by Yannis Valavanis

The exploration and search for new flavors and aromas never stops with cigars. Whether older or newer versions will always offer us strong emotions. Whenever I am traveling I will always look for cigar shops, in any city I’m in, I will always look for the local tobacco shops.

I recently tried a Maduro and was impressed by its size. The NUB 460 was just what I needed for my morning coffee. At just 102mm long and a 60 ring (23.81mm) it was the right cigar for the time. Cigar with Nicaraguan tobaccos but with a wrapper of Cuban tobaccos grown in Nicaragua has a very sweet taste of cocoa, caramel and spices so full that I felt like I was eating chocolate. Nub’s cigars have been on the market recently, about fifteen years, and they are, as I noticed, very high quality, slow burning and very intense. Very nice cigar for quick -but not sketchy- enjoyment that deserves an 8.8/10.

However, I must point out for history that the nub series belongs to the Oliva family which dates back to 1886 when Melanio Oliva started in Pinal del Rio, Cuba to create it and along the way after Fidel’s revolution he and many others were forced to go abroad and continue the production of his cigars in Nicaragua. I don’t know how to take it, but Cuba always appears in front of me.