Initial Thoughts
When I was selecting cigars from a list for this review week I came across the name of the Jucy Lucy. Once I read that I knew I had try it. Mainly because the name is the same as the infamous burgers made in the Minneapolis / St. Paul area. If you’re unfamiliar with what a Jucy Lucy is, it’s a hamburger stuffed with cheese and when it’s cooked the cheese turns into liquid hot magma. It’s one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. So yeah this name resonates with me a little bit.
Well that’s enough about the name, let’s talk a little about the cigar. According to the Drew Estate site:
Natural by Drew Estate is crafted using the finest Nicaraguan leaf combined with traditional black tobaccos from Syria, Turkey, St. James Parish and other exotic locales.
That’s all the information it really gives about this cigar though. The Natural line comes in a lot of different sizes and shapes. In fact they the ‘Egg’ shape which is very unique, they also have a Culebra shape which you rarely see. So this line is definitely interesting and they’ve thrown everything but the kitchen sink into it. From what I’ve been able to find, this Natural Jucy Lucy has a Cameroon wrapper and is filled with Nicaraguan tobacco. I haven’t seen any official information from DE released stating that, but multiple sites are saying Cameroon, so we’ll go with that. Well I think it’s time to go ahead and hop into the review.
Looks
When I originally picked this cigar out, I was choosing from a list and had never seen it in person. Like I said I just really liked the name. Once I got the samples I was blown away at how small these little guys are. 3″x 38, yeah it sounds small until I get into my hand and I realized that was barely bigger than my pinky. I tried to show the size of these sticks by putting them next to my normal sized cutter, just as a frame of reference.
The band on this Natural Jucy Lucy is just like the band I’ve seen on others from the Natural line. Except it looks like the band is too big and is actually wrapped around a couple of times. The cigar also has a band around the foot, this is where it states the name of the blend ‘Jucy Lucy’. The font is actually a little difficult to read to me, but using context clues I figured out what it said. Once I removed the footer band I noticed that the foot of the cigar isn’t cleanly cut. It’s a shaggy type foot with some excess tobacco hanging over the edge. I think that is the case across the entire Natural line.
The other thing that sets this Natural Jucy Lucy apart is the cap of the cigar. It’s some sort of twisted flag, it’s not a pig tail, but instead it looks like Alfafa’s from the Little Rascal’s hair. I know there is a name for it, but it’s slipping my mind right now.
Function
Looking at the flag on this cigar I wasn’t exactly sure which approach to take to get the cigar opened. So the first round I used my capped back cutter and it took me like 5 snips to finally get the head opened up. The second time around I twisted the pulled the flag off and was then able to use the cutter right away to open up the head. I think that was probably the more efficient way. I’m just always leery to do that because I don’t want to tear the wrapper too much pulling the flag off like that.
Once I get it opened the dry draw is fantastic and open. Not too much resistance, but with only 3″ of barrel length I can’t imagine it would be too clogged up. Immediately when testing the dry draw I began getting a lot of flavor coming off the wrapper. Similar to how the Deep Dish was initially. Everything is set to go and I think it’s time to put some fire to this little Natural Jucy Lucy.
Smoking
I didn’t really have to toast the foot on this cigar. The shaggy excess tobacco hanging over the edge makes it easy to light. Once I put my Xikar torch up to the foot it instantly lit and I was puffing away. It’s hard to break this little cigar into thirds, hell it’s hard to even break it into halves. So I’ll just talk about the whole experience. It only took me 20 minutes to smoke. The ash held on for almost an inch, but it was very flaky when it did finally fall. The burn line wasn’t razor sharp, but it never got out of control though. Overall a very pleasant smoking experience for the entirety of this Natural Jucy Lucy.
Flavor
Just how Jucy is this Lucy? Well I’m not exactly sure I would describe as ‘Jucy’ but it definitely has some interesting flavors. As I said above I instantly picked up on some flavors during the dry draw. I would say it is just packed with sweetness. A distinct molasses flavor right on the lips. Followed by some sweet tobacco notes and a hint of leather. The sweetness was similar to the Deep Dish, but not as intense.
During the initial light up I got a good dose of pepper and spice coming out. It was a nice contrast to the sweetness that was delivered from the wrapper. I was blown away by the amount of smoke out put from this Natural Jucy Lucy as well. For a little guy it was pumping like crazy. There wasn’t a ton of complexity in this cigar. The most amounts of flavor that I got came from the sweetness on the wrapper. There were some moments of flavor that came through the mouthfeel and the retrohale. However, nothing too crazy. Just your typical spice and some woody / earthy notes. They were drowned out by the sweetness of the wrapper though. To me this is a very mild bodied cigar and it doesn’t have the chance to really develop into more than that.
Would I Buy It Again?
Ehh, maybe. They come in 40ct boxes, and I’m not sure if they’re sold individually.
Is It an Every Day Smoke?
This certainly could be, it would be a great lunch break smoke if you need to get away.
Would I Buy a Box?
I’m not sure I would, but it’s always a possibility.
Conclusion
This Natural Jucy Lucy was interesting to say the least. It was good for what it was, but I’m not sure how many times I would go back to it. It’s a great little smoke if you’re short on time. However, I typically like a little bit longer smokes that are more complex than this.
