Factory: AJ Fernandez Cigar Co. – Estelí, Nicaragua
Size: 5″ x 50
Strength: Medium-bodied
Wrapper: Corojo 99 (Honduras)
Binder: Corojo 99 (Nicaragua)
Filler: Corojo 99 (Nicaragua & Honduras)
Southern Draw Cigars launched the Ignite series in 2018 with proceeds benefitting Operation Cigars for Warriors, which Famous Smoke Shop helped in May of that year when its retail store hosted the official Ignite Rose of Sharon release event.
For 2019 the Southern Draw Ignite series benefits the Navy SEAL Foundation, which offers immediate and ongoing support and assistance to the Naval Special Warfare community and its families. The blends for the Ignite 2019 series span four different wrappers: Connecticut No.1, Habano, Corojo No.4, and a Mexican San Andrés Maduro. And for extra credit, Robert even made an Ignite 2019 Barber pole selection.
The cigars each come with bands representing the Navy SEAL Foundation with secondary bands identifying the specific blend. Each Ignite humijar selection includes a Boveda humidification pack – Boveda is also an official Ignite campaign sponsor—plus a brochure about the Foundation.
“We are honored to have Southern Draw Cigars supporting the Navy SEAL Foundation with this promotion,” said the Navy SEAL Foundation’s Director of Partnerships, Chris Irwin. “As a company owned and operated by veterans, their commitment to giving back through their IGNITE program is incredible, and the Navy SEAL Foundation is thrilled to be named as one of their benefiting charities.”
#nowsmoking @famoussmokeshop: The Southern Draw Ignite 2019 Rothschild Corojo No.4 (actually a robusto by its dimensions), offers a rich, creamy, medium-bodied smoke with well-balanced flavors of earth, wood, nuts, and brown sugar with a lightly peppery finish.
Woven throughout with Honduran and Nicaraguan Corojo 99 tobaccos, the No.4 wrapper on this Rothschild has an even, light brown color with a semi-gloss patina. The cigar is also packed well and shows barely any sign of veins. Nice and clean, with a triple seam cap which, when cut, offered a perfect draw with sweet and leathery flavor.
Beautifully. The cigar lit evenly releasing a smooth mix of earth, pepper, and some nuttiness in the first act, settling into a creamy medium-bodied smoke with primary flavors of earth, roasted nuts, white pepper, and a fair amount of brown sugar on a somewhat dry finish.
The burn remained even down to the nub revealing dark grey ashes that jettisoned about every three-quarters to an inch in length. The latter stages maintained the medium body strength, but filled-out in sweetness, wood, earth, and a smack of maltiness, while any vestige of pepper all but faded, except in the retrohale. Additionally, the longer you smoke this tasty Rothie, the more oils seep out of the wrapper, which may also account for the cigar’s increased sweetness as it smoked.
Medium bodied, yet full-flavored, balanced and pleasingly smooth on the palate, albeit a little dry on the finish. Core flavors of earth, wood, nuts, and sweet spice prevailed through almost the entire smoke with some white pepper occasionally entering the fray. The final inch placed more weight on earthiness, but a fair amount of sweetness and wood continued to bleed through.
Certainly bourbon or rum, or some mixed drink form of the two. A long-aged single malt is also a good choice which may help draw out some of the cigar’s more malty-peaty notes. But for the wine drinkers, a good California Syrah like a Tensley 2018 Thompson Vineyard would suffice.
(Find more cigar and drink pairing combinations here.)
Absolutely—if medium body, full-flavor is your thing. The Corojo 99 wrapper on this Ignite Rothschild Corojo No.4 is outstanding, and I can’t name more than a few cigars with Corojo leaf at this level of quality. Add the Corojo 99 binder and fillers, and you’ve got yourself the ultimate Corojo banquet. The balance, core flavors, and medium-body profile, which Robert admits is not typical for Southern Draw, also makes this Corojo No.4 blend a treat for cigar smokers at every level.
Sure, you could make a case for buying this cigar for the Navy Seal Foundation proceeds alone, but you don’t have to—this cigar is that good. Of course, it’s nice to know that a portion of your purchase is going to a good cause, and Southern Draw couldn’t have made it any easier for you.
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Executive Editor
Gary Korb has been writing and editing content for CigarAdvisor.com since its debut in 2008. An avid cigar smoker for over 30 years, he has worked on the marketing side of the premium cigar business as a Sr. Copywriter, blogger, and Executive Editor of Cigar Advisor. A graduate of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, prior to his career in the cigar business, Gary worked in the music and video industry as a marketer and a publicist.
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