The boutique cigar firm Drew Estate may be best known as the makers of flavored cigars under the names Acid and Kahlua.  But some time ago the company launched a non-flavored line called Natural that proved the Nicaraguan firm's ability to produce small batches of high-quality, "natural" cigars.

In 1995 Drew Estate released a line called La Vieja Habana (The Old Havana) which was meant to recreate the traditional, Cuban-style smokes of years gone by.  These cigars featured a blue label, and are in fact still available in six vitolas.  Recently, however, the cigarmakers went back to the drawing board again, so to speak, to develop yet another, even more potent line of cigars under the La Vieja Habana line.  This six-vitola line features fillers composed largely of pungent ligero and is dubbed La Vieja Habana The Early Years, and is differentiated from the earlier line by its green label. 

Recently I sampled one cigar of this latest line, the Wavelle DLUXXE [sic], which is a 5.5 x 54 sun-grown Nicaraguan in the $4 to $5 range.  This stick had been resting in my humidor for about four months, and was quite ready to smoke.

The appearance was very dark brown, not a rosy brown nor chocolatey; it had what could be described as a dark, sun-ripened look -- less like tobacco and more like wood or leather than a standard maduro.  There was some veininess and the wrapper had a matte appearance.  The feel in the hand was light but solid.

The lightup was dry and somewhat papery.  But the initial profile was quickly replaced by a nice cocoa and coffee flavor.  Not too strong, it had a nice, even draw.  Bystanders described the lightup as having a light but peppery aroma.

After five minutes the ligero began to show its stuff.  The smoke became smooth and intense -- a certain power became evident, and the initial cocoa flavor withdrew so far into the background that it was no longer detectable.

But alas!  Fifteen minutes into the cigar, burning problems surfaced.  This is one of my pet peeves.  A cigar may be delicious, but if it doesn't burn well, I sour on it quickly.  However, the flavor of this one was just so doggone good -- full, spicy and very peppery -- that I chose to tolerate its weakness and continued to keep a good attitude about the stick.  By the twenty minute mark the cigar was burning quite crooked, and I could no longer smile at my predicament.  But, strangely, I was still enjoying the experience -- this is a testament to the quality tobacco chosen by Drew Estate (despite their less-than-perfect construction!).

At 25 minutes I tapped off one and a half inches of white, compact ash, together with some unburnt wrapper on one side.  Often, when a cigar fails to burn evenly, a harshness takes over and spoils the experience; however, in the case of this La Vieja Habana, there was no trace of anything unpleasant.  The flavor remained surprisingly full and peppery.  The charming spiciness actually improved as the cigar entered its second third -- pepper and mint entered the mix.  This cigar, despite its crooked burn, was complex, smooth but full-bodied, not harsh, and very enjoyable.

I was bemused by the tension between two contradictory elements of this smoke: its delicious, full flavor and its ongoing burn problems.  Never before have I had a poor-burning cigar that failed to arouse anger in me.  And this puzzled me!

Halfway through the cigar nutty undertones emerged, together with a residual sweetness.  The cocoa returned, together with perhaps a touch of coconut.  Ah, but the effect of nicotine started to manifest itself.  Better slow down.  But not to worry; at this point the finish was the best part: smooth and long, and somewhat cedary.  My wife described the aroma as rich and abundant, without harshness.

At fifty minutes the canoeing was severe; it appeared that only half the cigar's circumference was indeed burning.  Only now was the poor burn beginning to cause some harshness, especially on the finish.  At one hour, ash and unburnt tobacco were forcibly removed and I attempted a relight.  A peppery character returned, and the smoke became enjoyable again.  But burning problems resumed, almost immediately; I finally abandoned the stick after one and a quarter hours.

Because of the critical burning problems of this cigar I normally wouldn't dream of recommending it at all; but strangely, because this could be a fluke, and because of the excellent flavors and overall enjoyment -- and because of the unquestionably high quality of tobacco and fascinating blend -- I would consider this smoke to be mildly recommended.