When you see the Undercrown line on shelves in the coming weeks, it will likely have a different look to it.

Drew Estate announced that it is updating the brand’s packaging to a more compact, shelf-friendly format, while each box will still hold 25 cigars. The changes will apply to the Undercrown Maduro, Undercrown Shade and Undercrown Sun Grown lines, though it will not affect the boxes for the Flying Pig, Tubo and Corona Pequeña vitolas.

None of the bands on the cigars are changing, either.

“Undercrown’s authenticity amplifies the heart and spirit of Drew Estate,” said Jonathan Drew, founder and president of Drew Estate, via a press release. “Since we first launched Undercrown a decade ago, the narrative has been consistent, telling the fiery story of ‘who we are’ from a behind-the-scenes standpoint. The Undercrown brandmark and ideology bears witness to our love for Estelí and the enthusiastic and gifted people who work so devotedly at La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate. Undercrown is all about their creative ingenuity and their fearless quest for self-expression—so we will never ever change this historic and meaningful blend.”

To make the change, the cigars are now being packed in three rows, with nine on top and presumably eight cigars per row beneath that. Previously, the cigars were packed in two rows, 13 on top and 12 on the bottom.

The new packaging is currently shipping to retailers for the Maduro and Shade lines, while the Sun Grown will be rolled out over the next several months.

Images courtesy of Drew Estate.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.