OUR STORY

Drew Estate was born under the Manhattan Bridge in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York in 1995. There, founder Jonathan Drew Sann and his partner and fraternity brother Marvin Samel, opened a small, 16-square-foot cigar kiosk in the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan. With hustle and ambition, the pair grew their retail cigar shop, quickly taking on a role as independent representatives of already established cigar brands and wholesaling to retailers throughout the city. Indeed, the seeds of Drew Estate had already been planted, and progress towards The Rebirth was well underway…

But things were different in the 90’s! The cigar culture, as we know it today, simply did not exist. Cigars were a hobby and a passion for a select group of affluent aficionados, but they lacked the defining lifestyle elements that are integral to the experience of being a cigar lover nowadays. The world of cigars was gated off – inaccessible, except to a select few.

That, too, would change – but we’re getting ahead of ourselves…  

Drew Estate began producing our first brand of cigars, La Vieja Habana, with a small initial order of maybe two dozen boxes made locally at La Rosa Cigars on Sixth Avenue and 30^th Street in Manhattan. The brand took off, and JD reformulated the blend and moved production to a friend’s factory on 7111 Flagler Street, Miami.

In 1998, we attended the annual cigar trade show, and consumers and critics alike responded in droves. Unfortunately, shortly after the trade show, Hurricane Mitch struck Central America, taking countless lives throughout Nicaragua and Honduras and devastating the production pipeline of La Vieja Habana.

The company was in financial ruin and facing bankruptcy, so JD took destiny into his own hands to forge the next chapter. In the fall of 1998, Jonathan Drew Sann moved to Nicaragua and opened Drew Estate’s first factory – planting our flag into the rich, dark earth of Estelí, Nicaragua. From this day forward, the premium cigar landscape was forever changed, as was the destiny of Nicaragua as the world’s leading cigar producer.

Nicaraguan tobacco existed in the 90’s, but just barely. Some manufacturers used Nicaraguan leaves in their blends, normally referring to them vaguely as a “secret ingredient.” In raw numbers, Nicaraguan tobacco accounted for less than 1% of the sales of tobacco in America…

Until Drew Estate.

When Jonathan Drew Sann moved to Nicaragua in 1998, the country was young, bustling, rebuilding, and full of potential. We were entering the belly of the beast, but we weren’t there to slay the dragon. We were there to understand it, to discover and help build a new world of premium cigar culture – we brought New York spirit to Estelí and learned all we could about life in Nicaragua along the way.

Nicaragua is truly a magical country. Beautiful and fiery, Nicaragua is the largest landmass in Central America. There, the soil is rich with nutrients from volcanic runoff, the cloud cover provides ideal growing seasons, and the people are alive with history, passion, and culture.

The original Drew Estate factory was just six people and JD in a small house. We had no materials, no electricity, and no cachet to our name – just raw grit and spirit. As we rolled cigars, we grew in popularity, but more importantly, we changed people’s lives and the world around us.

Our team was not simply employees – they were our community, and we supported them however we could. From contributing supplies to local churches, joining in local renovation projects, attending weddings, funerals, and celebrations of our neighbors, we found ways to connect on deeply personal, authentic levels.

This is the true secret of Drew Estate. We didn’t just set out to make the best cigars we could, we set out to change the lives of those around us and we did so – literally and figuratively, day-in and day-out. As we grew and lifted up those around us, the city supported us more and more, until eventually we were ready for the next chapter – La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate.

As JD led The Rebirth in Estelí, our team back in the States was busy writing a new chapter of their own.

You see, we weren’t simply selling cigars in America – we were building a culture and a lifestyle … we were providing a home to our staff, retailers, and fans that needed one. We were building our tribe. The cigar industry before us was a very different place. Cigars were a commodity, a product to be advertised, marketed, and sold. There was artistry, of course, and there were people who enjoyed cigars together, but that wasn’t the point. The brotherhood and sisterhood that are so integral to the contemporary cigar world were nowhere to be found.

Enter Drew Estate.

We wanted to sell cigars, of course, but more importantly, we wanted to build real connections. We embraced our fans with a hug, not a handshake. We learned their names, their preferences, their struggles, and their dreams. We stayed in touch, built local communities, shared our knowledge and our stories with anyone willing to listen, and the rest of the world watched, perplexed, as we built this world around us … as we forged the Drew Estate Way. These were the earliest days of a subculture that began to take shape and transform the premium cigar landscape … and today this Subculture is all around you – in social media groups, in giant events like our Barn Smokers and Family Reunions, and even on the back porch as you share a cigar with your neighbor and recount the events of your week.

Back in Nicaragua, we were ready to open the next chapter – we were ready to build La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate. If you’ve never been to La Gran Fabrica, you need to understand this is not simply a factory. La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate is half factory, half hotel – a cigar paradise of massive structure with graffiti murals adorning the walls that serves as a dedication to our fans, the people who roll our cigars, the farmers who grow our tobacco, and the city of Estelí.

With La Gran Fabrica fully constructed, we continued to transform the landscape of Nicaragua and the premium cigar tourism that exists today. We started our Cigar Safari, bringing our fans from across the world to Estelí to show them our city, our culture, and to immerse them fully in the world of premium cigars. We continued to redefine the landscape of our city, building the streets and bridges around us as La Gran Fabrica continued to expand.

La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate and the dreams now unlocked within it truly met the moment, jettisoning Drew Estate to take the stage as a global powerhouse.  With the wind at our backs, we pushed even further to channel that success directly into the Subculture we had built in America.

La Gran Fabrica is the home of our iconic blends that define us today, such as Liga Privada and Deadwood Tobacco Co by Drew Estate. It’s where our immensely popular “Born on the Factory Floor” Undercrown line began. It’s where Willy Herrera spent a year of his life immersed with our rolleras and buncheros to understand The Drew Estate Way during his journey to become our third Master Blender. And it’s where we continue to create, rolling cigars to finely tuned quality control standards that ensure every Drew Estate blend you enjoy is a masterpiece worthy of your time and hard-earned money.

This is the story of The Rebirth of Cigars. From a miniature kiosk in Manhattan to a massive factory in Nicaragua, Drew Estate has always remained dedicated to transforming those around us for the better. Creating culture, challenging the norms, and lifting up our supporters in fellowship and fraternity has always been core to The Drew Estate Way of being. We created The Rebirth of Cigars and continue to drive it forward to this very day with the amazing factory, the fantastic people of Estelí, the scrappy underdog spirit of the New York kid, and with the love and support of all of you.

Thank you for a spirited journey. More to come …