Vitola: Robusto
Size: 5” x 50 ring gauge (box-pressed)
Price: MSRP $8.75
Samples provided by Nomad Cigar Company
Background
I personally don’t care what Keith says about Fred Rewey, I think he’s a nice guy.
And now that I’ve stirred the pot a little, I can explain myself…besides founding Nomad Cigar Company (and some other business ventures), Fred Rewey seems to have part-time regular job as a humorist on Twitter and Facebook. If you haven’t discovered him on these places yet, check out @godfadr on Twitter and search his name on FB…it’s worth it.
About a year ago, at the 2013 Chattanooga Tweet-Up and Cigar Festival, Fred told me that the Esteli Lot 1386 was sort of emblematic of his own personal cigar journey, starting with the milder Dominican blend. The Lot 1386 was a step up in body and complexity and the regular release S-307 was another bump in body, flavor and complexity. Basically, he’s wandering through the world of tobacco, like some kind of vagabond or….wait for it…nomad…and he presents us with new offerings he’s discovered along the way. The C-276 is (so far) the ultimate culmination of the journey, something stronger and fuller than anything he’s given us before.
The cigar is made in Nicaragua by A.J. Fernandez’s factory and uses Nicaraguan fillers and binder along with an Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper. As further detailed on the company’s website, there are 5 different filler leaves, including two Ligero leaves. He added:
The name C-276 also has a back story. The “C” is for Concepción, one of two volcanoes on Ometepe Island. “276″ is the square kilometers of the island.
Matter of fact, Ometepe was such a key ingredient at one point in the blending – I named the cigar after the mysterious island.
After the process was complete I was only left with one thought…I have no idea how I will ever follow up this cigar.
Fred sent me two samples of the Robusto-sized C-276 for this review. I smoked one about a week before I wrote this review. There are 5 sizes available, between $8.50 and $9.50 each.
Prelight
The branding aspect of Nomad hasn’t changed much since the beginning of the brand. The secret to reading the banding these days seems to be this: red background for the Dominican blends, black background for the Nicaraguans. At least with the Nicaraguan blends, it doesn’t stop there; on the left side of the band, in small lettering is the name/code of the cigar, in this case “C-276.” I was going to criticize the fact that his cigar names are starting to sound like the ever-growing hodgepodge of alphanumeric soup that is the luxury car market. What the heck does 325i even mean these days? (Yes, I know the car used to have a 2.5L engine, but it hasn’t in ages.) Hey, at least Fred’s naming conventions mean something and he’s not afraid to share the story. Also, Fred: Thank you for putting the name of the cigar on the band…I’ve seen some other companies that use the same or similar banding for everything they make with no real way to differentiate them once they are taken out of the box they came in.
The Habano Oscuro wrapper was indeed “dark”…in this case a shade of dark chocolate brown that you normally might expect on a Connecticut Broadleaf. This leaf was smoother, though, with smaller veins than that varietal, along with a nice oily feel under my fingertips. The box-pressing had soft corners but an unmistakable rectangular feel. The wrapper gave off a deep earthiness with hints of leather; the foot had manure, earth, and a bit of coffee. The cold draw was excellent and featured sweet, dark fruit notes, as well as some espresso and earth.
Flavor
The Nomad C-276 charges out of the gate with full body and surprisingly up-front flavors of leather, cedar, super-dark roast coffee, and something akin to fruit leather. Strong in terms of flavor? Absolutely…it’s like your palate is Reginald Denny’s head and the C-276 is “Football” Williams throwing a cinderblock at it. Your nose won’t get away clean, either, as the retrohale is full and potent, with a heavy, roasted nuts note and a dash of cayenne pepper. As I continued through the first third, I got notes of citrus and cinnamon at different times. If you’ve read enough cigar reviews, you’ll have noticed that cigars like Davidoff might be described as nuanced and subtle in flavor…this ain’t!
The C-276 poured out smoke in a way that only some heavily Nicaraguan blends are apt to do; thick, oily white plumes came out from the lit end and the head every time I took a puff. In the second third, the flavor veered more toward a thick earthiness, while maintaining notes of leather and pepper, along with hints of fruit sweetness.
In the last third, the C-276 continued to display full-bodied earthiness with a pleasantly balancing sweetness. The pepper spice was nearly non-existent at this point, but just enough burn held on to keep things interesting.
Construction
The draw was fantastic. The ash was solid. The only minor quibble was with the burn line that needed to be touched up more than a few times along the way. Like I said…minor.
Value
The price point on these is very fair, with all vitolas coming in under $10 and this one under $9.
Conclusions
So Fred Rewey wanted to come up with something new and different…totally unlike what he had come up with before on his tobacco wanderings. The C-276 starts with an assault on the palate and finished as an excellently balanced full-bodied gem. With all that, it wasn’t that potent with nicotine strength, showing that the leaf had been well-aged and fermented. Mission accomplished!
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
Fred is one fantastic guy and yes has some sense of humor. I have never had the pleasure of the 1386 but the S-307 was a fine smoke. The Connecticut Fuerte is wonderful. I have to give this one a try even though it sounds a little strong for my tastes. The great review makes the flavor profile sound intriguing.
Sounds pretty good. I have the S-307 on board for tonight, & the Con Fuerte in the humi. Gonna be on the look out for one of these too.
You are correct, he is hilarious on twitter. Cigars sounds pretty good too! Like the history lesson on the numbering system.
I have tried these and they are a great, flavorful smoke. I’ve been to Ometepe and this is a great compliment to the island. Fred is a great guy and a great supporter of the CRA and the industry.