Cigar Review: Drew Estate Isla del Sol Sun Blessed Robusto

Initial Thoughts:

Have you ever walked into a humidor and just grabbed the first stick you saw? Well, in case you haven't, that's what I did to get today's cigar, the Isla del Sol from Drew Estate.

As soon as I removed the cigar from the cellophane and put it to my mouth, I could tell that the Isla Del Sol did, in fact, have a sweet tip. Looking at the Indonesian Sumatra wrapper, it looks like this is a budget cigar. The wrapper leaf is so thin it almost looks transparent, a characteristic I've seen on other budget sticks.

The flavors in the sugar tip remind me of the Gobstopper candy. The cold draw flavors reminded me of a Tootsie Roll. The cold draw was also a little loose.

After torching the end, the sugar tip dominated the flavors of tobacco. But, on the plus side, the draw is great and I can get plenty of smoke on each puff, so I suspect I'll have no issue fully tasting the Drew Estate Isla del Sol Sun Blessed Robusto.

CigarScore:

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Brand: Drew Estate
Line: Isla Del Sol
Size: 5 x 52
Cut: Guillotine Punch V-Cut
Light: Torch
Price: $4.80
Wrapper: Indonesian Sumatra
Binder: Nicaragua, infused with Sumatra Mandheling bean coffee
Filler: Nicaragua
Smoke Time: 57 minutes

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Somewhere in the middle of the cigar, I'm not sure exactly where, the sugar in the tip and the infusion of the Sumatra Mandheling bean coffee seem to fade away. Once that happens, like with most flavored and/or infused cigars, you're left to taste the tobacco. Sometimes that's good; most of the time… well, not so good.

So far, the overwhelming sweetness that started the cigar has dissolved, and what was left was something not so enjoyable.

Final Thoughts:

When smoking the Drew Estate Isla del Sol Sun Blessed Robusto, once you lose the sugar tip and the flavors from the infusion, what you're left with is a cigar that's pretty disappointing. Outside of the can't flavors of the first half, the Isla del Sol seems to use young, barely fermented tobaccos. In the final third, the cigar became bitter, the flavors harsh, and the experience unenjoyable.

The overall construction of the cigar was okay, although I did have an uneven burn through most of the second half.

Because I didn't even want to finish this cigar, the Drew Estate Isla del Sol earns a CigarScore of 1. I wouldn't smoke it again, and if you like premium, well-aged cigars, you should avoid it as well.

The CigarScore Rating System Explained