Cigar Review: 1930 Collection by Nat Sherman

Vitola: Corona
Size: 5.5” x 42 ring gauge
MSRP $8.75
Purchased at Burns Tobacconist

Background

Nat Sherman was founded in 1930. The store bearing the name has become world famous and the brand of cigars that has grown far beyond that store’s walls is more recognized with each passing year. In 2013, the company paid homage to the year of their founding with the 1930 Collection of cigars, made by Quesada in the Dominican Republic. The blend features Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers, a Dominican binder, and a Dominican wrapper. The website has this to say about it:

This combination creates a distinctive line of cigars that offer an incomparable balance of strength, flavor and aroma. The Nat Sherman 1930 is a rich cigar, with deep and complex flavors, yet offers a brightness and overall balance that contributes to a memorable experience.

I had not noticed the cigar on its release last year and when I did see it, I honestly didn’t try it. The company just wasn’t high on my list of “must try” cigars. A couple months ago we had a tasting event with Mike and Ike from Nat Sherman; Mike remarked at one point that the 1930 Collection was one of their most full-bodied smokes (speaking to “mouth feel” not “strength” when we speak of body here) so I decided I must try it. I smoked one and liked it well enough that I decided to feature it in a review. So I bought this second sample for that purpose.

Prelight

The banding on the 1930 Collection is a throwback to art deco and the style of the late 1920s and early 1930s. I think of the movie Metropolis, the Chrysler Building and the cover to my older Ayn Rand novels. I like the look and think this band evokes it better than the old Art Deco cigar from the Nestor Miranda Collection did. The wrapper was medium brown, just a touch lighter than a milk chocolate shade, with a bit of lumpiness and mottling, but a pleasant oily feel under the fingertips. It smelled faintly of earth and wood, and also a bit of natural tobacco. The foot of the stogie had a slightly sweeter earthiness to it.

The cold draw was good and featured some bready flavors along with bit of woodiness and spice.

Flavor

The 1930 started off with a complex and aromatic mix of toast, herbal and earthy flavors, accented by a touch of cedar and black pepper. The retrohale had a stronger pepper component, along with more wood and some citrus notes. Body was at the upper end of medium; again with “body” here I’m speaking of mouth-feel of the smoke, which was fairly oily and thick. In terms of strength, I didn’t notice a great deal.

The draw really tightened up as I hit the second third and I noticed the beginnings of a tarry build-up, so I recut the foot slightly and everything seemed smooth sailing again. I got a tiny bit of Nicaraguan cocoa in the mix of toastiness and earthiness as the second third progressed.

In the last third, I picked up more citrus again and the continuation of earthiness along with a nice graham sweetness.

Construction

The draw on this Corona was a bit tight, but the burn line was even and the ash was solid.

Value

I found the price of the 1930 Collection to be in line with the experience it delivered, so definitely a good value.

Conclusions

The Nat Sherman 1930 Collection is a great example of what a great Dominican cigar blend can be. It was full-flavored and verging on full-bodied without being any more than medium in strength. It had a nice flavor profile and was quite complex, all delivered at a fair price. Truly a very fine cigar and one of several they have produced recently that have caused me to pay much closer attention to Nat Sherman for the future.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10