Southern Draw IGNITE Private Blend #4 Corojo

In 2019, Southern Draw Cigars added six blends to its IGNITE series, each of which benefited the Navy SEAL Foundation, a foundation that offers immediate and ongoing support and assistance to the Naval Special Warfare community and its families. When Southern Draw debuted IGNITE in 2018, the company stated that the goal of the series was to help raise money for three types of different charities: helping active-duty, deployed, military veterans and their families; premium cigar rights and cigar retail associations; and organizations that help the needy, homeless and hungry population, many of whom are U.S. military veterans.

“We are honored to have Southern Draw Cigars supporting the Navy SEAL Foundation with this promotion,” said Chris Irwin, director of partnerships at the Navy SEAL Foundation, via a press release. “As a company owned and operated by veterans, their commitment to giving back through their IGNITE program is incredible and the Navy SEAL Foundation is thrilled to be named as one of their benefiting charities for 2019.”

One of the aforementioned six blends released in 2019 was the Southern Draw IGNITE Private Blend #4 Corojo, a 5 x 50 Rothschild made up of a corojo 99 Honduran wrapper covering two different binder leaves grown in Nicaragua and Honduras as well as a filler blend sourced from Honduras and Nicaragua.

Total production of the Private Blend Corojo 99 #4 was limited to 800 jars of 10 cigars—as well as 300 bundles of 10 cigars—all of which were rolled at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A. in Estelí. Each cigar carried a retail price of $9.99, and according to Southern Draw, 12.5 percent of the cost of each IGNITE humi-jar purchased would be donated to the Navy SEAL Foundation by the company, while the retailer who is selling the cigars would also contribute an additional 12.5 percent.

Here is what I wrote in my original review four years ago:

There is no doubt that the caramel apple note on the cold draw had me excited for what the profile of the Southern Draw IGNITE Private Blend #4 Corojo would bring to the table. Sadly, that flavor is nowhere to be found in the actual profile as I was smoking, but there is plenty to like about the cigar without it, including a dominant combination of creamy cedar and dark chocolate, some slight maple sweetness and a persistent black pepper on the retrohale that enhanced the flavors without becoming overwhelming at any point. A bit more sweetness of any kind would really help the complexity of this blend, but in the end, the Southern Draw IGNITE Private Blend #4 Corojo is an easy to smoke, enjoyable cigar that raises money for a great cause.

 

• Cigar Reviewed: Southern Draw IGNITE Private Blend #4 Corojo
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.
• Wrapper: Honduras (Corojo 99)
• Binder: Honduras (Corojo 99) & Nicaragua
• Filler: Honduras & Nicaragua
• Length: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Robusto
• MSRP: $9.99 (Jar of 10, $99.90)
• Release Date: June 20, 2019
• Number of Cigars Released: 800 Jars of 10 Cigars and 300 Bundles of 10 Cigars (11,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Redux: 1

As was the case with the cigars from my first review, the wrapper of the Southern Draw IGNITE Private Blend #4 Corojo is a cinnamon brown-colored wrapper with a parchment-like feel to it, albeit with virtually no oil that I can discern. However, there are two major differences between this cigar and the original sticks: the first concerns the foot, which is very obviously more of an oval rather than a circle. Secondly, this cigar is quite a bit more spongy than the previous cigars, although not nearly spongy enough for me to think it might cause an issue. Aromas from the wrapper include a strong and creamy peanut shell note, along with woodiness, barnyard, leather tack and light vanilla sweetness. The scents from the foot are led by an aroma that is quite a bit more earthy in nature, followed by sourdough bread, barnyard, dark chocolate, brewed black coffee, generic nuts and light fruity sweetness. Finally, after a straight cut, the cold draw brings flavors of salted almonds, creamy cedar, nutmeg, hay, leather tack and milk chocolate sweetness.

The IGNITE Private Blend #4 Corojo starts out fairly mild, with light spice on my tongue, white pepper and a very obvious cedar flavor. After about eight puffs, the profile shifts, and a combination of dry hay and coffee beans takes over the top spot, followed by secondary notes of powdery cocoa nibs, saltine crackers, nutmeg, earth and a light tea leaf flavor that comes and goes. In addition, there is also some noticeable white pepper and vanilla bean sweetness on the retrohale, although neither is all that strong thus far. Flavor ends the first half at a solid medium, while the body and strength both lag a bit behind at a point just under the medium mark. In terms of construction, there are no issues whatsoever so far, with the burn, draw, and massive smoke production all working in harmony.

Although there is not much change in the flavor profile of the Southern Draw during the second half, that is not necessarily a bad thing, as the main flavor combination of coffee beans and dry hay continues to be quite enjoyable. Additional flavors of toasted bread, gritty earth, nutmeg, cocoa nibs and slight lemongrass flit in and out at various points, and while the amount of white pepper on the retrohale has not changed, there is a touch more of the vanilla bean sweetness is noticeable, as the cigar enters the final third. Flavor ends the cigar at medium-plus; the body stays put at just under medium, but the strength increases enough to land firmly at a solid medium. Finally, all three aspects continue to excel until I put the nub down after one hour and one minute of smoking time.