Along with its memorable name, which was taken from a cigar seen in an old tobacco sales catalog from 1895, the Drew Estate Liga Privada T52 Flying Pig features a prominent pigtailed cap that’s wound up in a tight coil. But the real origin of this stick’s moniker could just be that it’s as rare as a flying pig, resulting in high demand from Liga Privada fans.
Short and fat (it’s just four inches in length, with a wide 60 ring gauge), the T52 Flying Pig makes use of Brazilian Mata Fina binder leaves and a modified version of the T52 blend of Honduran and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos from seven distinct farms.
Unlike the Liga Privada No. 9 vitola of the same name, the T52 Flying Pig boasts a stalk-cut, Connecticut-grown, Cuban-seed wrapper. Stalk cutting is a special process by which the leaves of a tobacco plant are left on the stalk instead of being removed prior to storage and aging. This allows nutrients from the stalk to continue to reach the leaves, producing earthier, richer and bolder cigars. Needless to say, stalk-cut leaves have found a dedicated following among tobacco growers.
Only the most experienced rollers at Drew Estate’s Gran Fabrica factory in Estelí, Nicaragua are permitted to make the T52 Flying Pigs, in highly limited quantities. The T52 sticks are then sold exclusively through select retailers.
Offering exquisite construction, an easy draw and impressive complexity, the T52 Flying Pig is medium-to-full-bodied, with full strength. Essences of coffee, chocolate, spices (including black pepper), dried citrus and sweet wood are all detectable in this stick’s smoke. The finish is leathery.
Have you ever seen a Flying Pig? Given these cigars’ scarcity — owing to the fact that they’re a very limited production (even for the T52 line) — sightings have been extremely uncommon. If you’re lucky enough to order a box of these sticks when they’re in stock, your eyes (and your mouth) may get to enjoy an encounter with this rare Liga Privada vitola up close.