Brand: Nub Maduro
Vitola: 460
Ring Gauge: 60
Length: 4.00
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Brazilian Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Website: Nub Cigars
MSRP: Unknown
Brand:
The Nub line of cigars is a creation of Sam Leccia, a former sales representative for the Oliva brand. In mid 2007 the idea of the Nub was pitched to the no nonsense Oliva Family and they were more than skeptical. After having smoked numerous samples the excitement began to grow on them and the line went into production.
After a very successful launch last year with a Connecticut, Cameroon, and Habano, requests began pouring in for a Maduro version. That request was filled this year and is the featured product at Nub Live events.
Pre-Light:
After removing my unbanded Nub Maduro from its cellophane sleeve, I gave it a good once over. Not having a band to draw my eye, it was lead right to a medium sized vein. This vein was surrounded by a section of leaf that was a little lighter in color than the rest of the stick, which made it really stand out.
The remainder of the wrapper was covered in small veins and tooth while holding a consistent coloration. The cap look neatly placed and the cigar looked well made. Giving it a slight pinch, I found the cigar to be firmly packed with tobacco while lacking any defined hard and soft spots.
Once the head was opened up with my guillotine cutter, I found the pre-light draw to be free with just a touch of resistance. The initial flavor on the cold draw was mildly sweet.
First Third:
After a quick toasting and lighting session, I had my Nub Maduro evenly lit and producing lots of smoke. The initial puff was very interesting and grabbed my attention immediately. The flavor was a mixture of sweetness and bitter chocolate. This flavor settled out a little as the stick burned, but remained the focus of the flavor profile.
The body hit the ground running in the medium range. While puffing on this stick at 8:30 AM as a first cigar of the day, it is in no way overpowering as a first stick of the day. The finish is smooth and creamy while lasting about a minute before fading.
With a little less than an inch of ash developed, it unexpectedly fell into my lap. In all of the Nub cigars I have had up until this point, I never remember an ash dropping that prematurely. Before doing so, the shape was tight and compact while exhibiting a light color. The burn line was a little wavy but thin. The draw was free with a little resistance and produced loads of dense smoke.
Second Third:
After about forty-five minutes, I reached the second third of my Nub Maduro. The body seemed to progress a bit, but never reached out beyond the medium designation and into medium to full. The finish remained smooth and easy on the palate while leaving a creamy sensation as the smoke dissipated.
The flavor profile remained more or less the same. The focus was on a combination of a natural sort of sweetness and bitter chocolate. As the cigar burned down, the bitter chocolate became more apparent while the sweetness dropped off a bit. The only new flavor was an introduction of pepper, which was only noticeable when retrohaled.
Since that first unexpected ashing on my lap, the ash has held firm on the end of the cigar. The ash was fairly light in color and compacted. When looking closely, the dark toothy bumps on the wrapper turned white and speckled the ash, making it much more aesthetically appealing.
Final Third:
After nearly an hour and a half, it was about time to finish up my Nub Maduro. The body continued to progress but still did not reach the medium to full designation. The finish became a little creamier as I burned along and lasted a touch longer on the palate before subsiding.
In the flavor department, this stick did not change leaps and bounds throughout. The natural sweetness from the earlier thirds was still apparent but very mild at this point. The bitter chocolate flavor remained but was becoming overshadowed by a woody flavor. Through the nose I was still getting a black pepper flavor/aroma that did not seem aggressive or overwhelming.
The wood flavor was interesting and made me immediately think of eating grapes. If you have ever pulled one off a vine and had a small piece of vine break off inside the grape, you will know what type of wood flavor I am trying to describe. This flavor was slightly bitter and was hitting me towards the back of the throat more-so than on the palate.
Final Thoughts:
When it was all said and done, I think the Nub Maduro is exactly what I was expecting. I found this cigar to be medium bodied with lots of flavor, with a twist of Maduro. I don’t think that this is what some of the people who put in requests had in mind when they were looking for a powerhouse Maduro. If I were to guess, I think that the new Nub Miami is going to fill the place of the powerhouse within the line.
If you are a fan of the Nub Line, I would definitely recommend giving these a shot. While I don’t think they will replace the Nub Connecticut in my rotation, they will become a welcomed addition to my lineup.
Walt, you lucky SOB…
I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these. Even if it is medium bodied, I tend to enjoy maduro wrapped cigars more than other wrappers, so this may very well become a favorite of mine.
Nice review Walt! Can’t wait to see the new tables, are you gonna post’em up?
Nice review. I saw some Nubs at my local shop, but figured they were a quick smoke and were not worth the money. I might have to snag one to try now that I saw this.
Gonna watch the Connecticut video then also as I seem to like the lighter wrappers more than the Maduros.
Mike
Excellent Nevermore intro!!!!!
Ooops My bad!
Cheers for the nice review man! I will have to try one of these when I get the chance!
-Thomas
Thanks for the review Walt.
I still feel these cigars are mostly just hype and fad, but apparently some people seem to be enjoying them.
Lemme tell you, the people at Nub are rivaling Apple in the marketing department, that’s for sure, and it seems this site is playing a good part in that. I guess I just don’t “get it”, they seem like decent enough smokes, but the whole package just doesn’t do it for me.
I digress though, if they were sending me boxes of these to smoke, they might become my daily cigar too 🙂
As always, look forward to the next review!
Wow, I hadn’t even heard of these! Thanks for the review; looking forward to trying them out.
Very nice review. Can’t wait to try one. I’m a huge fan of Connecticut Broadleaf.
Great review Walt! Can’t wait for the NUb events in Atlanta over the summer. The only thing I don’t like about NUbs is once you get down towards the nub (ironic?), they become annoying to try to hold onto.
