Liga Privada Único Serie Year of the Horse

While probably not the first company you think of, for the last eight years, Drew Estate has been releasing cigars in honor of the Chinese Zodiac calendar, i.e. cigars that are named Year of the ___, a reference to one of the dozen animals on the calendar.

Drew Estate—by just about any metric, one of the largest handmade cigar companies in the world—hasn’t made the same impact for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, these releases have largely been exclusive to international retailers, most of the time, exclusive to CoH Cigars, formerly known as Cigars of Habanos. Second, in a couple of instances, Drew Estate has never officially acknowledged a zodiac-themed cigar.

One of those unannounced cigars is the most recent one, the Liga Privada Year of the Horse. While at least one Drew Estate employee posted pictures of the cigar, if you type in the cigar’s name in Google, you’ll get a misleading AI result saying that the company does not produce a “regular” Year of the Horse cigar.

The Liga Privada Year of the Horse does exist, though retailer iHeartCigars, which claims to have a “partnership” with CoH Cigars, incorrectly lists the cigars as 6 1/4 x 60 gordos. As best we can tell, it’s actually a 5 1/4 x 60 vitola, though details like blend and production numbers have not been announced.

• Cigar Reviewed: Liga Privada Único Serie Year of the Horse
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: La Gran Fábrica Drew Estate
• Wrapper: Undisclosed
• Binder: Undisclosed
• Filler: Undisclosed
• Length: 5 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 60
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $26.50 (Box of 10, $265)
• Release Date: 2026
• Number of Cigars Released: Undisclosed
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The first thing I notice about these cigars is the somewhat surprisingly light-colored wrapper that is fairly smooth to the touch, a huge difference compared to the normally dark, toothy wrappers I find on most Liga Privada releases. Having said that, there is plenty of mottling, and two of the cigars have multiple small nicks that are easily visible. In addition, the first cigar has a long protruding vein running from the top of the main band all the way to the bottom of the foot, and all three cigars are extremely firm when squeezed. Aromas from the wrappers are led by a creamy and slightly sweet earth note, followed by barnyard, creamy leather, sweet breadiness, dry straw, and a light vegetal flavor, while the second cigar also features a distinct clove note that the other two lack. Scents from the feet are quite a bit more aggressive, with notes of cinnamon, peanut shells, coffee beans, generic woodiness, dry pasta, and a touch of toasted bread. The cold draws feature quite a bit of creamy cedar up front, followed by plenty of raisin sweetness, some creamy but generic nuttiness, cornbread, brown sugar, and a very slight nutmeg flavor.

All three cigars start out in a similar way, with light spice on my tongue and a bitter espresso note combined with some black pepper. The main flavors are also similar—a combination of powdery cocoa nibs and creamy cedar—followed by secondary notes that include cinnamon, potato chips, dry earth, leather tack, and coffee grounds. On the finish of all three cigars, there is a light citrus note, but so far, it is strongest on the third cigar. The first two cigars feature the same black pepper and raisin sweetness on the retrohale, but the third cigar, once again, is an outlier and has a distinct marshmallow sweetness that I am really enjoying. Flavor ends the first third at full, the body hits a point between mild and medium, and the strength is just under the medium mark. Other than a minor burn correction for one cigar, the construction is excellent.

During the second third, the powdery cocoa nibs flavor stays at the top of the profile, while the creamy cedar note moves to the background, replaced by a roasted peanut flavor. At various points, additional flavors of leather tack, coffee beans, plain oatmeal, dry straw, and gritty earth show up, while the amount of citrus on the finish has diminished slightly for all three cigars. The retrohales remain consistent with the first third, meaning the first two cigars continue to feature a combination of raisin sweetness and black pepper, while the last cigar has less black pepper and a more engaging marshmallow sweetness. Flavor remains full, but both strength and body have increased to a solid medium. Construction is excellent across the board, with no issues to report.

Powdery cocoa nibs and roasted peanuts continue to top the profiles of all three cigars, but there are some new secondary flavors, including nutmeg, dry leaves and burnt bread, along with the coffee beans and gritty earth from the second third. There is also a new metallic note in the finish that affects all three cigars, though it seems slightly less obvious in the final third than in the other two. Black pepper and marshmallow sweetness continue to dominate the retrohale of the third cigar, while the first and second cigars stick with the raisin and pepper combination. Flavor ends at full, the body at a solid medium, and the strength magnifies to reach the medium-plus mark. Construction-wise, the second cigar once again needs a quick touch-up to stay on track, but that is the only construction issue.

Final Notes

• The Liga Privada Único Serie Year of the Rat that was released in 2016 was created for the Drew Estate lounge at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla., the home of the NHL’s Florida Panthers. The year of the rat references the team’s 1996 playoff run and not the Zodiac calendar.
• At 60-ring gauge, the Year of the Horse is the thickest vitola in Drew Estate’s Year of Series so far, and by a fairly large margin.
• I find it interesting that the design used for the foot bands used on this series of cigars has changed so many times over the years: the first two releases featured fairly standard bands, while the third release in 2021 included a depiction of an ox head. Since then, the foot bands have incorporated a Chinese symbol that matches the animal of that year’s release.
• After cutting a fairly standard amount of the cap on the first cigar, I felt the draw was a bit loose for my liking, albeit not nearly loose enough to cause any issues. I cut about a third off the remaining two cigars, and the draw resistance was excellent.

• When I removed the main band on all three of the cigars I smoked for this review, a piece of the wrapper came off, something that also happened with two of the three foot bands. Thankfully, the small amount of damage did not cause any significant burn issues.
• The Liga Privada Único Serie Year of the Snake took the 23rd spot in halfwheel’s Top 25 of 2025.
• I think that the addition of a flaming horseshoe, likely a reference to this being a fire horse year, on the foot band of this release is a nice touch.
• Drew Estate advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.

• Above are the measurements we took when we measured the three cigars smoked for this review. Because Drew Estate never announced the cigars, there are no listed dimensions.
• The final smoking time averaged out to two hours and 17 minutes for all three cigars.

Drew Estate
La Gran Fábrica Drew Estate
Liga Privada
Liga Privada Único Serie
Liga Privada Único Serie Year of the Horse
Liga Privada Zodiac Series
Nicaragua
Robusto Gordo