ACID Cigars

Taking the world by storm in the late 1990s and ushering in “The Rebirth of Cigars,” there is nothing else on the market quite like ACID Cigars by Drew Estate. While most handmade premium cigars today are made with traditional methods, using only a selection of high-quality tobaccos, but ACID Cigars takes it another step further by introducing flavor infusions to the mix.

It all started in 1996 at the height of the cigar boom when cigar fanatics and frat brothers Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel founded Drew Estate. The history of the ACID brand started with Drew and Samel feeling that the marketing needed to line up with the groundbreaking and spectacular new cigar blend. The duo began by selling their first brand, La Vieja Habana, out of their small 16 square foot kiosk at the World Trade Center in New York City. When a devastating hurricane in Nicaragua halted production in 1998, Drew Estate needed to pivot to something else.

Little did Drew and Samel know, however, that their next move would alter forever alter the premium cigar landscape and make Drew Estate a household name. At the time, the only flavored cigars on the market were value-oriented machine-made cigars and cigarillos, and the common belief was the cigars were flavored to mask the taste of sub-par tobaccos. ACID Cigars set out to change that perception.

While Samel was busy in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn raising capital for the fledgling Drew Estate, Drew spent much time down in Nicaragua to learn all about the traditions, art, and methods of cigarmaking. What Jonathan Drew learned inspired the methods he would use to create ACID Cigars.

ACID Cigars’ infusion process is far different from the flavoring methods used in machine-made cigars, which have syrups and sprays applied to directly to the tobaccos for a cloying smoke that can cover the tobaccos’ natural flavors.

Instead, ACID Cigars cures its top-shelf tobaccos in special aroma rooms that are lined with over 140 herbs, spices, botanicals, and essential oils. The aromas from the essential oils, botanicals, herbs and spices gradually seep into the tobaccos without ever making direct contact with the leaves, slowly infusing the tobaccos with the aromas.

With such a groundbreaking and spectacular new cigar blend, Drew and Samel felt the marketing needed to line up. Drew Estate’s small office in Brooklyn was shared with Scott “Acid” Chester, an up-and-coming artist with a penchant for urban, industrial, graffiti, and motorcycle style. Drew and Samel thought Chester’s work was the perfect fit for the new cigar blend, and the ACID brand was born!

Today the ACID Cigars brand portfolio encompasses a star-studded lineup of deliciously good blends all produced at the famous La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate cigar factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

Part of the Blue Series, the Blue Kuba Kuba is widely considered the most popular offering under the ACID umbrella. Other members of the Blue Series, such as the Blue Blondie and Krush Blue are also best-sellers among aficionados.With so many choices it can be hard to know where to start, so we came up with a Acid Cigars buying guide to help you pick the right cigar for you.