Somebody in these squares just made a serious Thanksgiving party fowl!
(That’s a hilarious holiday pun that you can feel free to use next year or any time that turkey is being served and someone farts at the dinner table)
Everybody have a nice Thanksgiving? Well loyal listers of the show will know that it’s been a rough stretch here for me this year, going all the way back to 2020 when this whole shitshow began, so I have something to tell you all and I hope that maybe by me sharing this it can help one of you out there who’s going through something similar. So the day after Thanksgiving I checked myself in to an outpatient rehab program. It turns out I that I just can’t quit cold turkey… I love cold turkey sandwiches way too much… Ugh sorry, I’m an asshole. Welcome everyone to The Tuesday Night Cigar Club Episode 150! 1-5-0, it’s finally here! We’re officially out of the one forties and we’re bringing you a good one tonight! Click the links at the bottom of this page and JOIN THE PARTY!!!!!
THE CIGAR – UNDERCROWN 10 by DREW ESTATE
Size: 6 x 52 (toro)
Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés
Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $12.00 (And, while these were sent us by our headline sponsor Drew Estate for review, please remember when purchasing some fine Drew Estate cigars or other fine premium stogies from FamousSmokeShop.com to use your new favorite promo code TNCC20 at checkout where it will knock $20 off your purchase of $100 or more)
The Undercrown’s 10th Anniversary line was first shipped unbanded to consumers as a “mystery cigar” as part of Drew Estate’s Freestyle Live event back in May of this year where the cigar was formally introduced. And I, of course, immediately guessed accurately what the mystery cigar was while so many others failed, remember there was once a website on the internet that said I was the best at doing something with cigars… that website no longer exists for completely unrelated reasons.
We have a very long history with Drew Estate’s Undercrown line here on the show. The Undercrown Shade Gran Toro was ranked as our #2 Cigar Of The Year back in 2015, the Undercrown Sun Grown Corona was ranked our #9 cigar of 2017, and most recently the Undercrown Sun Grown Dojo Dogma release was given our #3 spot on last year’s list. And I’ve reviewed a bunch of other impressive Undercrown releases here on our website such as the Shade Flying Pig and the Shady XX limited release that Drew Estate collaborates with Eminem on. And the original Undercrown Maduro is one of my favorite go-to sticks of all fucking time so needless to say I was extremely pumped to light this sucker on fire. Oh yeah, I’m still eating Thanksgiving leftovers a week later so don’t be surprised if I sense notes of mashed potatoes and pecan pie at some point in tonight’s cigar, you’ve been warned. Do you know what jazz lovers put on their mashed potatoes?
After experiencing a cold draw that consisted of rodeo stuff, hickory, maple, and sweet raisins (if that’s not the winner for our “Cold Draw Of The Year” honor I don’t know what is), we set the Undercrown 10 on fire and were immediately greeted with a medium-strength black pepper spice through the nose and a very distinct French Roast coffee note joined by woodsy flavors of hickory and oak via the draw. As the smoking experience continues, the retro’s spice dials down quite a bit and a highly enjoyable mineral component arises on the draw.
Construction-wise the Undercrown 10 is performing flawlessly with a smooth draw, a nice burn that’s requiring zero maintenance resulting in a stack-o’-fat-nickels ash, and the smoke production is copious to say the least with gorgeously thick white clouds pouring out of both ends on the cigar (it looks like a new Pope was just elected with each and every puff). I suppose a stack of fat nickels would actually look a lot like a stack of quarters… oh well no time to reflect on my bumbled currency references now! Some mesquite graced with just a touch of sweetness has now joined the oak and hickory flavors still ever present on the draw along with the coffee component and mineral. That’s a whole lot of woodsy, it’s like having the Brawny lumberjack in your mouth. Wait a minute…
Go ahead and cancel me but when he lost the mustache, Brawny lost me as a customer.
That’s Real Talk.
In the second half, a slight touch of vanilla graces the back end of the retrohale swooping in gently after the medium spice begins to fade. Sweet mesquite, oak, and hickory… French roast coffee… vanilla and spice… phenomenal construction from start finish… the Undercrown 10 is a very worthy cigar to celebrate the anniversary of a true game changer in the history of Drew Estate.
The Undercrown 10 also reminded us in some aspects of our beloved Liga Privada No 9 which, of course, was the inspiration for the original Undercrown Maduro ten years ago. Tonight’s cigar is a perfect bridge built to join the two definitive, traditional Drew Estate brands. So if you’re not hightailing it right now to your local Drew Diplomat retailer to grab yourself a handful of Undercrown 10s, I don’t know how else to help you. You’re helpless! Viva la Undercrown!
TNCC FINAL SCORE = 93
THE BEERS
Once again folks, usually (before the mini apocalypse was thrust upon all of us in 2020) we would carefully – some of you have said “expertly” – pair our evening’s beer with the cigar and movie and we’d all sit around the table and drink that same beer and compare notes. But since this whole COVID-19 shitshow went down, each member of the TNCC is now solely responsible for risking their lives out in the wild and acquiring their own beers for each episode… usually with very mixed results.
