The NUB Habano is one of several new concept cigars from Oliva called ‘The NUB’ that comes in a variety of sizes and blends. The Habano that I smoked for this review was the 58 ring guage by just under 4” long. This cigar is all Nicaraguan tobacco and rated by the manufacturer as a 43 minute smoke.
Flavor and Aroma
Pre-lighting this cigar I noticed an interesting sweet smell from the tobacco. On first lighting it had a nice earthy aroma. For whatever reason, the aroma did not match up well with the flavor. Although the start of the smoke gave you a roasted coffee hint, the cigar got very bitter 10 minutes into the burn. The taste nearly disappeared after 30 min and was very unremarkable.Draw and Construction
Now here is where we can really take this cigar apart. It seemed to be a firm well constructed cigar with a nice looking dark natural wrapper. The draw was medium to heavy at the beginning. The cigar went out the first time after only a couple of minutes. The draw became exceedingly heavier after 10 min and the tightness never let up. The cigar went out for the second time at 15 min. The amount of smoke was voluminous but the burn was uneven. The ash fell off at 2 inches and 40 minutes into the smoke. The cigar finally went out again at 50 min and I decided not to relight.Value
I have smoked other NUB cigars and this was neither better nor worse. At about $5/stick as a single, it is not the best bang for your buck and I believe just a gimmick cigar. 5-packs and boxes are available online for $22 and $102, respectively, which brings the price closer to $4/stick, but I am not impressed by the concept and disappointed in Oliva. The best part of this smoking experience was the ambience of the cigar lounge. I was sitting at the Kingstowne location of the ‘Old Virginia Tobacco Company’. The room was well appointed with comfortable seating, air ventilation and lots of cigar memorabilia and photos of cigar ‘stars’ (folks like Lito Gomez and Tim Ozgener). I did smoke at least a half dozen NUB cigars before writing this review to give myself an opportunity for a better smoking experience, but sadly, this review is typical of any of the blends which I tried and actually my most positive comments (so you can imagine what the other smoking experiences were like).
