Cigar Review: Drew Estate Kentucky Fire Cured Fat Molly in 3 words – Substantial, Elemental, Charcoal

Fire-cured tobacco is a love-it or hate-it type cigar for most aficionados. For the many cigar smokers that like it mild, fire-cured tobacco is an obvious no-go. For those like me that gravitate toward dark full-bodied cigars, the fire-cured tobacco can still seem off-putting at first – I mean, the pungent Adobo aroma of the wrapper can be smelled from feet away, for chrissake! Family, this is unlike any other cigar.

Well, Drew Estate has managed to create a pretty well-balanced Kentucky Fire Cured cigar that is not too overpowering for me (despite the strong smell and initial smokey punch in the face). In fact, as I took session notes with this cigar in hand, I came to appreciate the complexity that Drew Estate has masterfully built into the blend of this stick. It is not one-dimensional – far from it!

I smoked the Drew Estate Kentucky Fire Cured cigar in Fat Molly vitola (5” x 56) on a whim on my patio one evening. It had been sitting in my humidor (in a separate bag to avoid contaminating my other sticks) for quite a while and I was in the mood for something different. I would sum up the experience of smoking the Kentucky fire cured in three words:

Substantial

Elemental

Charcoal

Below are my detailed Session Notes, and further down you’ll find a more thorough review of the Drew Estate Kentucky Fire Cured.

Detailed Review

The Kentucky Fire Cured cigar is substantial in many ways

One of the first word that popped into my mind while smoking this cigar was substantial. The thick, stocky vitola called “Fat Molly” had substantial girth and weight in relation to its short length. From the very first puff the smoke was substantial, dense and full of strong flavors. It was also substantial in the fact that this cigar can literally be a meal replacement. A little more than halfway through this stick it took a turn from bitter charcoal to a thick sweetness that had me feelin like a BBQ pit master chowing down on barbecued meats.

Substantial in flavor, complexity, smoke, and construction – the Kentucky Fire Cured by Drew Estate will knock you down if you’re not ready for it.

It is elemental in evoking land and sea

This cigar has a strong association with fire, from the flavors of burnt wood and dark roasted coffee beans, to the smell of the wrapper of insanely strong smoked pepper and Adobo. This thing just screams fire – one of the powerful elements that enables cigar smoking in the first place. On the other hand, the last half of this cigar gave off pretty strong fleeting moments of wet dirt, seaweed and salt water. It is in this respect, by reflecting both fire and water, that I feel the Kentucky Fire Cured Muwat cigar is elemental (and very unique in this regard).

The Kentucky Fire Cured cigar is far from one-dimensional, and ended up taking me on a trip through land and sea.

The most persistent flavor is honestly charcoal

Burnt coals. It doesn’t sound that appealing, and perhaps it isn’t, but this is the predominant flavor I got from the Kentucky Fire Cured through and through. A charcoal bitterness was especially pronounced on first light, and although it mellowed out a bit to give way to savory and finally some sweet notes at the end, it is impossible to escape the charcoal bitterness of the fire-cured tobacco contained in this cigar. However, by the end I was sad it was gone and over the next few days I was craving another go at it. I gave it a fair shot and now you can count me as an admirer and a new fan of the Kentucky Fire Cured.

I must admit that the way Drew Estate blended this bitter & pungent fire-cured tobacco into a delicious cigar is quite an amazing feat, and it is one that every cigar aficionado should try!

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