Liga Privada Year of the Rat Returns

After an 18-month hiatus, Drew Estate’s Liga Privada Year of the Rat has returned to stores.

As with previous incarnations, the newest Year of the Rat is a 5 1/2 x 46 corona gorda that is made with a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper covering a Brazilian binder and filler tobaccos grown in Honduras and Nicaragua. However, the MSRP has increased from $17.12 per cigar in October 2022 to $20 per cigar, meaning a 10-count box is now priced at $200.

“The premium cigar industry has a culture of storytelling at the brand and personal level, but it should never override the fundamentals of quality, consistency, and flavor profile,” said Jonathan Drew, co-founder and president of Drew Estate, in a press release.

The Year of the Rat debuted in 2016 as an exclusive release for the Drew Estate Lounge located inside of the BB&T Center, home to the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers. The cigar was created to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the team’s only appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, a season that became known as the Year of the Rat after one such rodent made its way into the Panthers’ locker room, was killed by player Scott Mellanby with his hockey stick, who went onto score three goals that night with that same stick. That led goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck to coin the term “rat trick,” a play on the familiar term hat trick that describes a player scoring three goals in the same game.

It has since returned in 2020, 2021, May 2022 and October 2022. The original version released in 2016 came without gold foil, but all subsequent versions of the cigar have included it. A press release from the company described this shipment as the “Spring Release,” seemingly opening the door up for a subsequent release later this year.

Drew Estate no longer discloses the production numbers of limited items. This release is limited to stores that are part of the Drew Diplomat Retail Program and boxes began shipping to retailers on May 1.