Drew Estate Adds Big Belicoso to Nica Rustica

Source from:  Cigar Aficionado 05/29/2015

Drew Estate is introducing a new size to their Nica Rustica brand.

The brand currently features only one size, the El Brujito, a 6 inch by 52 ring gauge toro. But in July, the company will unveil a 7 1/2 inch by 54 ring gauge belicoso, dubbed the Nica Rustica Belly.

"When the decision was made by Michael Cellucci [president of Drew Estate] to start blending additional sizes to compliment the El Brujito toro, the Belly torpedo became an obvious candidate due to the taste and value," said Samuel Morales, lifestyle marketing manager at Drew Estate.

The medium- to full-bodied Belly will feature the same blend as its Nica Rustica predecessor: a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Mexican San Andrés binder and Nicaraguan fillers from the Jalapa Valley and Estelí. The Nica Rustica brand is manufactured at Drew Estate's La Gran Fabrica factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

The name for the new size—in addition to being short for belicoso—is named after Belly, the 1998 movie starring hip-hop artists Nas and DMX, a film that, according to Morales, company co-founder Jonathan Drew watched once a week for more than two years. Although Belly is a reference to a belicoso size, the Belly is much larger than traditional belicosos, which are typically short pyramids.

The Belly will come in black craft paper bundles of 25 and carry a suggested retail price of $198 per bundle, or $7.95 per stick. Drew Estate will unveil the Belly at Cox's Smokers Outlets in Louisville, Kentucky, on July 30. The new size will ship nationally by September. Enditem