Nica Rustica Adobe Robusto

After relative dormancy since 2015, Drew Estate has been updated its Nica Rustica brand twice in the span of little more than a year. It started last May when the company announced what it described “a top-to-bottom relaunch” of the brand, which amounted to a packaging change.

This year, Drew Estate added a second line to the Nica Rustica brand called Adobe. It uses an Ecuadorian habano wrapper over a Brazilian binder and fillers from Nicaragua. It’s offered in three sizes—priced between $5.20-6.48—each packaged in boxes of 25 cigars.

The name refers to adobe as a construction material, something that is used prominently in Nicaragua.

“Nica Rustica Adobe presents a daring adventure into the authentically rugged and rustic countryside surrounding Estelí,” said Jonathan Drew, president and co-founder of Drew Estate, in a press release. “The spicy and bold Habano, we call ‘Adobe’ offers smokers a glimpse into the distinguished beauty and bold character of Estelí and her people. You don’t need a passport to experience Estelí … just spark up this six-buck-chuck and you are magically transported to our proud Nicaraguan home.”

Drew Estate soft launched Nica Rustica Adobe in a number of different ways, but it began shipping to all stores in mid-August.

• Cigar Reviewed: Nica Rustica Adobe Robusto
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: La Gran Fábrica Drew Estate
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano)
• Binder: Brazil
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Robusto Extra
• MSRP: $5.20 (Box of 25, $130)
• Release Date: June 1, 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

You get what you pay for and just by looking at the cigar, there are obvious signs that this is not Drew Estate’s most premium product. While the wrapper color is a pretty average medium brown color, the vein structure is not the prettiest and I can feel a multitude of bums running down the side of the cigar. What leads me to my initial comment is more the caps of the cigar, which are rarely uniform and look sloppy on all three cigars that I smoke. The Nica Rustica Adobe’s wrapper is medium-full in intensity with scents of  apple cider, leather, acidity and some barnyard flavors; all around medium-full. The foot has a sweeter smell with some milk chocolate over the apple cider, earthiness and some caramel. Cold draws distinctly remind me of blueberry muffins with some more normal cigar sensations like grain and milk chocolate underneath it. Of note, one cigar has a loose draw and another has an incredibly firm cap to cut.

The Nica Rustica Adobe starts with woodiness—including lots of grittier flavors I oftentimes describe as tree bark, reminding me of the smell of ripping bark off of a tree as a child—along with toastiness, some petroleum flavors and an underlying saltiness. There’s not really a consistent theme for how the first five or so minutes of the three cigars start but eventually they end up with a profile that is led by nuttiness over the woody flavors along with some oatmeal, mineral flavors, brown mustard, black pepper and a muted muffin or sweet bread flavor. The finish has mineral flavors, a bright but muted woody profile, greasiness, leather, burnt espresso and black pepper, the latter solidly sitting on my tongue. Like when the smoke is physically in my mouth, the finish has a profile where the flavors are very interconnected, making it difficult to find the individual sensations. Retrohales have white pepper and some citrus before roasted nuts take over to dominate. It’s a much cleaner and more refined flavor, though it’s not as strong as the main flavor. After 10 or so seconds, a different nutty flavor emerges with some mild black pepper. Flavor is full, body is medium-full and strength is medium. Other than one sample which has a slightly loose draw, construction is great during the first third.

It’s interesting to contrast the first puff—dominated by woody flavors—to where the profile sits at the midpoint: there’s basically no woodiness. Instead, the Nica Rustica Adobe continues to be led by nuttiness, now with pizza dough, creaminess and saltiness as accents. On one cigar, there’s a more defined acorn flavor; another has more black pepper, something I don’t find in the other two cigars. The finish is sweeter, leading to a peanut butter-like flavor along with pizza dough, white pepper and leather. Retrohales have white pepper, black pepper, sharp earthiness and creaminess. Unlike the first third, the retrohale is now much sharper than the main flavor, making it more difficult to pick up the individual flavors. The finish is pretty similar to the retrohale save for two things. First, there’s an earthy base that’s prevalent; second, there’s a sweetness that distinctly reminds me of Entenmann’s glaze donut holes. Flavor is full, body is medium-plus and strength is medium-plus. Two cigars need touch-ups pretty early into the second third, the cigar with the firm head is developing some cracking near the foot.

Without fail, I find that the Nica Rustica Adobe Robusto can be smoked down to under the inch-mark and on most puffs, there are no signs of the cigar getting hot. Overall, the final third is drier than before with earthiness, mineral flavors, creaminess, lime skin and some added chalkiness. The finish has a sharp woodiness, creaminess, leather white pepper and red pepper. Retrohales are disjointed at times with the flavors neither harmonious nor in conflict, just sort of scattered about: black pepper, white pepper, earthiness, leather, saltiness and creaminess. Flavor is full, body is medium-full and strength is medium-full. Construction is good in the final third—one cigar needs a touch-up—and I appreciate the ability to enjoy the cigar down to the nub.

Final Notes

• I remember when I first got the chance to smoke the original Nica Rustica El Brujito shortly before the cigar went on sale. I absolutely loved the way the cigar tasted and the price. My only real complaint was the size was rather large. Over the years, I’ve found that the Nica Rustica no longer performs how I remembered it and I can’t remember the last time I smoked one.
• As for how the Adobe compares to what I remember of the original Nica Rustica—the difference that stands out the most is that the Adobe doesn’t seem as alive as the Nica Rustica was. I don’t think it’s designed to be as strong, but the flavors don’t interact with my palate the same way.
• Drew Estate says this is blended to be spicier than the original Nica Rustica blend. That’s not how I would describe it.
• For more than a year, I’ve used the Fox Knives 749 Cigar Cutter to cut basically every cigar used for a review and I can’t say I’ve had any difficulties. The first Nica Rustica Adobe smoked for this review had a cap that was incredibly challenging to cut through. I’m not sure what the issue was, but it felt like I was cutting through something that was significantly denser than cigar tobacco. This caused a tear on one part of the cap, but the draw was fine. Oddly, the draw ended up being fine.
• Like the Undercrown 10 and 20 Acre Farm, this cigar was announced via Freestyle Live, Drew Estate’s name for a YouTube live broadcast that the company uses for promotion. In April, Drew Estate began selling packs of unbranded and unnamed cigars that ended up being the Nica Rustica Adobe. The packs were sold through retailers and consumers were told to tune into a Freestyle Live show on May 12, where the company announced the cigar. In addition to the cigars, Drew Estate gave away prizes for both consumers and retailers.
• Drew Estate is currently doing the same thing with another unannounced cigar. The packs went on sale last month and Drew Estate says it will announce the cigar on Sept. 28.
• As with many Drew Estate products, the smoke production on the Nica Rustica Adobe is impressive.
• Drew Estate advertises on halfwheel.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was one hour and 40 minutes on average.
• Site sponsors Cigar Hustler, Corona Cigar Co., Famous Smoke Shop, Gotham Cigars and JR Cigar all carry the Nica Rustica Adobe Robusto.