Wrapper: Pennsylvanian Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan (Jalapa)
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 6 x 50
Body: Full
Price: $7.49 MSRP ($6.75 at Famous Smoke)

Today we take a look at the new Therapy Maduro from Nomad Cigar Company.

BACKGROUND:
There are three blends in the Therapy line: Maduro, Habano, and Connecticut.
They come in only two sizes: 4.5 x 50 $6.95 and 6 x 50 $7.49.
Cigars are produced by AJ Fernandez at Tabacalera Fernandez S.A. in Estelí, Nicaragua.

The Connie leaf stats:
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Mexican San Andrés
Filler: Nicaraguan

The Habano leaf stats:
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Rosado
Binder: Nicaraguan Habano (Jalapa)
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican
They are distributed by House of Emilio.

DESCRIPTION:
The stick is extremely oily and toothy. Near invisible seams. Lots of spider veins. A nicely applied triple cap. The wrapper is very toothy and the color of coffee bean meets charcoal.
All three blends use the same cigar band with the difference being the color of the logo.

AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
The shaft smells of fruit, sweetness, spice, wood, and bits of cinnamon, nutmeg, leather, and earthiness.
From the clipped cap and foot, I can smell rich tobacco, fruitiness, sweetness, and spice.
The cold draw presents flavors of chocolate, chicory, cedar, spice, fruit, sweetness, and savory meat.

FIRST THIRD:
The draw is perfect.
And the flavors come rushing in like a broken water main.

There is: Big Black Pepper, Savory elements, sweetness, raisins, coffee, malt (TBD later), rich earthy tobacco, leather, and prune.

I like it already. Wastes no time getting down to business.
Of the three, there are a few reviews but for some reason they all started with the Connie blend. Not me. I went straight to the jugular with the full bodied Maduro.

There is a whole living component I am not able to describe. It is a little bit steak sauce. It is a little bit campfire spit. It is a little bit decadent French dessert. And it is a whole lot of exotic dried fruit.
The malt becomes clear: Rye Malt, Peated Malt, and Crystal/Caramel Malt. (See the Malt Chart).

The char line is dead nuts. It is a nice slow smoke. Very relaxing..especially for the demented.
Creaminess appears half an inch in. Gives a twist to the flavor profile.

The PA Broadleaf wrapper is providing a nice generic sweetness. I’m flummoxed. The Nomad Therapy Maduro starts with being very complex. It doesn’t give you time to adjust. It throws you in the deep end of the pool and yells, “SWIM!”

There is an element of cinnamon graham cracker. And the dried fruit aspect keeps on getting stronger with each puff. Definitely prune, figs, dates, and pineapple. Like I said, “Exotic.”
The dried fruit in conjunction with the trifecta of malts makes the blend a groovy kind of love.

The spiciness, which started out with a bang, is on the wane. It came. It conquered. It burned my tongue. And it is somewhere in the bottom third of the pack. No more howling to the light of the moon.

Speaking of which. My dad’s side were from Hungary. My grandfather, who I loved dearly, came from a little village in the midst of the Transylvania mountain range. He sounded like Bela Lugosi when he spoke. I got used to it of course. But when he visited from Pittsburgh twice a year, he made all my friends laugh. It made Gramps laugh too.

There is a nice warm bread quality to the flavor profile.
And oh yes..the strength has been medium/full since the start. I keep forgetting that shit.

The very plain looking cigar band looks to be made of thin porous paper. Which means I will either have to cut it off or tear it off. I don’t have another sample so this will be my judgment phase.
Steak sauce. I was trying to avoid going there but the little bits of exotic components finally made it impossible to ignore.

But it isn’t one specific sauce. It is a combination of A-1 (Tomato Paste, Vinegar, Raisin, Oranges Puree, Herbs, Garlic, and Onions), Worcestershire Sauce (Anchovies, Tamarind, Molasses, Garlic, Chilies, Cloves, Shallots, and Sugar), and Heinz 57 (Ketchup with Mustard Seed).
Now I know you must be shaking your head thinking I’ve gone off the deep end of my dementia.

Those three sauce ingredient lists are just a broad stroke of the flavors innate to this blend. The strongest of the flavors? Tomato paste, Raisins, Garlic, Molasses, Cloves, and Ketchup. It’s a bastardized version of all three sauces.
The Nomad Therapy Maduro has turned out to be quite the unique blend. I expected a stereotypical list of Nic flavors. You know what they are. Instead of being heavy with chocolate, coffee, creaminess, caramel, dried fruit, and cedar; as Moe would say, “Spread Out!” And that’s exactly what the flavor profile is doing. It is the master of time and space.
I’ve found that the dementia has actually heightened my palate for tasting. No shit.

SECOND THIRD:
Smoke time is 25 minutes.
Now I can’t wait to taste the other two blends. But what I read on the Connie reviews, no one flipped over it. Quite possibly due to the fact that it is mild/medium body. But have no worries dear readers, I shall mine the recesses of the tobacco and find you the grail of flavors. Man, I can rant and make no sense at all. I love that about me.