YAK BOY’S BEER – UFO WHITE ALE by UFO BEER COMPANY
This 5.1% ABV American style white ale is extremely light with mild flavor so, naturally, it did nothing to either add to or detract from the cigar smoking experience. Yaks said he enjoyed the beer and seeing as how our film tonight does involve intergalactic lifeforms the UFO White Ale passes the pairing test as well. Towards the end of the night, Yaks felt that the UFO White Ale was helping to pull some sweetness out of his cigar but we all agreed that he was most likely just drunk and clueless at that point.
YAK BOY’S PAIRING GRADE = C+
TUT’S BEER – UGLY SWEATER HOLIDAY SPICE AMBER ALE by TUPPS BREWERY
Man, that’s a really long name for a beer. But who cares if the beer is good, right? Well Tut sadly did NOT like the Ugly Sweater Holiday Spice Amber Ale which is disappointing as we have unanimously enjoyed every other offering that we’ve had from Tupps thus far on the show. At 5.2 % and 10 IBUs, Tut declared the beer “horrible, all spice and no beer” and he had no choice but to drink his nutmeg-centric mistake all night long. And obviously the beer paired terribly with the Undercrown 10 as its overwhelmingly spicy profile with a generous load of cinnamon completely washed out the cigar. Bah humbug.
TUT’S PAIRING GRADE = D-
THE DOCTOR’S BEER – ICELANDIC WHITE ALE by EINSTÖK BEER COMPANY
We thoroughly enjoyed the Einstök Icelandic Arctic Pale Ale back on Episode 99 and Doc diagnosed his White Ale this evening as a smooth, refreshing beer as well. Once again, glacier water for the win! Unfortunately there was no conceivable way for even the brilliant Doctor to rationalize a pairing connection with this fine beer so…
THE DOCTOR’S PAIRING GRADE: F-
CADE’S 1st BEER – DOUBLE GALAXY by INGENIOUS BREWING COMPANY
Ingenious had an 1-2 track record with us on the show before tonight and after drinking the lifeless Double Galaxy their record now stands at 1-3. This hazy 8.2% New England style double IPA was a flat out snoozefest. Odorless, tasteless, way overpriced, and incredibly boring. If this is what they’re guzzling out in other galaxies, I’ll keep my ass planted right here on Earth which is saying something seeing as how much Earthlings suck these days. So, yeah, I didn’t care for this beer one bit despite it thematically pairing superbly with our movie. But that’s okay because I would need a beer to come back to later on when I’m too drunk to give a shit what it tastes like…
CADE’S 2nd BEER – MC3 by EQUILIBRIUM BREWERY
Now THIS is a fucking beer! Coming in at 10% with hops blazin’, the MC3 is a triple IPA that makes itself known from the moment you crack open up the can. While the citrus aroma flowing off the pour is an alluring medley of peach and mango, the fun really begins with the first sip where a really nice hop bitterness on the back end (completely devoid of any unwanted maltiness) compliments that citrus beautifully on your palate. Unlike my first beer, the MC3 kicked ass and the can’s artwork of a pinkish intergalactic nebula emitting a giant white beam out to the vast regions of outer space pairs damn near perfectly with tonight’s film. Are you surprised? I’m still the King Of Pairings baby!!!
CADE’S OVERALL PAIRING GRADE = A
THE FILM – BLACK FRIDAY (2021)
Tonight’s movie was written Andy Greskoviak and directed by Casey Tebo (no relation to Tuttle’s man crush Tim Tebow the legendary college quarterback and failed NFL tight end). But who cares about the crew behind the camera when stepping in front of it is the one, the only, BRUCE FUCKING CAMPBELL!
This is not a bad movie by any means, but what pisses me off way more than bad movies are just-okay movies that have the potential to be so much better and Black Friday is a perfect example of this. There are some great moments here, the performances are excellent across the board, special effects are tip fucking top, if a little more care and attention was given to the screenplay – the flow and mechanics of the story itself – this could have been a much better movie. And it doubly pisses me off when the thing holding a film’s success back isn’t budget related, this flick had everything it needed except a director capable of picking apart the script and forming it into something superior than what was given to him on the page.
I think there is something really interesting that could have been said in the context of Black Friday about corporate America, the retail work environment, and consumerism in general but these subjects all just seemed mostly misplaced and jumbled here to have any real, respectable landing. So yes, folks, we do a major deep dive in to tonight’s film and I think you’re going to enjoy the conversation. It’s groovy, baby. So click the links below right NOW you primitive screw heads and join the party!
THE NUB
Please leave us comments on the YouTube episode page and subscribe while you’re there, provide us with a review on iTunes, or be a real stud and do both! All these seemingly small gestures would be greatly appreciated as they let us know exactly what you’re thinking about this sweat-soaked tidal wave of hardbodied insanity we like to call The Tuesday Night Cigar Club.
Sayonara motherfuckers!!!
Below is tonight’s full episode for both your viewing and listening pleasure. Thank you for checking out The Tuesday Night Cigar Club and we’ll see you next time when we review another cigar, adult beverage, and film. May the wings of liberty never lose a feather…
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