Liga Undercrown 10 Staff Review
Today I’m smoking a recent release from Drew Estate, Liga Undercrown 10 in the 7 by 50 Corona Doble size. I can’t wait to smoke new cigars during the spring when I’m most in search of fresh meat to add to my weekly rotation. This is the time of year I anticipate filling the big empty basin, aka my swimming pool, in the backyard. Assembling a lineup of new smokes to accommodate my nonstop outdoor agenda of grilling, swimming, and slamming cold beers is priority number one.
It's hard to believe Liga Privada Undercrown has been around for a decade already, but it has. When Drew Estate first launched its popular Liga Privada No. 9 and Liga Privada T52 cigars in 2007, the brand ran out of inventory fast. Liga Privada Undercrown was created a few years later from a similar but less complicated blend of tobaccos the company could produce faster, and Liga Undercrown 10 was blended to celebrate ten years of Undercrown.
The presentation is impressive. Liga Undercrown 10 cigars are dressed to the nines, and the wrapper exhibits an attractive and oily sheen. A gold ribbon is draped over every cigar but tucked under the cigar band, which is adorned with the Liga lion logo. The boxes are brown, dark navy, and gold, and secondary cigar bands cover the foot of every cigar. Undercrown 10 is blended from a dark-brown San Andrés wrapper leaf and a hardy combination of Nicaraguan long-fillers set inside a Connecticut Broadleaf binder.
The cold aroma smells of sweet hay, raisin, and chocolate, while I pick up hints of citrus, black coffee, and sweet peppers directly from the unlit foot. After slicing the firmly applied cap, tasting notes of habanero pepper, dark chocolate, bell pepper, and raisin characterize the cold draw. My first impression is that Undercrown 10 will be sweet, spicy, and bold.
Once I fire up the Corona Doble, the spice is intense but fleeting. Notes of dark chocolate and earth take over with floral undertones coming through. The retrohale reveals sweet notes of stone fruit, pie crust, and leather. Undercrown 10 exceeds my expectations because it’s rich and lacks any harshness or bite, and the nose is full of sweetness despite its spicy taste. The ash doesn’t budge an inch unless I deliberately knock it off, and the texture is earthy and creamy.
Although the Corona Doble is basically a classic Churchill, the Undercrown 10 blend is dense and strong enough that I could smoke it for well over an hour. It’s loaded with nicotine and should be smoked after a big meal. Plus, it naturally burns slow. Dark cocoa and pepper dominate the second half with a strong foundation of sweet tobacco and leather. My only real beef with Liga Undercrown 10 is its smoke production. Abundant streams of smoke erupt from the foot even if I’m not drawing on the cigar. That’s why I suggest smoking it outside or in a room with excellent ventilation. Excess smoke can get in your eyes and interfere a cigar’s taste.
The flavor makes it worth putting up with the cigar’s pronounced smoke production as I approach the nub. The finish is spicy, dense, and pretty chewy. I’m cracking open a coffee-heavy Stone Xocoveza Stout to sip on as I bring the Undercrown 10 to a close. Give this cigar a shot. I’ve already reviewed the original Liga Undercrown and the Liga Undercrown Sun Grown. This ten-year anniversary edition fits into the Undercrown collection, but it’s blended with more Ligero tobacco. Drew Estate has built a solid following for Liga Privada cigars, so I recommend smoking Undercrown 10 now, in the event the masses start to guzzle the inventory down.
