Drew Estate’s next Liga Privada will debut in just over one week at an event at TESA Cigar Co. in Chicago, IL. On October 19, the long-time Drew Estate supporter will be the first retailer to receive the Liga Privada Único Serie Velvet Rat, the third play on the company’s original Único Serie release, the Dirty Rat.
At 6 1/4 x 46, the Liga Privada Velvet Rat is identical in shape and size to the Único Serie Ratzilla, a cigar which was offered for sale for the first time earlier this year. Forty special 10-count prerelease bundles of the lighter and sweeter Velvet Rat have been made for the event at TESA with MSRP at $14.00 per cigar and $140.00 per bundle. The bundles can be seen in the following video below filmed at Drew Estate:
As for why TESA is getting the first look at these cigars, Jonathan Drew told halfwheel:
Believe it or not, there was a time in Cigar History that Drew Estate did not exist. Hey, I know that sounds hard to believe, almost incredulous. “Dizzle, are you saying that Drew Estate didn’t run from Cuba with $17 and some Corojo Seeds and arrive in Esteli, Nicaragua …?” That’s right. This PRE -DREW CIGAR time actually existed. And back then, we met a Sage Tobacconist from the Chicago Cigar Shop scene named John Kelly. Him and his wife cleared their IRA Account to lend us $20,000 right before I jumped on the flight that changed my life forever.
We are proud to have our Soft National Pre-Release for the VELVET at his family’s New Cigar Lounge – TESA Cigars. John’s Son, Chris Kelly, is the owner operator and has developed an outstanding relationship with premium consumers in the Chicagoland Area. We are amped up to do the release with Chris, who has been a friend since he was 14. He is all grown up now, and has a bad ass lounge in a hot area of Chicago.
Given the extremely small release TESA will not be taking any orders, or pre-orders, over the phone and is even hinting at possibly limiting in-store sales at the event.
Steve Saka, Drew Estate CEO, first publicly mentioned the blend a few weeks ago, commenting only, “we just finished the blend a month or so ago…” Also in early September, a member of the BOTL.org forum showed off an alleged prototype.
At this time, the Velvet Rat is slated for a mid-2013 release.
Charlie Minato
I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.
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