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| Nat Sherman Timeless – Unbanded sample (Churchill Vitola) |
For those who are from or lived in New York City, Nat Sherman is a legendary tobacconist located in the heart of midtown Manhattan. In addition to being a retail store, Nat Sherman carries their own lines of cigars. One of the newest cigars to be released by Nat Sherman is the Timeless Collection. The Timeless Collection was one of the first projects done by Nat Sherman’s new executive director of retail and brand development, Michael Herklots. Herklots joined Nat Sherman in April, 2011. He was previously the general manager of Davidoff’s New York City retail stores. Part of why Herklots was brought in was to boost the Nat Sherman brand on both the retail and tobacco side. The Timeless Collection cigar is a high quality product that clearly takes that first step to showcasing the legendary name of Nat Sherman in the tobacco world.
For the Timeless Collection, Nat Sherman has teamed up with the Quesada family of MATASA (Manufactura de Tabacos S.A) to make the cigar. The Quesadas are well-known for their work with the Fonseca, Casa Magna, and Quesada brands. MATASA has worked with Nat Sherman in the past to develop the Metropolitan line. To make sure they targeted the blend to the right market segment, Nat Sherman solicited detailed feedback from retailers and consumers on everything from the blend, packaging, and pricing.
The Nat Sherman Timeless Collection has already been launched at the midtown Manhattan “Townhouse” retail store. The plan is to roll out the Timeless Collection to retailers early next year. I recently had an opportunity to sample a pre-release of the Timeless Collection cigar. Since this was an unbanded sample, I opted to do a “Pre-Review” and provide some detailed feedback. I will provide a final assessment rating at a later time.
Blend Profile
The Timeless Collection leverages tobaccos from what I term the “Big 3” – Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.
Wrapper: Honduran
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan
Vitolas Available
The Timeless Collection will be sold in boxes of 20. It currently is available in four vitolas.
Churchill: 7 x 48
Hermoso 5 1/4 x 54
No. 2 6 1/4 x 52 (Torpedo)
No. 5: 3 3/4 x 43
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| Banding of the Nat Sherman Timeless Collection – picture from “The Good Life Diaries” |
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
For this Pre-Review, I had the opportunity to sample the Churchill vitola. I placed a straight cut into the beautiful cap of the Timeless Collection cigar and commenced with the pre-light draw. The dry draw notes treated me to a nice mix of cocoa and leather. The pre-light draw flavors were simple, yet satisfying. At this point, I was ready to toast the foot and enjoy the cigar experience ahead of me.
Flavor Profile
The initial flavors of the Timeless provided a quick shot of pepper. The pepper quickly settled down and some classic cocoa powder notes joined the pepper spice. Around five percent into the cigar experience, the cocoa powder notes morphed to a classic coffee flavor. As the smoke of the Timeless progressed through the first third, an interesting twist occurred as I detected flavors of lemon citrus. It was around this point that I also noticed the pepper spice move down a notch again. It was safe to say the flavor profile was: coffee notes primary, lemon citrus notes secondary, and pepper tertiary.
In the second third of the Timeless, the coffee flavors that were present in the first third were replaced by nut flavors. These nut flavors took over in the forefront. The citrus notes diminished and joined the spice notes in the background. Toward the beginning of the final third, some classic oak notes emerged. The spice kicked it up a bit – joining the nut flavors. The spice never overpowered and the Timeless remained smooth right until the end. The nub was soft and cool on the finish.
Burn and Draw
While this was an unbanded sample, the Timeless scored some nice marks with the construction attributes of burn and draw. The burn of the timeless was outstanding throughout the smoking experience. It required minimal touch-ups. The Timeless burned at an ideal rate and ideal temperature. The draw was outstanding as well – making the the Nat Sherman Timeless Collection a joy to smoke.
Strength and Body
The Timeless Collection is not going to overwhelm you in terms of power. It is a cigar that falls squarely in the medium range of the strength spectrum. The flavors are also classic medium-bodied. The depth of the flavors easily build a very smooth cigar experience. There was a nice equilibrium between the strength and body – resulting in these attributes balancing each other perfectly. The Timeless Collection is a textbook case for what a medium strength, medium-bodied cigar should be.
Final Thoughts
The future of the Nat Sherman line is very bright as the Timeless Collection project is a great start to the Herklots era. I found this a cigar that I could easily put into my regular rotation of cigars. The nice thing about this cigar is it really is the type of smoke that you can give to any type of smoker – any time of the day. It is the perfect type of cigar to graduate a newer cigar enthusiast into a medium strength, medium-body profile. At the same time, experienced cigar enthusiasts will appreciate the flavor, construction, and balance this cigar brings to the table. This is a cigar I would easily reach for again – and certainly one I would reach for a box purchase.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Source: The pre-release sample for this assessment was gifted to me by a friend who received this from Michael Herklots. Cigar Coop is appreciative for the sample, but in no way does this influence this review.
