In October 20th, 2014, Drew Estate announced that the company has been acquired as a wholly owned subsidiary of tobacco giant Swisher International Inc. Drew Estate's existing management team is expected to be kept intact after the transaction closes, with President Michael Celluci stating that "We will continue to run our business as we have in the past and will be able to leverage the resources of Swisher to continue our growth with a renewed focus on our commitment to quality products and people—two of the core principles of the Drew Estate belief system."
Drew Estate came to life as the result of a bond between a close-knit crew of dedicated, fervent cigar enthusiasts. Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel started their cigar business in 1995 in a second-story shop in Manhattan. After working with a couple of cigar manufacturers including Nick Perdomo, they opened up Drew Estate’s first factory in Nicaragua in 1998. They have since developed an extensive brand portfolio that ranges from infused cigars such as ACID, Natural, Ambrosia, Tabak Especial, to multiple lines of premium cigars such as Liga Privada, Undercrown, My Uzi Weighs a Ton and Herrera Esteli. Herrera Esteli was named the number 8 cigar in Cigar Aficionado's Top 25 Best Cigars of 2013 and Liga Privada was named the hottest cigar brand by Cigar Aficionado's annual survey of retailers in 2013.
Introduced at the 1999 RTDA show, Acid was Drew Estate’s first cigar released after they opened their own factory. With this cigar they raised a lot of eyebrows and started an almost cult-like devotion for their brand. Today, Drew Estate's factory, nicknamed La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate, is Nicaragua's largest cigar factory with 114,000 sq ft, producing 95,000 cigars per day.