Nomad C-276 Robusto

As is the case with redux reviews, I was searching through a few humidors until I found something that was of interest to me and might qualify as redux. Eventually, I stumbled across a Nomad C-276, a cigar that I reviewed and one that I hadn’t smoked—or thought of—in quite some time.

For those that aren’t aware, Nomad was bought last year by Ezra Zion in a transaction that I still don’t entirely understand from the buyer’s perspective. If you are on the email list for Cigar Federation, a retail outlet also owned by the same owners of Ezra Zion, you’ve like heard about the brand a bit since last September; but if you are not, Nomad seems to have disappeared from the universe. Perhaps that changes later this summer, but I’m not terribly confident about it at the moment as Ezra Zion isn’t listed as a vendor at the upcoming IPCPR Convention & Trade Show.

As for the C-276, it was launched at the 2014 trade show in five sizes, all box-pressed. The blend called for an Ecuadorian habano oscuro wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan fillers, made at Abdel Fernández’s Estelí-based factory.

I reviewed the C-276 Robusto shortly before it came out:

This is not the most complex cigar that Fred Rewey has introduced to the market, but it’s my favorite. The C-276 is a cigar that knows what it wants to be—elementary, yet rich. There are no tricks to the medium-full profile, just a straight forward base of sweet cocoa complemented by an array of other flavors. It’s a smart addition to the Nomad profile and one of the better client cigars I’ve smoked from A.J. Fernandez in the last year.

• Cigar Reviewed: Nomad C-276 Robusto
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.,
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano Oscuro)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Robusto
• MSRP: $8.75 (Boxes of 21, $183.75)
• Release Date: August 2014
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Redux: 3

The Nomad C-276  has a muddy brown color that is incredibly uniform in hue. Three out of the four corners of the cigar retain the super sharp box-press, while one has rounded a bit. That Ecuadorian wrapper feels like slightly tanned leather in the head. Aroma-wise, it smells like a mixture of cocoa powder and Cap’n Crunch, somewhere around medium. The foot is a bit fuller and sweeter with the Cap’n Crunch joined now by vanilla, some sweeter bourbon touches, fruitiness and barbecue sauce. Cold draws produce a ton of chocolate syrup, a bit of fruitiness and some floral flavors with an open draw.

It starts with nuttiness, creaminess, some brown rice and a flour tortilla sensation, right around medium-full. Within an inch, the flavors of the Nomad C-276 become creamier with some buttermilk and pine taking over things as the first third gets going. While it starts medium-full, the flavor picks up to full, body stays medium and strength is somewhere between medium-plus and medium-full. Construction is great with no imperfections in the first part of the cigar.

Earthiness becomes the main flavor in the mouth right around the midway point, in front of herbal flavors, a bit of cinnamon and some allspice. Retrohales have earthiness, pepper and a chocolate flavor that reminds me of the exterior of an M&M. The finish is earthy and salty. In the final third, there’s a nuttiness and some dark cocoa that overtakes the earthiness. Behind those two flavors is a mixture of creaminess and bread. Through the nose, I pick up barbecue sunflower seeds and a fair bit of saltiness. Both flavor and body end up medium-full, while strength is full.