Cigar: Nub Sumatra by Oliva
Size: 4 x 60 (Gordo)
Wrapper: Sumatra
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
MSRP: $59.99 for a box of 10 at Cigars International
I remember the first time I saw a Nub in stores. My wife and I stopped by a cigar event held by our local Tinder Box and I happened to see them on the shelves. I embarrassing said to her: “What is the point of that? They’ll never sell”. Yeah…swing and a miss there. Big time. Since then, we have smoked more Nubs over the years that I can keep track of. It was when I saw the Nub Sumatra listed on Cigars International, I knew that was one that I hadn’t had the opportunity to try. And with the price for ten being relatively low, there was certainly no harm in checking them out. Made in the spirit of small batch blended cigars, the Nub Sumatra utilizes the same wrapper as Oliva’s Serie V Melanio. As a big fan of the Serie V Melanio myself, this made the Nub Sumatra all that more enticing to get.
No construction in any of the Nub Sumatras that I have smoked. The one that was used for review was number nine out of the ten in the box. The pre-light aromas brought about leather, earth and something akin to a farm (my wife commented that it reminded her of manure – not in a bad way) while the cold draw had more subdued notes of leather once again, coupled with wood and faint black pepper. The opening of the cigar gave a balanced draw with a pretty complex start. Anise-like notes were at the front of the palette, leather and charred wood notes I found all around while some black pepper hit the sides of the mouth. All that was found with a slightly higher medium bodied strength. In my opinion, this is one of the more complex Nubs I have had, maybe ever. The cigar held as described for the next 34 minutes, until I began noticing stronger charred wood notes hitting the palette. As more time pushed, the strength gradually increased to the medium-to-full strength range. The 20 minutes of the cigar was all wood and char to the flavor profile. Total smoking time on the Nub Sumatra came in at 1:19.
The cigar smoked without issues. The draw stayed balanced through the length of its smoking. I believe there may have been one relight, and that was because of something on my end and not from the cigar.
By-The-Numbers
Pre-light: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.25/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.25/10
To recap the Nub Sumatra by Oliva:
- If you haven’t smoked any Nubs in awhile, look into this one. It’s complex with lots of flavor.
- Even with its complexity, all levels of cigar smokers could enjoy this without being scared away.
- $6.00 per cigar if you are buying ten – fantastic deal.
- I’m probably going to be smoking my final Sumatra later tonight, then most likely ordering more tomorrow.
Thank you so much for reading. I look forward to the next time I can share my thoughts with you.
