The original REO that came on the scene more than a decade ago was produced at Rocky Patel’s factory in Honduras and featured a Costa Rican wrapper. While I am not certain who is manufacturing the newly released REO, it is still produced in Honduras, but now features a Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro wrapper over Nicaraguan and Honduran tobaccos. The cigars come packaged in 20 county bundles with four vitola options: Corona (4 ½ by 44), Robusto (5 by 50), Torpedo (5 1/4 by 54), and Chairman (6 by 58 Gordo). A bundle will run you $29.99 for the Corona up to $49.99 for the Chairman.

Quality Importers manages distribution for Ortega Premium Cigars. REO cigars are available for purchase through Cigars International and Cigars.com.

THE FACTS

Purchased through Cigars International
Price: $29.99 per bundle of 20
Vitola: Corona
Size: 4 ½ by 44
Wrapper: Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro
Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan and Honduran
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 5 Minutes

Pre-light

The Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro wrapper on the REO is extremely dark, almost black in appearance. The color is consistent from head to foot of the cigar. About a half inch from the head of the cigar, I encounter a indentation, but other than that, the rest of the cigar is filled evenly and is solid to the touch.

An aroma of earth and barnyard are found on the Maduro wrapper, while some more earth and a generic woodsy smell comes across on the foot. After two cuts of the double cap, the draw becomes workable. Even though the aroma from the wrapper and foot were faint, the dry draw features much fuller and richer flavors of cedar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

FIRST THIRD

Upon lighting, the draw opens up allowing a copious amount of smoke to move through with each light draw. Just like the wrapper, the flavors are dark. Up front and center are a gritty earth and coffee. Behind the darker flavors, a pine is adding some depth to the profile and a bitterness that is working well. Sort of like a pine flavor common in IPAs. The smoke passes easily through the sinuses, but it does highlight a pepper spice and earth. A light colored, layered ash is being formed as the cigar burns with a minor wave.

MIDDLE THIRD

Moving into the second third of the REO, a richness develops and the earth is now more diesel like. A mild sweetness joins in that is only noticeable every few puffs. The burn is now jagged with a section of the wrapper trailing behind, but so far a touch-up isn’t looking necessary. The flavors have been holding steady at medium/full up to this point.

FINAL THIRD

The flavors mellow out with the coffee pushing forward accompanied by a cocoa sweetness that is now more consistent in the profile. A new yeasty bread flavor has joined in. At the last inch, I am beginning to feel the lightest nicotine hit that is welcomed and relaxing.

WRAP-UP

REO by Ortega Premium Cigars is by no means the prettiest cigar either in packaging or wrapper choice, nor the most complex. However, for $1.50 a stick for the 4 1/2 by 44 Corona, the REO delivers a bold and dark profile of earth and coffee that develops to a richer, sweeter profile as the cigar burns down. With the cigar opening up after lighting, I have no complaints in regards to performance. Sure, the ash doesn’t hold long and the burn was a little wavy, but I’ll get over those things. I dig this little cigar and I am certain that I will be ordering up another bundle or two in the near future.

The post Ortega Premium Cigars – REO appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

-Tony

Last year, Nomad release the Therapy line of cigars consisting of three different wrappers – Connecticut, Habano, and Maduro – each in two sizes, a 4 ½ x 50 robusto and 6 x 50 toro.  Unlike previous lines, these are not boxed, but come in retailer display cases that are refilled in bundles.  Also different are the bands, which are rather plain – white with different colored printing to differentiate the wrappers.  Although this might seem to indicate a “budget stick”, I don’t believe that is really the case, rather, just a couple of post-production cost cutting moves to lower the price for the consumer.  Blended by brand owner Fred Rewey, they are manufactured at AJ Fernandez’ Tabacalera Fernandez in Nicaragua.  The price for the cigars runs at $6.95 for the robusto and $7.49 for the toro.

