Liga Privada H99 Papas Fritas Shipping Next Week

The mystery cigar is the Liga Privada H99 Papas Fritas.

On tonight’s Freestyle Live Show, Drew Estate announced its new Liga Privada H99 Papas Fritas. This combines the H99 blend with the Papas Fritas concept that Drew Estate introduced in 2012. The Papas Fritas is a mixed filler cigar Liga Privada that uses the tobacco trimmings that are created when making long filler cigars. Drew Estate takes those trimmings and uses them in the filler, while applying a long filler binder and wrapper.

In this case, the 4 1/2 x 44 uses the H99 blend, highlighted by a corojo-seed wrapper grown in the Connecticut River Valley. H99 was introduced in 2018 in a single 6 x 52 size. This is now the fourth H99 vitola; just last month, Drew Estate announced the H99 Connecticut Corojo Super Ancho, a 6 x 60 gordo, as an event-only cigar last month. The H99 blend uses the aforementioned Connecticut corojo wrapper over a Mexican San Andrés Otapan Negro Último Corte binder and fillers from Honduras, Nicaragua and Pennsylvania, the latter of which is the infamous Green River One Sucker, known for its strength and potent flavor.

“It’s a flavor bomb,” said Willy Herrera, the company’s master blender, on the Freestyle Live show. “It’s yet another expression of the Papas Fritas family, but this time with the coveted corojo hybrid wrapper that’s on the H99.”

The company says that it has been saving the trimmings of H99 as it has increased the production of other H99 vitolas.

Drew Estate says that it will begin shipping to retailers next week, with the cigars allocated only to retailers that are part of the company’s Drew Estate Drew Diplomat Program (DDRP) program. The company said it has an extensive inventory of the H99 Papas Fritas and—unlike most Liga Privadas—does not expect it to be back-ordered.

Pricing is set at $7.50 per cigar and $187.50 per box of 25 cigars.

Some consumers have already smoked the H99 Papas Fritas as part of the Freestyle Live program. Last month, Drew Estate shipped unbanded versions of the then-unannounced H99 Papas Fritas in four-packs priced at $40. Those packs also included a cigar case, lighter and cigar rest. Each pack had a QR code that customers could use to enter to win prizes that were announced during the broadcast. The grand prize was a watch valued at $10,500, though the winner also has the option to take a cash prize.

Update (June 9, 2023) — Drew Estate issued a press release and images today; pricing has been added to the story as it was not announced during the Freestyle Live event.