Cigar Aficionado recently published their Top 25 Cigars of 2016 and Herrera Esteli Norteno Robusto Grande landed at number 7 on the list and received a well-deserved 94 rating.
This is what Cigar Aficionado said about Herrera Esteli Norteño Robusto Grande by Drew Estate:
The packaging of this brand is not only attractive, but a foreshadowing of the cigars inside—dark, flat and compact. That’s a fair way to describe the appearance of the Norteño Robusto Grande. What the packaging doesn’t tell you is that each cigar in the box has a lush, substantial draw that layers the palate with copious amounts of dense smoke. The combustion and performance are exemplary.
Norteños come off the tables of La Gran Fabria Drew Estate and from the mind of Willy Herrera, Drew Estate’s master blender. He took a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, a Honduran binder and integrated the two with a filler blend of well-aged Nicaraguan tobaccos. Great construction, however, is not the only hallmark of this cigar. It’s also rich with notes of raw cocoa bean, refined milk chocolate and nougat, yet maintains its earthy qualities without becoming too sweet.
The name, which translates to “northerner” in Spanish refers to those in Estelí, which is located in the northern part of Nicaragua and where the Drew Estate factory resides. It’s also a nod to Herrera himself, who is from Miami. He may be considered from the south in the United States, but in Nicaragua, he’s a northerner.