No change to the flavor profile but here it is again: Trifecta of Malts, Steak sauce ingredients, creaminess, dried fruit, citrus, sweet cedar, earthy tobacco, cocoa powder, espresso, and a dusting of maple.
The char line has been pretty spectacular. And the ash hangs on for dear life.

Flavors shift. Toffee enters stage right. Vanilla salt water taffy enters stage left. The chocolate surges and so does the espresso.
Floral notes appear.
Strength moves to full body.

The steak sauce ingredients are trying to push the malt elements to the rear. In fact, the maltiness of the flavor profile is moving on down the line. The Nomad Therapy Maduro is becoming more of a sweetness based profile than a savory one.
The meatiness is gone.

My good friend, Kendall Culbertson, is waiting on his new web site to kick in. Won’t have all the glitches that we’ve seen since I began reviewing his cigars. It is up and running. And if you want to place an order, now is the time to go to The Outlaw Cigar Company web site. Kendall was kind enough to provide his personal phone number for questions: 913-804-0486. Kendall is a good guy. His cigars are unbelievable. Just make sure you tell him that your Uncle Katman sent you.

HALFWAY POINT:
Smoke time is 40 minutes.
We now have a bona fide Flavor Bomb! 3.2 Kiloton.
Fucking crazy! The cigar, not me.

I really didn’t think the flavor profile had anywhere to go. But it fooled me and moved into a whole new dimension.
The chocolate is gone. The espresso is minimal. Sweetness factors, steak sauce ingredients, malt elements, fruitiness, and cedar rule the day.

The spiciness returns from the dead. Very potent and nearly wipes the other flavors off the map.
I was wrong about the cigar band. Came off without a hitch.

Well Fred, baby Daddy-O, you have really pulled off a coup. I’ve reviewed the entire Nomad line. All excellent cigars. But none are like the Nomad Therapy Maduro. This is a quantum leap for Fred Rewey. A high premium disguised as just a good boutique blend.

Have you noticed what a dashingly handsome man Fred is? I guess he is in his mid/late 30’s. I’d do him. After 30 years of marriage, you are officially gay. No one tells you this but you find out for yourself as a result of begging for sex all the time.

Begging for sex used to bother me. My ego. Now, fuck the ego, I want rough sex where I end up with a black eye afterwards. But old German broads have another idea on the subject. Sigh….
I thought this would be a quick smoke. Don’t ask. Just what I thought. Instead, it is a long, slow leisurely experience that allows you to savor every nuance and subtlety. Kudos Fred.

LAST THIRD:
Smoke time is one hour 10 minutes.
Flavor shake up: Creaminess, Strong, strong Malt, chocolate, spice, caramel, gingerbread, citrus, floral notes, dried fruit, bits of steak sauce ingredients, cedar, and earthy tobacco.
Nicotine. Drat.

My head is spinning like a sea of swarming simbas.

I don’t remember a blend with this many major transitions. It is almost as if the entire cigar blend changes every 20 minutes.
I have a super palate. 50 years of smoking cigars will do that. Longer than every other reviewer’s age.

The malt shifts: Aromatic Malt, Biscuit Malt, Cara Munich, and Chocolate Malt. (See Malt Chart).

I betcha’ a buck, I started with the most flavorful of the three blends. But I could be wrong.
Red pepper, black pepper, and a dash of jalapeno.
Still have 1-1/4” to go but time to rate this little baby.

I give it a 94. For its uniqueness, savoir faire, complexity, and a cornucopia of nuances.

There is no let up. Flavors keep slamming into my palate like a test dummy in a crash car.
The Nomad Therapy Maduro nearly causes flavor overload. It keeps piling on the intensity.
The final major flavors are creaminess, chocolate, and sweetness.

Final smoke time is 90 minutes. And what a wonderful 90 minutes it was.

PRICE POINT:
Roughly $7.00. I’m screaming laughter. A limited run. Big frown.
This is a regular production cigar per Fred Rewey.

This is the steal of the decade. Not only did Fred not go with the flow of the hyper expensive cigars out of the 2015 IPCPR trade show, he made these cigars super wallet friendly. If Fred were a greedy man, this cigar would have been at least $12.00.

SUMMATION:
Construction was perfect. Not a single touch up required. A massive display of masterful blending skills. An even bigger display of wonderful flavors. Totally surprising and effective.

I don’t have a memory any longer but I cannot think of another blend anything like the Nomad Therapy Maduro.
Plus, every cigar’s profits goes to one of Fred’s charities. Kudos Fred.
Nomad has been an excellent brand from the get go. Not a clunker in the bunch. But this! This cigar is one of a kind. Thank you, Fred, for the samples.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: cigar review, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars, fred rewey, Therapy Maduro by Nomad Cigar Company Cigar Review