As has been mentioned at other sites and Nomad’s web page, the Maduro is the first of its kind for the company, with this one utilizing a Broadleaf from Pennsylvania.

Since I didn’t feel like making the 120 mile round trip to the nearest Nomad retailer in my area, I purchased a couple of these for review from the Cigar Federation online store.

I have previously very positively reviewed several of Nomad’s lines here, so let’s see how this one goes.

The basics:

Wrapper:  Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro
Binder:  Nicaraguan Habano Jalapa
Filler:  Nicaragua
Size:  Robusto 4 ½ x 50
Price:  $6.95
Smoking time:  One hour, ten minutes
Pairing:  North Coast Brewing Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout (ABV 9%)

Pre-light:

The Nomad Therapy Maduro presents itself well in a very dark brown wrapper with a good amount of nearly black variegation, a couple of fine veins and a stretch mark or two.  The wrapper is rather dry looking and sports a fair amount of tooth to it, while the roll is very firm with just a bit of a softer feel above the band.  The band, as mentioned above, is a plain white background with a simple silhouette of the Nomad wings and the word “Nomad” printed below in black, and black top and bottom borders.  On the back is “Nomad Cigar Company” and Fred’s @godfadr Twitter handle.

The wrapper gives off a tart barnyard scent, while the foot shows rich tobacco and a slight unsweetened cocoa.  A slight clip of the cap reveals an optimal draw that doesn’t give up a lot of flavors other than light tobacco and some saltiness.

First third:

The Nomad Therapy Maduro starts with a surprising blast of red pepper on the tongue, along with deep, sweet oak and earth in an already medium-full body.  The retrohale leaves a sharp, hot mustard-like sting that reaches to the top of my head.  After a few minutes, the pepper dials down on the tongue, but persists on the retrohale.  Despite having once again picked the breeziest, gustiest day of the week for a review, the Therapy is burning great, with just a bit of waviness, a sharp burn line, and a solid ash.  Dark coffee notes lurk in the background, along with some leather, as the ash taps off at ¾”.  By the 1 ½” mark, the pepper has receded significantly on the entry, but continues to make itself felt through the sinuses and the woodiness has turned toasty.

Middle third:

Into the second portion of the Nomad Therapy Maduro, things have continued to get smoother.  The toasty oak and earthiness continue to lead the way and black pepper pungency has moved forward.  There is some bitterness as well, and light bready notes have also emerged.  It has been burning sharp and even with just an odd flake here and there.  There is not much change to report on for the remainder of this section.

Final third:

The Therapy Maduro enters the final third without much change, save for a spicy tingle on the lips and an elevation in strength.  The rest of the cigar pretty much follows the pattern of the previous third.  It smokes cool down to the final inch, with just a small amount of harshness and a slight, but noticeable, nicotine hit and at a not quite full body.

Overview:

I have smoked nearly all of Fred’s lines, and have been highly impressed by all of them, but the Therapy Maduro just fell a bit short.  It’s a solid, nearly full bodied smoke, but the lack of sweetness for balance and shortfall of complexity and transitions added up to a smoke that wasn’t quite up my alley.  I will certainly check out the other wrappers in the Therapy line, and am inclined to think that I will enjoy them more than this one, but I think that expectations for greatness that has been, for me, a touchstone with Nomad, may have gotten the better of me on the Therapy Maduro.  That just speaks to how good I feel the brand has been.

Pairing:

Old Rasputin by North Coast Brewing out of Fort Bragg, CA has been one of my favorite readily available Russian Imperial Stouts for quite a while.  With deep flavors of malt, coffee, and chocolate backed by a hoppy finish, it’s a great quaff, and a perfect match for most maduro cigars.  Unfortunately, that hoppy bitterness on the finish, which can be quite deep yet unnoticeable at first, along with the inherent bitterness of the Therapy Maduro proved to be a bit much for my palate.  A sweet rum, tawny port, or strong sweetened coffee would have made for a better match in this case.

The post Nomad Therapy Maduro appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.