Robert Holt built Southern Draw Cigars around a mission — and the Rose of Sharon is the most personal cigar in the lineup. Named for his wife Sharon, co-founder of the company and the quiet force behind everything Southern Draw stands for, this blend is a tribute in tobacco form: graceful on the outside, bolder than you’d expect once you light it. The Ecuadorian Connecticut Sun Grown wrapper is velvety and golden, grown under natural cloud cover in the Ecuadorian highlands and selected for its gentle sweetness and silky texture. Inside, Nicaraguan binder and a four-component filler of Nicaraguan Viso, Seco, Ligero, and Dominican Piloto Cubano deliver a complexity that defies the mild-medium strength rating — the Piloto Cubano in particular adds a dose of spice and boldness that keeps every third of the smoke interesting. Rolled at the AJ Fernandez factory in Nicaragua in a semi-box pressed format with a closed foot, the Gordo gives this blend its fullest, most unhurried expression. Graham cracker, caramel, toasted nuts, cream, white pepper, and cedar from first light to a long, clean finish. “She don’t know she’s beautiful” — but she does, and so do you once you smoke one.
