Liga Privada Unico Year of the Rat 5 1/2″ x 46

The Liga Privada Unico Year of the Rat is a broadleaf-wrapped corona gorda from Drew Estate’s Liga Privada, handmade in Nicaragua.

It blends a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper over a Brazilian binder with Honduran and Nicaraguan filler at a full body, leading with cocoa, espresso, black pepper, and a sweet, almost-syrupy dark earth. At 5 1/2 by 46, it burns cool and even.

Connecticut Broadleaf is stalk cut, meaning the whole plant is cut and hung rather than the leaves picked one by one, then fermented hard and long. That is where the dark colour, the oil and the sweetness come from, and why so little of the crop makes wrapper grade.

Pairs well with bourbon, espresso, or stout.