Cigar Extra: Connecticut Fuerte by Nomad Cigars

Vitola: Lancero
Size: 7” x 38 ring gauge
MSRP $8.50
Gifted by Nomad owner, Fred Rewey

Background

When Nomad came out with the “Connecticut Fuerte” in 2014, it was billed as “not your father’s Connecticut” (apparently not the My Father Connecticut, either, at this point) and as something with a Shade wrapper and a bit more kick. I tried it in a Robusto vitola and thought it was good, although I didn’t get the “Fuerte” part. Later in the year I was talking to Fred at someone else’s event (he was there to support the other guy) and he asked if I had tried the Lancero in that blend. I didn’t even know there was one! He slipped me a couple before we left that night and I did light up the first one pretty quickly…and quickly decided I had to save the second one so I could write about it…even if just a short piece with a few notes.

The Connecticut Fuerte is made in the Dominican Republic, using Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, an Ecuadorian Habano binder, and an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper leaf. Interesting to note…there are few blends overall that are made in the Lancero format; there are fewer still that are Connecticut Shade Lanceros. Off the top of my head, I can actually think of a couple others: Davidoff White Label and Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta (which is only partially Shade).

Notes

The wrapper leaf on this sample at least was flawless enough to adorn a Davidoff…the golden hue had no discoloration that I could see. There were no rip or holes. Just a little veiny-ness and lumpiness mostly due to the tobacco underneath.

The cold draw was excellent. Flavorwise, the prelight draw was mostly just grassy like you might expect a mild Conny to be. Once lit, though, the character proved much different, with a solid earthiness underlying the creamy, sweet hay flavor, as well as an appropriate amount of pepper spice…not too much, but enough to make itself known.

As the first third end and the second starts to burn…that’s when the Nomad Connecticut Fuerte Lancero starts getting really interesting. I picked up enhanced pepper spice, a definite body bump, more earthiness and a more definitive molasses-like sweetness. This interplay and complexity was what I never really got so much in the larger ring gauge versions of this cigar…but here the overall experience really is something special.

I paired this cigar with some Cumberland Cask Tennessee Whiskey, a lighter Bourbon-adjacent dram that went well with the cigar because it doesn’t have so much body that it pummels the cigar into submission. I would imagine a good sipping rum would work similarly well.