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| Nording 50th Anniversary by Rocky Patel |
The Nording 50th Anniversary by Rocky Patel was one of six new blends launched at the 2012 IPCPR Trade Show by Rocky Patel Premium Cigars. The Nording 50th Anniversary commemorates world-renowned pipe maker Erik Nording’s 50th Anniversary in the tobacco business. It also marks the second blend in the Rocky Patel family to carry the Nording name on it. This assessment of the Nording 50th Anniversary completes our series of the six new blends (and one line extension) of the Rocky Patel IPCPR 2012 releases. Overall, I found the Nording 50th to be a very good cigar bringing some unique qualities to the table. In fact, this might be a very good cigar to give to a pipe enthusiast.
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| Erik Nording – Cigar Coop photo |
Nording’s roots are in the pipe industry. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He originally started carving pipes for fun, but eventually turned it into a full-time business. According to his web-site, he produces 50,000 pipes a year (of which 90 percent is for the export market). He first teamed up with Rocky Patel on a cigar back in 2006 called the Nording.
Let’s take a closer look at the Rocky Patel Nording 50th Anniversary and see what this cigar brings to the table.
Blend Profile
For the Rocky Patel Nording 50th Anniversary, an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper was used. Back on the original Nording, a Costa Rican Maduro wrapper was used.
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Vitolas Available
The Nording 50th Anniversary will be available in a single vitola – a 5 x 54 Toro Grande. The cigars will be packaged 20 cigars per box.
Appearance
The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper to the Nording 50th Anniversary is medium brown in color and oily in complexion. There are some visible veins and visible wrapper seams on the surface. I would even say the wrapper is slightly toothy in appearance. There is a wonderful barnyard-like aroma from the footer of this cigar.
The Nording 50th Anniversary features two bands. The first one is a plaid red color with gold and white striping. The name “NORDING” is prominently displayed in white font. Below that is a white pinstripe. Below the pinstripe is the text “50th ANNIVERSARY” also in white font. The second band is located below the first band. The same color red plaid, white, and gold color pattern applies to the second band. The main text on the second band is “by Rocky Patel”.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
For my start of the Rocky Patel Nording 50th Anniversary, I went with my usual straight cut into the cap. With the cap successfully clipped, it was time to commence with the pre-light draw. The pre-light draw had quite a bit going on. It provided dry draw notes of cherry and natural tobacco with a touch of cinnamon and a smoky note. Overall, I found the pre-light draw to be quite pleasing on the Nording 50th Anniversary. At this time, it was time to toast the foot of the cigar and see what the cigar experience would have in store.
Flavor Profile
The start to the Nording 50th Anniversary had some notes of cherry, oak, and pepper to start. As the flavor profile started to take shape, I noticed some background cinnamon notes emerge (similar to what I detected on the pre-light draw).
Around the ten percent mark, some natural tobacco notes joined the cherry and oak in the forefront. The pepper became a secondary note. The cinnamon also was a secondary note, but it became more prominent on the retro-hale.
By the midway point of the Nording 50th Anniversary, the flavor profile changed slightly. The primary notes were the oak and natural tobacco flavors. The cherry joined the pepper in the background. The cinnamon notes were also a secondary note, and were now folded into the full draw.
Toward the end of the cigar, the oak and pepper flavors took over. The natural tobacco flavors and cinnamon were in the background while the cherry notes dissipated. There was some spice on the close of the cigar, but nothing very harsh. The resulting nub was cool in temperature, but soft to the touch.
Burn and Draw
One area where the Nording 50th Anniversary lost a few points was with burn and draw. I would categorize the cigar as scoring “good”, but not “excellent” for these attributes. On each of the cigars I smoked, the burn line required more maintenance than I would have liked to keep the burn like straight. Adjustments with my butane lighter did the trick, but these were more frequent than I preferred. The resulting ash was white in color, but a little looser than I preferred. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.
While I like a little resistance on the draw, I found the Nording 50th Anniversary still drew a little tighter than I preferred.
Strength and Body
Overall I found the Nording 50th Anniversary to be a cigar that doesn’t overwhelm or overpower you, but still does the job very well. The Nording 50th Anniversary starts out as a medium strength cigar from a nicotine perspective. Toward the very end, the strength does cross into the medium to full threshold. The same holds true for the body: the Nording 50th Anniversary starts out as a medium-bodied cigar and by the end progresses to medium to full. The cigar does a very nice job at balancing its strength and body with neither attribute overshadowing the other.
Final Thoughts
I found this cigar to be a surprise in terms of what Rocky Patel Premium Cigars unveiled at the 2012 IPCPR Trade show. This cigar had some unique qualities in terms of its flavor profile. As I reflected on the flavors – cherry, oak, natural tobacco, I wondered if this was the power of suggestion or did Rocky Patel really blend a cigar with a pipe-like feel? In any case, I found the flavors enjoyable. I would have liked to see the burn an draw at the excellent level, but that is also why we re-assess cigars from time to time. This is the perfect cigar for both the novice and seasoned cigar enthusiast. However I’d also be curious to see what a pipe enthusiast thinks of this smoke. This is definitely something I would smoke again.
Summary
Burn: Good
Draw: Good
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium (Medium to Full at end)
Body: Medium (Medium to Full at end)
Finish: Good
Assessment: Nice to Have
Score: 90
Source: The cigars for this assessment were purchased from Burners Cigars in Huntersville, North Carolina and Tobacco World in Marietta, Georgia.
