Java by Drew Estate Maduro

Java by Drew Estate maduro corona
$5 (single B&M), Size: 5", Ring: 42
Nicaraguan wrapper, binder, and fillers

I was in a local cigar shop, out of sympathy (and a little guilt for getting most of my smokes from C-Bid), and saw that he had some of the Java cigars. Ok, I thought, I don't take myself so seriously that I won't smoke a novelty cigar. So, I bought a couple, and hit the road.

Java, a fragrant and boxy cigar, is a collaboration between Drew Estate and Rocky Patel (the squareness gives it away, eh?), rolled in Esteli, Nicaragua. I love coffee, and I like to drink coffee while smoking a maduro cigar, so why not try a blend of the two?

The Java is a classy-looking cigar, with simple and elegant bands near the cap and at the foot (another Rocky Patel cue). Out of the cellophane, the cigar looks like a long, squarish coffee bean. A coffee bean with veins, that is, and the aroma confirms the Java name.

The cigar was surprisingly lightweight, and spongy, and once the cap was punched, had a draw that was much too fast. While smoking, I had to sip at the cigar to keep it from burning too fast and too harshly. The sweetened cap was also a bit flaky.

The first half inch was a clash of harsh burning tobacco and the cloying sweet taste of the cap. After that the flavor mellowed to taste like a sweetened version of another Esteli native; Perdomo's bundle cigar, Tierra Del Sol. Ok, so we have a Tierra Del Sol with a Starbucks mocha. While the cognoscenti may have issues with either, or both, the two belong together like Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson.