Southern Draw Rose of Sharon: Soft, gentle and ready to go

More often than not, cigars seem to hang around in my humidor waiting for the right moment for me to light them up and savour them. This was most definitely the case with the Rose of Sharon from Southern Draw cigars. This particular cigar was Cigar Club LDN’s cigar of the month back in July 2022 and for various reasons it has taken me until February 2024 to get round to enjoying it.

The first thing I noticed about the Rose of Sharon cigar as it was sat in my humidor was just how delicately coloured the claro wrapper was. I would be the first to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of Connecticut wrappers, and the lighter they are, the less enamoured I tend to be. This cigar however enticed me with its smoothness and lack of veins. This made the pink band with its black and gold edging really stand off.

Removing it from my humidor, I also noticed the closed foot and box pressed shape, the later of which enticed me a little more. The Southern Draw Rose of Sharon felt like a very evenly constructed cigar with just the right amount of give under my fingers. Aromas of latte coffee and bay leaves encouraged me to grab by v-cutter and not hang about cutting the head.

Taking a cold draw, I was reassured that initial fragrances made their presence known in my mouth, and whilst I wasn’t left with an oily feel on either my lips or fingers, there was no dryness either. With its Connecticut wrapper, I had a feeling that whilst this might be mild and light cigar, there would probably be a little bite in it, and not wanting to overpower the potentially subtle flavours, I decided to pour myself a generous glass of Southern Comfort.

Lighting the Rose of Sharon was a treat as I watched the wrapper that covered the foot catch and give way to reveal the neatly rolled binder and wrapper hidden behind it. The open salvo was one of malted coffee, with a light creamy smoke rolling around my mouth. The first third continued along this flavour profile with hints of honey raising their head from time to time.

My entry into the middle third was signalled by a momentary wave of bitterness that roused me from the preceding gentleness. It was at this point I noticed how straight and even the burn was. By this time I had a good stack of mid grey ash that was starting to show signs of wobbling, so before it decided to make a mess everywhere, I rolled it off into my ashtray where it maintained its shape. After the initial tickle of bitterness, the honey and cinnamon returned and the creaminess ramped up, almost as if the tobacco itself had been lightly sweetened, but I can assure you that this is not the case.

The final third of the Southern Draw Rose of Sharon continued along much the same creamy and smooth lines with the volume of smoke increasing slightly, allowing me to have fun retrohaling and blowing smoke rings. The one difference I did notice was that the ash got a little more crumbly towards the end. Whilst I did enjoy this cigar, and there was nothing wrong with the flavours or burn, ultimately I think that it would have benefited from being smoked nearer to the time that I bought it.

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Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Cigar Details