40 TOBACCO BUSINESS | JULY / AUGUST | 22 Although he’s known as the company’s master blender, this isn’t a title or positionhe letsgo tohisheador changehowheconductshimself.Herrerahad never heard of the term “master blender” before Jonathan Drew bestowed that title on him. He does, however, know what he must do each day and thus plays out his role based on what’s required of him at Drew Estate. This includes taking a hard look at Drew Estate’s portfolio and determining what the company has and what it may be lacking. It means he has to continually play the role of the student and keep up with the latest industry news and stay current on all of the different tobaccos available on the market and how each could be used by Drew Estate. “Every cigar has to be special,” he proclaims. “They have to have that complexity, they’ve gotta be balanced, and they have to have that aroma. They have to take you on that journey.” Herrera is dedicated to creating cigars that will take the cigar smoker on a journey they’ll never forget. He also focuses his time on ensuring the cigars Drew Estate makes are consistent and have the right amount of tobacco to be maintained year after year so that its customers can make that enjoyable journey again and again. HowGreat Blends areMade WhenDrewEstatewants to release something new into themarket, Herrera sets out to make sure all of the boxes are checked: Is the new blend what the company was looking for? Does the company have the right tobaccos to achieve that targeted blend? Some additional things that also have to be taken into consideration are the desired flavor profile, whether there’s a particular wrapper that the company wants to use and what the price point of the final product is. Most importantly, Herrera must make sure that the company can not only secure the right tobacco for the new release but that theywill be able to continue to have access to that same tobacco in the future to help establish a consistent premium cigar product for the market. This process is repeated for each release, although no two blends are ever the same. Herrera remembers all of his “firsts”—the first brand that he worked on after joining Drew Estate, which was the Herrera Esteli Habano, and the first Drew Estate cigar he worked on after taking on the master blender role, which was the Undercrown Shade. The Undercrown Shade was the first in many ways. Now one of the company’s most well-known and beloved products, this cigar began with the goal of creating a cigar using a Connecticut Shade tobacco wrapper. Up to this point, Herrera didn’t have much experience with this type of wrapper and oftentimes shied away from it. He was more into fuller-bodied cigars that used Mexican San Andres, Broadleaf, Brazilian or Habano wrappers, so working with the Connecticut Shade wrapper leaf was a bit of a challenge for him. He had to get over his own personal preferences and biases and learn how to work with the Connecticut Shade wrapper in order to bring Undercrown Shade to life. Another blend that challenged Herrera’s skills as a blender was the Liga PrivadaH99, a cigar thatwas actually inspiredbyadifferent project. Herrera was presented with the opportunity to create a cigar that would celebrate Herrera was originally hired by Jonathan Drew to bring a more traditional blending style to Drew Estate’s portfolio. His job today is more encompassing and includes ensuring Drew Estate’s cigars are consistent from year to year.
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