighting up the Decennium, a straight cut was used to remove the cap. Once the cap was removed, it was time to commence with the pre-light draw. The cold draw mostly had notes of coffee and chocolate. A lot of the time, I’ll get a fusion taste when both of these notes are present. In the case of Decennium, they were separate and distinct. Overall, the Decennium delivered a satisfactory pre-light draw experience. Now it was time to toast the footer of this cigar and move into the smoking phase.

Tasting Notes

Decennium picked up where the pre-light draw left off, as there were more notes of coffee and chocolate. In addition, some wood and white pepper notes were present in the early stages. Soon, some earth notes entered the equation. Early on, the chocolate and coffee notes moved to the forefront. The coffee notes had a slight edge over the chocolate, but I’d still categorize both notes as primary. The wood, pepper, and earth settled in the background. Meanwhile, the retro-hale produced an extra layer of white pepper.

The coffee notes remained at the forefront during the second third of the Decennium. From time to time, the chocolate notes crept to the forefront. As the cigar progressed deeper through the second third, the chocolate notes appeared in the forefront less and less. Meanwhile, there was a slight increase in the pepper notes. The wood and earth notes remained in the distant background.

The final third saw the coffee notes develop a slight bitter quality. Once the pepper notes made their way to the forefront, some harshness was mixed with the bitterness, which is never good. The chocolate, wood, and earth notes remained in the background. This is the way the Decennium came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

In terms of construction, the Decennium scores nicely with the burn and draw. The burn had a straight burn line and maintained a straight burn path. At the same time, this cigar required minimal touch-ups along the way. The resulting ash was firm. This was an ash that had a classic salt and pepper color. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature maintained ideal levels.

Draw

The draw of the Decennium was excellent. This cigar had a touch of resistance to it. If you have read my other cigar assessments, you will know this is what I consider the sweet spot for a draw.

Strength and Body

The Decennium has a kick to it in terms of strength and body. This is a cigar that started out with medium to full strength and medium to full-bodied flavors. While there was a slight increase in intensity of the strength and body along the way, both attributes remained in the medium to full range. In addition, both the strength and body balanced each other nicely, with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

First, the positive: I have always loved the Southern Draw logo with different color variations and admire the yellow/orange used. In addition, I love the holographic font and the Decennium logo. This is what I expect from an anniversary release.

Now the bad news: I do not like the three-count cardboard sleeves. In addition, I don’t like them for a regular release, and I certainly don’t like this for an anniversary release. I understand packaging is challenging, but I think a tenth-anniversary cigar could do better. In my world, while it’s not scored, packaging does matter.

Packaging sleeve of Southern Draw Decennium

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

Before I summarize the experience, there is another non-scoring point I want to make about Decennium. Southern Draw has worked with the AJ Fernandez factory for a long time. I certainly am excited for them to work with El Titan de Bronze, as it’s an excellent factory. Southern Draw also has a fantastic track record with AJ Fernandez. I don’t understand why companies go to other factories to make anniversary cigars instead of sticking with the factory that got them to the dance.

As for the Decennium, it certainly wasn’t my favorite El Titan de Bronze, and certainly not my favorite AJ Fernandez. The cigar had its moments in the first third, then went to dull in the second third, and slightly harsh in the final third. Anniversary cigar or not, I wanted more. In the end, I would advise you to try a sample you wish to and see how it performs.

Summary

Key Flavors: Mocha (Chocolate, Coffee), Earth, W00d, Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Minus
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Good