Vitola: Robusto
Size: 4.5″ x 50 ring gauge
Price $7.99
Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
Today I’ll be taking a look at the maduro wrapper version of the Therapy cigar. This is a follow up to my review of the habano here. You can check out Dave’s preview of this cigar here as well. This cigar is comprised of Nicaraguan filler and Jalapa habano binder with a Pennsylvania Broadleaf maduro wrapper (not the Mexican San Andres as Dave reported). They come in the same two sizes, and are the same price. This was the second one of these I smoked.
Prelight
The band on the cigar is the same size, shape and has the same images and words printed on it only in black ink rather than brick red. The wrapper was almost black it was so dark brown in color. There was a good amount of tooth but not much oil to it. There were some veins as well, but that is to be expected from broadleaf wrapper. When I gave it a squeeze it was fairly firm and there were no soft spots. Putting my nose to the wrapper I could detect the aroma of leather, with barnyard and cocoa coming from the foot. After clipping it and taking a cold draw I got a good draw with the taste of cola.
Flavor
It starts off with a pretty heavy blast of wasabi like spice that definitely made my nose burn as I retrohaled it. After a few puffs I could start getting the flavors of coffee, cola, and earth with a slightly sweet finish. The cigar starts off at medium-full strength. Towards the end of the first third I started to get some notes of wood and anise from the cigar as well. When I got into the second third the spice had noticeably toned down but hadn’t gone completely away. The flavors were of dry cocoa, coffee and earth with hints of anise and a sweet finish. Even without the spice the cigar stayed at medium-full strength. Once I got into the final third the spice started to come back but not the nose burning level it started off with. The flavors didn’t really change a lot from the second third as well. The cigar did definitely move into the full range by the end.
Construction
As with all of the others I’ve had from this line the draw was perfect and produced a large volume of smoke. The burn was slightly ragged but nothing that needed correction.
Value
I feel that this cigar is the same as the habano, in that at $8 there are a lot of other contenders but it shouldn’t have problems competing.
Conclusions
Yes, I definitely enjoyed this cigar. The flavors were pleasing and the perfect construction didn’t make it a chore. I will say that I did enjoy the flavor of the habano more, but that is just a preference. I believe that this is the strongest cigar I’ve had from Nomad as well. I wouldn’t recommend it to a beginner.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
I do hope I see the Habano and Connecticut versions of the Therapy. This one sounds good but a strong maduro might be a little much despite how tasty you make it sound
Nice I have yet to try the Therapy lines but my Local Carries them so I need to pick a few up. Its not secret I enjoy Freds stuff. Great job
I really want to try the Habano and Maduro…
I will search out this cigar, have read that it is good, and your review sounds the same.
Okay, if this is strong to you, it will kill most mortals.
I have to agree with Craig! But like all things I’ll try anything 5 or 6 times!
I’m going to be giving these a try in the near future, sounds like I’m going to enjoy it.
I really like the sound of this one.
I most definitely enjoyed it, and the Wasabi spice in the beginning is dead on, it makes your sinuses feel exactly like you ate some wasabi. I thought the cigar was pretty complex myself. Actually, I want to smoke another one now, I usually don’t have that feeling no matter how good a cigar is.