Nub Cafe Series (the 460 vitola)
Nub Macchiato 460
4”x60rg
Dominican/Sumatra
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This is a stout, firmly packed cigar with a medium brown wrapper that was a respectable amount of sheen, and only moderate veining. There is a decent amount of tooth, no wrinkles, and a cap that is fashioned well. The primary scents are wood, cocoa, and coffee. The foot smells like very sweet chocolate. Because of the RG I triple punched it like a clover, and revealed a sweet, dark chocolate flavor with a touch of earthiness. The draw was firm but not plugged.
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1/3: A cup of breakfast blend coffee with a teaspoon of hot cocoa stirred in. There is a touch of woodiness, but it is sweet, like wood-burned pine and has no spice.
2/3: The burn is not razor sharp, but it doesn’t require any touch-ups. It begins to taste more medium strength and similar to ca up of black coffee with a piece of baker’s chocolate stirred into it. Definitely less sweetness.
Nub: The chocolate and coffee have all but left the building. The finish is primarily woody- but now like cedar with a bit of spice to tickle in the retrohale.
Not a terrible stick- probably the most enjoyment I’ve had from such a large RG in a while. Clocks in at a little over an hour, making it a good afternoon burner.
Nub Espresso 460
Nicaragua/Sumatra
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...b/DSC04298.jpg
This is a medium to dark brown cigar with a faintly toothy, moderately oily, and minimally veined wrapper. The construction is very neat with a firm roll, smooth finsh, and neat cap. This had the least pungent wrapper, IMO, with good note of hay, coffee, and a touch of cocoa. The foot smelled of hay and coffee beans. I, once again, used a triple punch on the cap. The draw was pretty firm, and surprisingly mild and sweet. It reminded me of a mocha mousse.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...b/DSC04300.jpg
1/3: This one began like Turkish coffee- rich, black, and sweet. It had low strength in relation to nicotine, and the smoke had a thin body during the first third. There was a secondary woodiness hanging in the background.
2/3: The burn was less than ideal, but only required a quick touch-up to even it out. It maintained much the same flavor, but the profile became slightly stronger. The smoke grew in creaminess and you could really taste the Sumatra leaf.
Nub: Towards the end I found the sweetness abated and the woodiness and dark roast flavors were all the remained. The burn had straightened out and it nubbed without any further touchups.
I have one of the Espressos in a PC vitola, and I’m interested to see how it smokes. I was surprised by how long this one remained sweet, and aside from having to even out the burn with a torch, I have no real complaints.
Nub Cafe Cappuccino 460
Connecticut/Dominican
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...tb/unnamed.jpg
This is the only Cafe series cigar to sport a Connecticut wrapper. The other two had great Sumatra leaf, but this is the palest in color of the three. The wrapper still has a good measure of tooth, but is not very oil. It is also free of any significant veins. The construction is good, but the scent is fantastic! It has strong notes of vanilla, with a secondary odor of light roasted coffee.The foot smells like sweet tobacco and a touch of cocoa powder. The cold draw was the least tight of the three, and had flavors of hay, vanilla liquor and white chocolate.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...nnamed%202.jpg
1/3: This began tasting much like I would imagine a Vanilla Starbucks Frappuccino in a cedar cup would. It had creamy smoke and the cedar was really more noticeable in the retrohale, than heavy on the tongue.
2/3: The vanilla flavors went from that of cake icing to a more muted vanilla biscotti. As those became more toned down, the cedar became more pronounced. The burn was off a bit and I touched it up twice. It didn’t tunnel or canoe, but it was somewhat lopsided.
nub: The end was all wood, all the time. The cigar never moved past a medium strength or profile, but it did lose most of its sweetness and infused notes. Total smoking time was a little over an hour.
This was my favorite of the three- through the first third. Once the vanilla cupcake flavor went away I was missing the Sumatra wrapper through the rest of the cigar. Not bad, but it didn’t finish as strong as it started.
