42 TOBACCO BUSINESS | JULY / AUGUST | 22 the 10-year anniversary of the Liga Privada brand. He worked on the project for a little over a year, but nothing he created felt like itmet the high standard set by the Liga Privada line thus far. He knew that whatever blend he created would be compared to what had come before. As he struggled with the blend, he received some samples of tobacco, including different wrappers that were completely new to the company. One was a Criollo hybrid, and the other was a cross between a Connecticut Habano and Corojo seed. “Out of those samples that I had been working on, there were a few that were really good, but they weren’t ‘wow’ yet,” he says. “I modified the blend a little bit and used that wrapper instead of what I had been working on up to that point. That’s when it was ‘wow.’ All five samples were ‘wow.’ I smoked themwith a team in the factory, and they agreed. Then I had those [samples] sent to Miami, and the team in Miami smoked them and they were wowed as well, so much that they couldn’t pick one cigar. They ended up picking two cigars out of that. The stronger, heavier blend that they chose ended up being the Liga 10 Year Anniversary, and then because they couldn’t decide between the two, they decided to release two cigars. That’s how the H99 was born.” The H99 was a bit milder and a little bit more balanced, sweeter and refined than the Liga Privada 10 Year Anniversary. The Liga Privada H99 used the Corojo hybrid wrapper that he stumbled upon, while the Liga 10 Year Anniversary used the Criollo Broadleaf wrapper. Once he and the rest of Drew Estate settled on the blends, Herrera went to work on ensuring the company could get the tobacco necessary to maintain the blends. This required working closely with the grower and being able to accurately estimate just how much tobacco was going to be needed. Also, Herrera and his team had to figure out how to properly ferment this tobacco since it was something new. By the time they had settled on the tobaccos they needed, the growing season had passed, so DrewEstate had to wait for the next growing season and then for the tobacco to be cured and fermented. This delayed the release of these cigars, but it was necessary and part of the process of bringing a good product to the market. Today, Herrera has other ways of testing the market’s reaction to a blend. When the COVID-19 pandemic began to reshape business and society in 2020, Drew Estate pivoted quickly to add a virtual component to its marketing efforts. Freestyle Live, a virtual show broadcast online through Drew Estate’s Facebook page, allowed retailers and consumers to engage with and learn more about the people and products of Drew Estate. The company began using Freestyle Live to reveal new product releases, such as the Undercrown 10, Acid 20 and 20 Acre Farm. Ahead of the big reveal,
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