Many many moons ago, I reviewed a limited budget-friendly offering from the fine folks at Famous Smoke Shop and Drew Estate. The line was called Puros Huerfanos and here’s how Famous described it back in 2021:
“The name ‘Puros Huerfanos’ means cigar orphans, and that’s exactly what they are. Hailing from La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate, the story of these cigars begins with a happy mistake. The deal is, Drew Estate’s factory made too many of one of their higher-end blends. Which one, they wouldn’t tell us. But a deal like this was too good to pass up. ‘Pennies on the dollar’ is all we needed to hear. And since this is Famous, we passed those savings right along to you.”
The original Belicoso Fino
Normally I’m skeptical of tall tales of “orphaned” or “lost” cigars mysteriously emerging from a factory. If a factory is lucky enough to have some worthy blends just sitting around taking up space, why not give them a proper release rather than generously charging us only “pennies on the dollar” in order to make some space in the aging room?
I have been very fortunate to visit Estelí, Nicaragua and tour La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate. On that trip, I personally saw bundle-after-bundle of resting cigars that we were told were blending experiments that never resulted in a released product and most likely never would. Seriously, there were so many small batches of these “experiments” that it kind of makes sense that some of them would have to eventually find their way out the factory loading dock at some point… or maybe I’m just a sucker. Either way, here we are.
The orphanage?
I reviewed two different vitolas of that Ecuadorian Habano wrapped blend and found them to be well-constructed, flavorful cigars that cost me a whopping combined total of $6. Remember those days? Skip ahead five years to 2026 and you’ve got shops selling bundles of Flor de Oliva Original Presidentes for almost 100 bucks… now ain’t that some shit. Anyhoo, the original Puros Huerfanos release sold out quickly (most likely due to the Tuesday Night Cigar Club’s exclusive coverage of the cigar and our handy promo code – TNCC20) and the line never returned to the Famous warehouse again. Until now…
THE CIGAR – PUROS HUERFANOS MADURO by DREW ESTATE
Size: 5 x 54 (robusto)
Wrapper: Broadleaf (undisclosed origin)
Binder: Undisclosed
Filler: Undisclosed (long filler)
Price: $5.20 (All ten-pack bundles of Puros Huerfanos are currently on sale at Famous Smoke Shop! Use promo code TNCC20 to get $20 off your order of $100 or more today!)
The Puros Huerfanos Maduro features a dark broadleaf wrapper from unknown origin that has slight surface oils present all the way down from the twisted cap to the closed foot. Both of these aesthetic choices either add an element of credibility to the “orphans” backstory or confirm that I am indeed a sucker. It’s a sharp looking cigar, the uninspired band design notwithstanding, and I imagine if you slapped any Liga Privada band on it nobody would question it based on strictly appearances alone.
See what I mean?
Aromas of sweet raisins and damp hickory pour off the Puros Huerfanos Maduro in equal measure. After a quick twist of the cap and a follow-through with my punch, I experience a cold draw that’s woodsy and slightly sour. It’s time to introduce Mr. Flame to Mr. Leaves!
The Puros Huerfanos Maduro features a dense black pepper spice that immediately coats the nostrils. Once the foot’s loose wrapper leaf has burned off, a pencil lead note joins that pepper on the retrohale. As far as the draw is concerned, there’s bright leather backed by a faint coffee note. The burn line has begun to grow a bit too jagged for my liking, so I give the Puros Huerfanos Maduro a quick touchup with my lighter and it’s all good.
The black pepper has now settled down a bit and I’d classify the cigar, thus far, as medium/full strength and medium body. What hasn’t settled is the coffee note which is becoming bolder and bolder with each puff. That bright leather ain’t shining so bright anymore. Dim leather? Speaking of which, dim leather now begins to appear on the retro alongside the diminished pepper. So the leather wasn’t disappearing, it was just moving upstairs. As the dark roast coffee flavor grows, I’m enjoying that particular aspect of the Puros Huerfanos Maduro more and more.
Other than that one burn correction early on, the Puros Huerfanos Maduro has been performing very good from a construction standpoint for a $5 cigar or even a $25 cigar. A smooth open draw has produced copious amounts of light grey, Liga Privada-esque smoke pouring from both ends and the resulting strong ash doesn’t drop until it nears the fifty yard line. Seriously, if you look back at the thousands of review photos we’ve taken over the years, smoke hardly ever lingers in the air long enough to be visible in the pic. That’s not the case tonight. The black pepper and leather are playing nicely together and both flavors are complimenting the dark coffee found below.
The Puros Huerfanos Maduro transitions into some more earthy notes in the second half, as a touch of salt appears through the nose just as a combination of must and graphite begins to slowly develop on the draw. This cigar certainly isn’t boring, for a $5 cigar or a $25 cigar, as these subtle additions and transitions are keeping things interesting. The overall construction has continued to impress. As far as pairings are concerned, because you all know how much I enjoy drinking alcoholic beverages, I keep thinking that a proper pint of Guinness would dance beautifully with the Puros Huerfanos Maduro.
In the cigar’s final act, the black pepper reemerges as the dominant retro note but that now-not-so-dim leather is still puffing out its chest in a desperate attempt to be noticed and stay relevant. It’s like the Britney Spears of cigar flavors… only you don’t feel sad and somewhat complicit while experiencing the show. The draw’s profile has now thinned out considerably to the point that the slightly musty dark roast coffee flavor is now clearly king of the mountain. With only a few puffs to go, a creaminess suddenly appears on the draw and I would have easily paid an extra $5 for it to have showed up far sooner. Maybe that’s why the cigar is an orphan? Perhaps Master Blender Willy Herrera couldn’t figure out how to dial that cream in sooner so he moved on to other projects? It’s safe to say that we’ll never know. This oily bastard is still generating an ungodly amount of smoke right up until the very end…
THE NUB
Final TNCC Score = 92
The Puros Huerfanos Maduro is a well constructed, slow burning*, highly enjoyable cigar that features some nice complexity on the retrohale and a consistently enjoyable coffee profile through the draw. So what’s missing? Perhaps this Drew Estate orphan was given up on because it simply lacks that signature Liga Privada Unico “WOW” factor. I do wish that at some point Drew Estate would reveal some blend information and, ideally, some insight as to the history of each variation of the Puros Huerfanos and how they ended up as budget friendly Famous exclusives. I won’t hold my breath for that amount of energy to be put into explaining a $5 cigar, but that’d be really cool from a consumer viewpoint. Consumers like stories. And I liked this cigar a lot, even without that missing wow factor, and for five bucks that’s A-OK with yours truly.
So head on over to Famous Smoke Shop, drop two or more ten packs in your cart, use promo code TNCC20, and enjoy a good smoke at a great price!
* Total Smoking Duration: 90 minutes
** Out of curiosity, I also graded the cigar as if it was priced as a similarly-sized Unico from Drew Estate (Year of the Rat). The score dropped from a 92.2125 to 91.45. So price point, which accounts for a mere 0.05% of the total score, raised the Puros Huerfanos Maduro’s final score by one point.
*** Famous Smoke Shop is a sponsor of the Tuesday Night Cigar Club. Drew Estate is not.
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