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Drew Estate,
one of the world's largest premium cigar companies, has a beautiful and
inspiring story to tell.
And, unlike
most cigar makers, its history does not begin in Cuba nor is it heir to any
tobacco tradition. No, this story begins in a small retail cigar kiosk at the
World Trade Center in New York.
It was 1996
and in that space of New York, Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel, sold the cigars
they ordered from Nicaragua. But in reality, what they both dreamed of was
making their cigars and becoming an outstanding reference in that complex
market. With that in mind, Drew traveled to Estelí, Nicaragua in 1998. He had
only $ 1,800 and the firm determination to directly manufacture the cigars that
he would sell in the United States and, despite having no resources or
financing, he rented a place and hired six people to start production.
The years
98 and 99 were of great economic restrictions, but also of generous support
from some people of the Estelí community, who for almost a year even provided
them with food, while they managed to obtain the financing that would allow
them to consolidate their operations.
As soon as
in 1998 they launched their first brand, called La Vieja Habana, a traditional
cigar that, although it was made known, was put on hold due to the devastation
caused by Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua. However, in 2001 they insisted on it
and returned with a presentation that mixed in an interesting Art Deco style, a
Cuban and New York tropical decoration. A little earlier, between 99 and 2000
they presented their now famous Acid brand, associated with Scott “ACID”
Chester, a popular emerging artist of the moment, whose mix of industrial,
urban, graffiti, and motorcycle art would make him the perfect vehicle for making
themselves known stridently.
At the
beginning of 2001, they received an important validation of the work they had
been doing, when Forbes magazine published an article titled Cult Brands, which included them along with renowned brands such as Krispy Kreme, Apple, and
Harley Davidson.
Already in
2002, they were fully producing some tobaccos infused with exotic blends and
incredible flavors such as the well-known Ambrosia cigar, which clearly
appreciated the decision to occupy an important space in the tobacco subculture
and dedicated themselves fully to the “renaissance of cigars”. This
distinguishes the brand from the more traditional approach of cigar makers
around the world.
In 2007
they opened the large Drew Estate factory, which covers an area of more than
96,000 square feet and is a beautiful sight to behold as large and colorful
murals adorn nearly every wall. It is the largest cigar factory in Nicaragua
and one of the five largest premium cigar factories in the world where almost
100,000 cigars are produced daily, between 1,400 and 1,700 jobs are generated
and more than 20 million cigars are exported annually.
Today, it
is based in Miami and Estelí and is a vertically integrated tobacco company,
with complete control of the process from the earliest stages.
We invite you to review in our store, the options of these excellent cigars available in their most popular lines. Among them are the ACID Red, ACID Gold Holistic, ACID Purple Juggernaut, ACID Blue Remi, and the very famous ACID Kuba Kuba series. You can also purchase the highly recommended Isla del Sol series in its Robusto and Toro formats.
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