Cigar Review: Nomad Estelí Lot 8613

• Vitola:  Robusto
• 5” x 50 ring gauge 
• Price $9.49
• Purchased at Burns Tobacconist

Background

After some time spent making Dominican-based blends, Fred Rewey moved Nomad’s focus to Nicaraguan blends about two years ago and he hasn’t really looked back (with the exception of the “Connecticut Fuerte” blend, released during that two year time frame). First he released Lot 1386, a medium-bodied blend produced in Noel Rojas’ Guayacan factory, then he bumped up a notch in body and flavor with the S-307 (produced by A.J. Fernandez). The following year, he produced C-276, again with A.J. Fernandez, a very full-bodied smoke, and he wondered publicly what he would do for a follow-up.

We have an answer now. Fred had been playing around with the blend for Estelí Lot 8613 for a couple years in the A.J. Fernandez factory. In a move that seems to defy the name given to the cigar, this blend contains no tobacco from Estelí. Instead it contains all Nicaraguan fillers and binder from Condega, Jalapa and Ometepe regions, along with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper leaf. When I registered my surprise at this, Fred pointed out that the cigar was blended and rolled in Estelí…so the name isn’t really inappropriate.

Estelí Lot 8613 is produced as a regular-production line in 5 sizes. We recently got all 5 in at Burns and I have bought a couple to give a try to. I started off with the Coronita size, but for purposes of this review, I elected to hit up the Robusto, which is right in the middle of the size range.

Prelight

This cigar uses the “Nomad Black Label” which tends to denote those cigars that have a Nicaraguan blend (while the “Red Label” is used for Dominican-based blends). While the other “black label” versions had the blend name (S-307, C-276…kinda like part numbers…or Mercedes-Benz cars) on the side of the band, this one uses a foot band instead to impart that vital information. The black foot band with silver foil reading “Estelí Lot 8613” goes well with the main band and the whole thing looks classy.

The wrapper was oily to the eye and the color of peanut butter. There was a rich earthy aroma to it with just a touch of grass and cedar. The foot had more earth and cedar, along with some mildly sweet notes. The cold draw had a pleasant cool grassiness with secondary notes of earth and cedar.

Flavor

As with my other samples of the 8613, I found this cigar to start up brashly, boldly, and somewhat harshly. There is a blast of pepper on the palate, throat and nose, along with some cedar, some hay, and finally some earth. After about 10 minutes the initial full-force start of the 8613 mellows a bit. While there is still some red pepper on the nose, it mostly goes away on the palate, leaving notes of cedar and earth, along with a creamy finish.

That profile held strong in the second third: lots of cedar and earth, some creaminess and a good dose of pepper on the retrohale.

In the last third of the Estelí Lot 8613, I got a bit of a citrus zing that replaced a lot of the cedar flavor. There was still a good deal of earth, but some notes of cocoa powder and black coffee crept into the mix as well.

Construction

I had excellent construction attributes on all samples of the Estelí Lot 8613 that I’ve smoked; excellent draw, great burn line, strong ash.

Value

As with the other Nomad lines, the price point on these is very reasonable, topping out at the high end of the “moderate” range.

Conclusions

I really enjoyed the Nomad Estelí Lot 8613. It was a full-bodied, medium-strength smoke with a good amount of complexity, especially after the initial light-up period when it mellowed out. After saying “I don’t know where I go from here,” Fred Rewey definitely came up with a worthy follow-up to the C-276 and a unique addition to the Nomad line.

By-The-Numbers

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