Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés
Binder: Nicaraguan Corojo
Filler: Nicaraguan Estelí, Condega and Jalapa
Size: 5 x 54 Robusto
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $15.00
Date Released: January 2025
Quantity Released: Regular Production
Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.
My cigars received 3 months of naked humidor time.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
Nasser the Goat Maduro was Cigar Aficionado’s #7 cigar of 2025 with a rating of 95. It received high ratings from the cigar blogosphere establishment. It made the cut for a lot of reviewers’ best cigar list.
So why am I reviewing a cigar that is basically a slam dunk? I’m a lonely, lonely man and need the artificial connection of blogger to reader. If you feel sad for me, please send me all your Padrons, Opus X’s, Casdaglis, and Cubans. It will cheer me up a little.
The reviews I’ve read report the usual: chocolate, espresso, nuts, cedar, earthiness, and black pepper. So, what the hell am I doing? Dunno. Maybe providing you the opportunity to get this very good blend for 45% off…that’s what I’m doing. And to inform you whether the all-important factor of complexity, transitions, and depth are part of the de rigueur platform for the Nasser.
This little cigar is like holding a stick of densely packed dynamite. The cigar is as solid as my bookie’s advice on the third race at Sperm Racing Int’l in Kenosha.
Wrapper aromas must have been left behind on the killing floor in the rolling department. I get subtle earthiness, slight fruitiness, black coffee, and some baking spices. The absentee is the dreaded barnyard. Me likey so far.
The cap resists the intrusion of my PerfecPunch for a moment but then sighs heavily and says, “Blow me.” Not Harvey Weinstein style, but the gentle wave of an offshore Siren whose name is Brinehart Goldblatz, Jr.
The cold draw shows flavors of dark chocolate, earthiness, dark raisins, fresh baked bread, black coffee, and coconut.
Here’s what I experienced in my previous sticks. An interesting and identifiable AJ blend in the first half. And then the second half took off like a rocket each time. I have probably smoked 6 of them to get here. Very consistent. That’s 80% of the battle.
The other thing you need to know is that this is a very strong cigar. It begins with an easy to and fro that lulls you into false submission that whispers, “Hey, this ain’t that bad.” And then you find your belly button kissing the floor with your arm in your new reverse engineered self-immolating bidet.
It’s creamy, smooth, chocolaty, nutty, spicy, and dense with cedar. Cigar Aficionado mentions coconut rum cake. Yum. And they are right. I taste toasted coconut. Not so much the rum, but I shall turn on my receptors. This is why we read reviews. To prep our brain to be approachable to suggestions that are interesting and challenge our palate. I read other reviewers to feel better about myself.
I’m going to skip ahead (in public, I frolic with a fortuitous lisp) because this is just a set piece to introduce you to the Krazy Katman deal.
The first half was as earlier advertised. A solid blend full of earthy depth and simple complexity. There are transitions that are subtle and light. The first half sees the cigar seeking out its soulfulness. My impressions feel the sanctity that is the connection between the lingering life force of the dead leaves and the horribly addicted cigar smoker. So, there’s that.
The second half is the sweet spot. I hunger for sweet spots. I rarely get them. Why is that? Because I’m not willing to join It’s Only Fans. But I wouldn’t say no to a gift subscription and a brand-new pocket vagina.
Flavors become much more identifiable as separate entities: Dark chocolate, toasty macarons, almonds, creamy vanilla Moon Pie, espresso, and just the right amount of black pepper.
I can taste the rum cake because of the suggestion. Otherwise, it never would have happened. Rum cake triggers old memories because it was Grandpa Kohn’s favorite. When he visited from Cleveland, we had to make sure the Katella Bakery had two cakes ready for us. It is nearly impossible to find rum cake unless you live in a large metropolis.
The first half’s strength was non injurious. The second half grabs me by the narglies and won’t let go. A big meal prior to this cigar is a must.
I’ve removed the restraints around my nutsack so that it can sway in the breeze as it always helps with the delay of nicotine poisoning. Sometimes my Nutter Butter swings too far to the right and it comes back wearing a red ballcap. To the left, and it’s wearing a scarf that was once worn by Ho Chi Minh. If it just hangs there, it’s because it is busy filling out a mail-in ballot.
The Nasser is a beautifully consistent smoke. The second half is richly complex. I look again at the leaf stats and something was special. This is what Cigar Aficionado said: “When you think of cigars and the tobacco-growing countries they come from, it’s unlikely that Haiti comes to mind, and yet, this island nation is at the center of Nasser The Goat By A.J. Fernandez. The cigar started as a retailer exclusive for Nasser’s Cigar Lounge in Pétion-Ville outside of Haiti’s capital city. Word eventually got out and A.J. Fernandez started offering The Goat to the U.S. market. We’re certainly glad he did. With the exception of the Mexican San Andrés wrapper, all the tobacco in The Goat was grown in Nicaragua by Fernandez.”
The rambling comes to an end here.
Nasser the Goat comes in three sizes: Robusto (5 x 54), Toro (6 x 54), and Gordo (6 x 58). My sponsor Cigar Page stepped up again with a cut-and-slash one week deal. They knocked 45% off retail. And these limited deal prices are lower than if you are a Page+ member. I absolutely guarantee you won’t find a lower price anywhere.
RATING: 95
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
Katman at your disposal...I'd love to know what you think.