Nomos

The year 2022 is going to be remembered as quite an active one in the cigar industry. In particular, one newsworthy item has been the large number of new companies entering the cigar industry. This year probably saw the largest amount of new companies enter the scene since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) implemented the Deeming Rule for regulating premium cigars. One emerging company is Nomos Cigars. The company was founded by two lawyers from New York, Corey Turner and Jerrold Miles. Today, we are going to take a closer look at their eponymous debut cigar, Nomos.

As for the name Nomos, it is Greek for “law”. This makes sense considering Turner and Miles are lawyers. The legal theme is present on the packaging of the cigar. The company is leveraging the La Aurora factory in the Dominican Republic for production of their cigar – which was blended by Manuel Inoa. The company did exhibit at the 2022 Premium Cigar Association and wholesales to retailers

One important note is that Nomos Cigars currently only has one line and one vitola. Today we will take a look at the cigar – Nomos.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The Nomos cigar is highlighted by a Cameroon wrapper. In addition, the blend features an Indonesian Sumatra and a combination of eight-year-aged Dominican Seco and five-year-aged Nicaraguan Criollo. The company says once the cigar is created, it goes through an exclusive process called NAP (Nomos Aging Process). The company doesn’t elaborate on specifics in terms of what this process is.

Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Indonesian Sumatra
Filler: Eight-year-aged Dominican Seco, Five-year-aged Nicaraguan Criollo
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: La Aurora S.A.

Vitolas Offered

As mentioned above, Nomos is a company that currently has a single line with a single vitola. That vitola is a 6 x 56 Toro. The cigar is presented in a 12-count box.

Appearance

The wrapper of the Nomos cigar had a medium to dark wood color to it. There was some oil on the surface. While there were some visible veins and visible wrapper seams, this cigar still had what I would consider to be a smooth complexion.

The Nomos cigar has a black background with green trim. There is a series of gold design elements on the upper and lower edge. The center of the band has a silver design reminiscent of the scales of justice. Above the scale is the text “NOMOS” in a silver-colored Greek-styled font. The left and right sides of the band have the outlines of two tobacco leaves outlined in gold.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

Prior to lighting up the Nomos, a straight cut was used to remove the cigar cap. Once the cap was detached, it was time to commence with the pre-light draw ritual. The cold draw delivered a mix of black coffee, earth, and cedar notes. These notes made for a satisfying pre-light draw experience. At this point, it was time to toast the footer of the Nomos cigar and see what would come from the smoking experience.

Tasting Notes

The Nomos cigar opened with tannic notes and notes of wood, natural tobacco, and black pepper. Early on the tannic notes dissipated and both the wood and natural tobacco notes moved into the forefront. Meanwhile, the black pepper note settled in the background. At the same time, there was an additional layer of black pepper present on the retro-hale.

Later in the first third of the Nomos cigar, the wood notes in the forefront began to take on a cedar-like quality. As the cigar moved into the second third, the natural tobacco notes began to diminish slowly. At the same time, the pepper notes began to increase in intensity. By the second half, the cedar notes were in control and they were rounded out by the natural tobacco and pepper.

The last third of the cigar saw the cedar as a dominant note. It was during this stage of the smoking experience that the tannic notes re-emerged. This is the way the Nomos cigar came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

When it came to the burn of the Nomos Cigar, it did require frequent touch-ups to maintain a straight burn line and straight burn path. While the touch-ups did their job, there were still more touch-ups than I prefer. The resulting ash was light gray with some dark streaks mixed in. This wasn’t an overly firm ash. Meanwhile, both the burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

Burn of the Nomos

Draw

The draw to the Nomos cigar was slightly more open than I prefer. My preference is to usually have a touch of resistance of the draw.

Strength and Body

The Nomos cigar started out with mild to medium strength and medium body. There was a gradual build-up in the intensity levels of both attributes. By the second half of the smoking experience, the Nomos was in medium strength and medium to full-bodied territory.

In terms of strength versus body, the body maintained the edge from start to finish.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

Overall, I found the Nomos cigar to be a classic tale of two experiences. The first half of this cigar was quite enjoyable. However, as the sweetness diminished things began to change. By the second half, there was not enough sweetness to round out the profile. On top of that, once the tannins re-emerged, this cigar simply lost any wow factor that was present at the beginning. In the end, this is a cigar that is a bit on the pricey side coming in at around $14.50 (based on the Nomos website pricing). My recommendation would be to see if you can try a sample before you decide to make a purchase.

Summary

Key Flavors: Cedar, Natural Tobacco, Wood, Black Pepper, Tannins
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Mild to Medium (1st Half) Medium (2nd Half)
Body: Medium (1st Half) Medium to Full (2nd Half)
Finish: Very Good