Im jealous you got a pre-release of these man…
Walt, why do people think that you are being sent boxes of Nubs? This is not the first time that I have read a reference to it either but I don’t ever remember you mentioning it at any time. Are you holding out on us?
Bud,
There are two misconception that will never go away. One is that Jerry, Brian, and I are paid to do reviews and the other is that we receive boxes upon boxes of free cigars.
Neither case is correct. On occasion we will receive a box of cigars as a sample of the product to review (like in the case of Don Ramon). The only free box of Nubs that I have ever received were the ones given away for our 12 Days of Christmas Contest (That box was signed).
Barry,
You can easily get your hands on them at any of the Nub Live events. I was just fortunate enough to have spoken with Sam when there was going to be a rep in my area to drop off a sample at my local shop.
Johnny,
I agree, which is why I stay away from the Torpedo shapes. I think they get too difficult to hold on to and result in my not being able to smoke more of the actual cigar.
Bill,
Free cigars doesn’t equate to an everyday smoke. I’ve never received free boxes of cigars in exchange for a review and I would not allow that to happen.
If you were being shipped free boxes of “Free Cuba”, “El Duque”, “Swisher”, or any other cigar that is perceived as terrible, would they become your everyday cigar just because you were getting them for free?
Mike,
You never know, the guys at my local shop smoke them in the winter because they only get 20 mins out of them. Some people burn through them at an incredible pace. Others, like myself, get much more time out of them.
Tony,
Two of the tables are in my basement being finished. The other two have been delivered. Unfortunately, it totally slipped my mind to get pictures of the first two.
I’ll see what I can do about getting pictures of the last batch before shipping.
Thanks for the comments, keep them coming!
-Walt
Nice review Walt. It’s great to finally see this cigar nearing availability. I just checked and there is actually going to be an event about 30 miles from me in August. We NEVER get events from any manufacturer in the Pacific Northwest. Nice to see Sam branching out beyond the traditional east coast tour.
Aw man!!!! I want one!!! Hahahaha!! I have been looking forward to these since I heard they were coming out – from one of your videos I believe….
Great review!
Thanks for the reply Walt. I must have heard or seen that somewhere, about receiving cigars from Nub to review. If that is not the case then my mistake.
To answer your questions, if I was receiving boxes of lousy smokes (like the ones you mentioned) then I would certainly not misrepresent them nor would they become a daily smoke. I don’t think that was ever implied though. I think the Nub is a decent smoke as previously stated, I just don’t think they live up to all the hype received on this site.
If Nub was supplying me with boxes for review purposes, I would imagine that they would get heavily worked into the rotation until said supply is gone. Why not, they are decent and free is always good. I would look at it like allowing the cigars I purchased to age a bit longer while I burn through the freebies.
Then again, if I was getting boxes to review, I would be doing giveaways about as often as another reviewer on this site, just because I think I would be feeling guilty about hoarding so many free smokes. But I’m not implying anything there, I’m just talking hypothetically of course 😉
The wrapper on the Nub Maduro is a Brazilian maduro, not a CT Broadleaf.
Thanks for the clarification, I tried to get a hold of Sam last minute to clarify. I thought I remembered him mentioning Connecticut Broadleaf at some point so I just ran with it.
Made the correction at the top of the review
-Walt
Great review of a really great cigar. I had the honor of trying one last Saturday at the kickoff event for the Nub 2009 Live tour in Nashville. Having tried (and enjoyed) all three of the previous flavors of Nubs, I was excited to get my hands on this one. I totally agree with the sweet and bitter chocolate flavor notes–a very different flavor from any of the other stogies in their lineup. My favorite Nub is still the Connecticut (best mild cigar on the market, in my opinion, and I got to tell Sam that personally), but I am looking forward to this becoming widely available in a few months–and to the trying the Nub Miami. One of the reps said “late summer” for that one.
Walt,
Thanks for the review. I appreciate what you do for our industry. Anyone who gets people excited about cigars is OK in my book. So thanks for you professionalism and dedication on reviewing cigars.
The Nub Maduro is by no means a powerhouse. I wanted a Maduro cigar that was smooth and full of flavor, one you could smoke at any time of the day. I wanted to go with a Brazilian wrapper because of their dark chocolate flavor and sweetness. This cigar delivered that.
And to answer the Miami question..This will be the powerhouse in the line. I am still making tweaks to it with Ernesto Padilla. It is more of a fun project. I would expect it LATE summer at the soonest.
Thanks Again Walt and to all of the members of Stogie Review!
Sam Leccia
Nub Cigar
Went to the local signature in rockville, bought a the 464T maduro, I must say I was quite impressed by this stogie. Tasty lil bugger, my initial 10 min were a black pepper taste then it mellows out to what a good maduro leads to.
I just smoked one of these a few days ago. Man i truly loved this cigar. I got a deal on a sampler pack at an Oliva event so it ended up about 5 bucks per stick. I’m not quite sure i would be willing to pay the 7 or 8 bucks regularly but i wud buy them any day for five or six. Great review Walt. And if Sam happens to find his way back to this review…thanks for commenting. it’s cool to see someone actually get out and see what people are saying about their product. Keep up the great work 🙂
The nub maduro 460 is an Amazing stick! I highly recommend to all!
This is a good smoke especially for the price. The taste was consistent never hot and as you said in your review the bitter chocolate and light woody flavor was pleasing the sweetness never disappeared. It might hide from one puff to the next but it was lurking.
Great, thoughtful review. I especially like the grape reference. Spot on. Def not a power hitter, but pleasant. My two cents is if you’re looking for a super strong, ultra complex maduro, this isn’t the one. But overall, a good somewhat different flavor profile that satisfies.