The Nomad Martial Law is the tenth regular production blend launched by Fred Rewey’s Nomad Cigar Company. Rewey has incorporated a slogan for his company called “Be Nomad Be Anywhere”. This slogan very much applies to his approach with Nomad Cigar Company as he has produced cigars in two different countries (Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic) with several different factories. With Martial Law, Rewey turns to his fourth different factory, James Brown’s Fabrica Oveja Negra located in Esteli, Nicaragua. Working with Brown is a logical step as Rewey’s Nomad brand along with Brown’s Black Label Trading Company and Black Works Studio are both distributed by Boutiques Unified. Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the Nomad Martial Law cigar. Rewey has built an impressive portfolio in his 4+ years in the cigar business. With the Nomad Martial Law, this could represent his best regular production release to date.

When the Nomad Martial Law was announced, Rewey discussed why he led him to Fabrica Oveja Negra:

“I was very impressed with Fabrica Oveja Negra during a visit last year. Frankly, I have not seen anyone get a new factory up to speed as fast as they did. With attention to detail and excellent tobacco, a project there was inevitable at some point.”

The Nomad Martial Law was announced just prior to the 2016 IPCPR Trade Show and was released right around the time the trade show opened. The cigar itself is also one of the more premium offerings in the Nomad portfolio – priced at $12.00.

Without further ado, let’s break down the Nomad Martial Law and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

According to Rewey, The genesis for the Martial Law blend came as a result of blending a bolder version using the profile of the Nomad Esteli Lot 8613 as a starting point. “The Esteli Lot 8613 has been one of my most popular blends. I love the rustic nature of it but also wanted something with a bit more punch or complexity. Basically the Martial Law blend started as my wanting a double ligero version of the Lot 8613 and kind of grew from there,” commented Rewey.

The cigar incorporates tobaccos from the four major growing regions of Nicaragua: Jalapa, Condega, Esteli, and Ometepe. The cigar also features a Habano wrapper.

Wrapper: Habano
Binder: Jalapa
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (Fabrica Oveja Negra)

Vitolas Available

Nomad Martial Law comes in one size – a 6 x 50. The cigars are packaged in 12 count boxes.

Appearance

The Nomad Martial Law’s Habano wrapper has a medium brown color with a slight rosado tint to it. There was some oil on the surface of the wrapper. While a mostly smooth wrapper, there were a few bumps on the surface. There are some thin visible veins and thin wrapper seams.

There are two bands on the Nomad Martial Law. The primary band of is similar to the one found on the Nomad C-276 and Nomad S-307 offerings. This band features a black, silver, and red color scheme. The background is black in color. Highlighting this band is the winged Nomad logo with a navigator symbol at the top. The text “NOMAD” is on the logo in a white colored modern style font. To the right of the band is the text @GODFADR (which is Rewey’s Twitter handle).

There is a black colored secondary band around the footer of the Martial Law. The cigar has the text “MARTIAL LAW”  in a bold orange-red font. There are two orange-red pinstripes just above and below that text. Toward the upper and lower edge of the band is a slightly thicker orange red-pinstripe.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

I started my cigar experience with the Nomad Martial Law with a straight cut. After the cap was removed I commenced the pre-light draw. The cold draw delivered a mix of chocolate, floral, and slight cedar note. Overall I considered the pre-light draw of this cigar to be very good. At this point I was ready to light up the Nomad Martial Law and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The Nomad Martial Law started off with an array of assorted pepper spices, chocolate, and natural tobacco notes. The chocolate notes became primary early on. As the cigar moved through the first third, there was almost a malt quality to these notes. The pepper notes were a close secondary note with the natural tobacco notes a little more distant. Meanwhile there was an additional layer of red pepper on the retro-hale.

During the second third, the natural tobacco notes slowly increased. As the cigar crossed the midway point, the natural tobacco notes replaced the chocolate in the forefront. Shortly after the midway point, i noticed an increase in the assorted pepper spices on the tongue.

By the last third, the pepper notes reached the forefront joining the natural tobacco notes. The spices were not overpowering, nor did they exhibit any harshness. There were still some chocolate notes that were present in the background. This is the way the cigar experience came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

In many reviews of the various offerings in the Nomad cigar portfolio, I’ve commented on the excellent construction. Nomad hasn’t missed a beat working with Fabrica Oveja Negra, but this wasn’t a surprise to me as this factory in a short time has been produced some top quality blends. This excellent construction was reflected on scores of the burn and draw.

The burn path had no trouble remaining straight from start to finish. There was a slight amount of waviness on the burn line, but this wasn’t a burn line that showed any hints of meandering. The resulting ash had a light gray color. This ash was firm and came off the cigar in clean chunks. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both were ideal.

The draw of the Martial Law was excellent as well. This had a slight amount of resistance to it – and this is something that I like. This made for an ideal cigar to puff on.

Strength and Body

The Martial Law was positioned as a bolder offering compared to the Nomad Esteli Lot 8613 cigar, and I agree with this assessment. This was a cigar that started out medium strength. There was definitely an uptick in the last third with the strength just crossing the threshold into medium to full territory.

Meanwhile this cigar came out medium to full-bodied right out of the gate. I actually found a slight decrease in body early in the second third, but the Martial Law was still very much in the medium to full-bodied range of the spectrum. Later in the second third, the body kicks up again – and kicked up enough to progress to full-bodied territory.

When it comes to strength versus body with the Martial Law, I gave the edge to body throughout the smoking experience.

Final Thoughts

There is a lot to like about this cigar. Nomad has delivered some excellent blends in the past four years. This is a cigar that excels in the most important category – flavor. The Nomad Martial Law is not an overly complex cigar, but the notes produced play very well together. This particular cigar is going to be a spicier offering, so that’s something to keep in mind when considering this cigar. Quietly, Fabrica Oveja Negra has put together a very solid year for a factory – and now the Nomad Martial Law becomes another great part of this story.

Martial Law is going to carry a higher price point, but I felt it delivered the value I would expect from a $12.00 cigar. This is a cigar I’d probably steer toward a more seasoned cigar enthusiast, but it’s also one of those cigars where a novice can “graduate” to something a little fuller. As for myself, it’s a cigar I would easily smoke again – and its worthy of a box purchase.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium (1st 2/3), Medium to Full (Last third)
Body: Medium to Full (1st 2/3), Full (Last third)
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: 4.0 – Box Worthy
Score: 92

References

News: Nomad Martial Law to Launch at the 2016 IPCPR Trade Show
Price: $12.00
Source: Purchased. (*)
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Episode 208
Stogie Feed: Nomad Martial Law Toro
Brand Reference: Nomad Cigar Company

* An additional sample was provided by Nomad Cigar Company at the 2016 IPCPR Trade Show, but this was not used for a formal review.