Today, we are reviewing the Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano in the Toro size. As the name suggests, this Undercrown blend features Dominican tobacco. Although Drew Estate has primarily been known for its Nicaraguan tobacco, we’re starting to see a shift. In 2025, Drew Estate introduced us to Dominican tobacco with the Deadwood Dominicana. This year at the Trade Show, they unveiled two more Dominican releases: the Deadwood Dominicana Buenas Noches and the Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano. As we discovered just before PCA, this is only the beginning.
On the eve of the 2026 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show, Drew Estate has announced the launch of Drew Dominicana. At the center of Drew Dominicana will be a new 73,000-square-foot factory, a customer experience component, and a tobacco farm in Villa Gonzalez, Dominican Republic, headed by Manuel Peralta. The factory isn’t open yet, but plans are to eventually move the Drew Estate Dominican blends to this new facility.
El Tigre and Deadwood Dominican Buenas Noches debuted at PCA 2026, but they were released early as part of Drew Estate’s early access program. These cigars were branded as Water (Buenas Noches) and Fire (El Tigre). The name “El Tigre” is a Dominican term that describes someone who writes their own rules and exudes confidence. This name aligns perfectly with the rebellious culture that Drew Estate has established.
Now, without further ado, let’s break down the El Tigre Dominicano Toro and see what this cigar brings to the table.
SPECIFICATIONS
Blend and Origin
As for the Dominican tobaccos in El Tigre, this blend combines HVA and Criollo ’98 in the filler. The filler keeps to Undercrown’s ties to the Liga Privada brand. As many know, the original Undercrown was developed using alternate primings from Liga Privada. In this case, it’s a Connecticut Corojo binder, a tobacco used on the Liga Privada H99 Connecticut Corojo. Finally, the cigar features an Ecuadorian Sumatra. This is not the first time a Sumatra wrapper has been used on an Undecrown. You might remember the Undercrown Sun Grown used a Sumatra-seed wrapper. Production comes from La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate in Estelí, Nicaragua.
- Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
- Binder: Connecticut Corojo
- Filler: Dominican (HVA and Criollo ’98)
- Country of Origin: Nicaragua
- Factory: La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate
Vitolas Available
The following are the core offerings in the Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano. Four box-pressed sizes come in 20-count boxes.
- Corona Viva: 5 3/4 x 46
- Robusto: 5 x 50
- Toro: 6 x 50
- Gordo: 6 x 60
Appearance (*)
The Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper of the El Tigre Dominicano Toro exhibited a blend of caramel and rosado hues. The wrapper had a slight oil sheen and showed some mottling, along with a few thin veins. Most of the seams on the wrapper were not very noticeable. The cigar featured a soft box-press, characteristic of a Cuban trunk press.
PERFORMANCE
Pre-Light Draw (*)
After removing the footer band, a straight cut was used to remove the cap of the El Tigre Dominicano Toro. Once the cap was removed, it was time to commence the pre-light draw. The cold draw delivered notes of fruit, wood, earth, and baker’s spice. Overall, this was an excellent pre-light draw experience. At this point, it was time to toast the foot of the El Tigre Dominicano Toro and see what the smoking phase would have in store.
Tasting Notes
The El Tigre Dominicano Toro opened up with natural tobacco, fruit, mineral, earth, baker’s spice, and black pepper. As the cigar moved through the first third, the natural tobacco and fruit notes moved into the forefront. The natural tobacco combined with the fruit delivered a nice amount of sweetness. Meanwhile, the mineral, earth, baker’s spice, and pepper settled in the background. The retro-hale added extra layers of black pepper and fruity notes.
At the start of the second third of the El Tigre Dominicano Toro, the natural tobacco and fruit remained primary. The sweetness began to diminish, while the earth, mineral, and pepper notes increased. Before the midway point, the earth notes joined the natural tobacco in the forefront. The fruit notes joined the mineral, earth, baker’s spice, and pepper notes. As the El Tigre Dominicano Toro moved through the latter part of the second third, the natural tobacco developed some bitter quality.
The final third saw the natural tobacco and earth notes as primary. There was more in the way of the bitter qualities of the natural tobacco compared to its sweet qualities. The pepper and mineral notes stopped increasing. Pepper and mineral, along with fruit and baker’s spice, remained secondary notes. By this point, the flavors were somewhat muddled. As the cigar experience came to a close, the cigar finished with a soft, cool nub.
Burn
The El Tigre Dominicano Toro stayed on a straight burn path and line. At the same time, the cigar still required frequent touchups to keep things on track. While the touchups did the trick, I needed more touchups than I prefer. The resulting ash was light gray. This ash leaned toward the firmer side. The burn temperature was ideal. As for the burn rate, I found this a little bit of a slow burner, with the average smoking time clocking in at 1 hour and 54 minutes. Despite the slow burn, it didn’t cause any adverse effects.
Draw
The El Tigre Dominicano Toro draw had a touch of resistance, which I like. At the same time, it was a low-maintenance cigar in terms of flavor.
Strength and Body
The El Tigre Dominicano Toro delivered a medium-strength, medium- to full-bodied smoking experience from start to finish. Both attributes increased slightly along the way, but the strength and body stayed in the medium and medium-to-full ranges of their respective spectrums. In terms of strength versus body, the body maintained an edge throughout the smoking experience.
BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)
When it comes to the banding and packaging of the El Tigre Dominicano, Drew Estate does a great job again. I like the black-and-silver version of the Undercrown logo used on both. Adding the Dominican flag and using Dominican colors as trim around the logo was a nice touch. I also appreciated the wood grain box. However, I have one critique: the cursive font used for “El Tigre Dominicano” inside the logo doesn’t quite work. I would have preferred to use the same font from the outside of the box to maintain a connection to Drew Estate’s roots with the brand.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
Final Thoughts
In terms of the El Tigre Dominicano Toro, I found this to be a classic tale of two cigars. The first half really delivered, but the second half did not. As bitter notes surfaced in the second half and some flavors became muddled, I was reminded of what my old Stogie Geeks co-host would say: “this cigar couldn’t make up its mind what it wanted to do.” However, one thing I have to give Drew Estate credit for is that I really think they tried to deliver something unique with a Dominican cigar while keeping to the story of Undercrown (i.e., the Connecticut Corojo binder). Still, unfortunately, sometimes the tobacco makes up its own mind. In the end, I would recommend trying a sample to see if this is the cigar for you. I’m curious, though, to try some other sizes and see if they deliver a different story than the Toro.
Summary
- Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Earth, Fruit, Mineral, Baker’s Spice, Pepper
- Burn: Very Good
- Draw: Excellent
- Complexity: Medium Plus
- Strength: Medium
- Body: Medium to Full
- Finish: Good
Rating
Value: Try a Sample
Score: 87
Let’s Get Pairing
On Episode 84 of Let’s Get Pairing, the Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano was featured.
REFERENCES
Photo Credits: Cigar Coop
(*) Indicates this is not factored into the score or value rating
