Okay, guys, here's a question that's been gnawing at me for a while. I know some of you can straighten me out on it.

You've probably read the pitch they're putting across regarding Nub cigars. Part of it goes like this: " After working countless hours in cigar factories and testing every cigar under the sun, its creator (Sam Leccia) found that most blends require some burn time prior to offering the true flavors and aromas of the tobaccos at play." and it goes on to say that a cigar usually reaches its 'sweet spot' after about a third of it has been smoked and that's the reason for the short length and large ring gauge of a Nub. Supposedly, you reach the 'sweet spot' immediately with a Nub instead of having to use up that first third.

Now, I don't claim to be a genius but could someone 'splain to me how the tobacco knows how long the cigar is that it's in? I mean, it seems to me that if two cigars are rolled using the exact same blend and ring gauge and then one of them is cut to the length of a Nub (4 inches, I think) and the other is cut to the length of, say, a toro, are you going to tell me that immediately upon lighting each of them, the Nub is already going to be in its 'sweet spot' but the toro isn't?? I mean, give me a break!

I've only been smoking cigars for about a year and a half so I'm still in the 'searching' phase trying to find out which ones I like best. I haven't yet bought a Nub because I can't quite swallow the logic that's forthcoming in their advertising. I might be missing out on a good smoke.

Any info you guys can share that's based on fact rather than opinion would be appreciated. Thanks muchly.

Marty

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Some expensive sour mash bourbon, an excellent handmade cigar, an exceptional woman....Life is good!
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Life is too short for bad cigars, Grasshopper
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ill post the reason in a sec...

i need to draw a picture or two...

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

Nothing to explain, you have a firm grasp on advertising. I have smoked nubs and they're no different except a bigger ring and shorter length. Nothing special about them.

 

Dan

ok... im only going to post one picture with a few sketches on it because i dont feel like messing with editing it.

lazy. my bad.

most of this i gathered by reading a ton of info. i have a hard time finding a site that has all this info in one place so i cant really give you a good link. a tiny bit of it is "theory" so correct me if and link me if i am wrong or have made mistakes.

sketch "A" is a picture of a standard tobacco leaf. there is a stem in the center and veins coming off of that stem that supply nutrients to thew rest of the leaf. the farther up on the leaf you fo and the farther away from the stem and the stalk (not shown) the lower the nutrient concentration

sketch "B" is the wrapper leaf after it has been cut to become a wrapper. the stem has been cut out along with the thickest part of the larger veins and the edges cut down a bit to make a more uniform wrapper.

Sketch "C" is the addition of the wrapper leaf to the cigar. the binder is already holding the filler together at this stage. as you can see the leaf is being rolled at an angle. if you have ever looked how the seems in a cigar twist around it like a barber pole this is where it comes from.

Sketch "D" shows you how the NUB is cut. (sort of, keep in mind this i a very quick sketch. the actual cut is way more curved and leaves more on one end to make a cap out of) there is more taken off from the edge of the leaf and a bit taken off the tips. these are the areas that do not have as many nutrients reaching them from the stem. this also results in a narrower band of tobacco that can be used as a wrapper so shorter cigars are required. the large ring can remain because the length of the leaf is not that much shorter.

a similar process takes place with the filler leaf. in a "full length" cigar the filler leaf is folded back on itself until it is about the right length. this has a tendency to make the end have less of the rich part of the leaf. with a nub, only the nutrient rich center part of the leaf is used (sweet spot)



another thought with this cigar is that the thick ash form the incredible density of the filler tobacco shields and filters the air more so than "normal" ash, producing a cooler burn.

jlmarta:

it seems to me that if two cigars are rolled using the exact same blend and ring gauge and then one of them is cut to the length of a Nub (4 inches, I think) and the other is cut to the length of, say, a toro, are you going to tell me that immediately upon lighting each of them, the Nub is already going to be in its 'sweet spot' but the toro isn't??

this is a fundamental misunderstanding of how a cigar is rolled. cigars arent rolled to a ring then cut to a length. every cigar, even a NUB, is designed to be exactly as long as it is.




*** it, just watch it yourself...

if you were to make a barber pole style cigar you would just use two different wrappers at sketch "B" and offset them a bit so at sketch "C" they would both be visible.

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

Fairwind:

Nothing to explain, you have a firm grasp on advertising. I have smoked nubs and they're no different except a bigger ring and shorter length. Nothing special about them.

 

Dan

way to be a cynic.

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

Yeah it has only to do with the part of the leaf used ...thus the 'sweet spot'...

Well, okay. If you say so, Kuzi. But I'm gonna have to cogitate on it a spell.

I still haven't figured out how to use the 'quote' button to show only a part of the message I'm replying to so you'll have to guess at it, I guess. I don't know what it is with the webmaster on this forum - - everything's got to be so damned complicated. I shouldn't have to learn the html codes and all that BS in order to use this thing.

Oh, well, nobody ever said life had to be easy, I guess.

Marty

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Some expensive sour mash bourbon, an excellent handmade cigar, an exceptional woman....Life is good!
_____________________________

Life is too short for bad cigars, Grasshopper
_____________________________

jlmarta:

I might be missing out on a good smoke.

A fact: you may never know what you're missing until you try one (or four) for yourself. Regardless of their logic, you may like it!

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"As I grow to understand life less and less, I learn to love it more and more." - Jules Renard

Thanks to Kuzi for your insight and knowledge on this topic....I learned a bit.

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"As I grow to understand life less and less, I learn to love it more and more." - Jules Renard

The nubs I've had, just the connecticut, were nothing special for the first half inch and then for about an inch afterward they were great. I assume that was the sweet spot they were talking about. It didn't last as long as a churchill. More like 40-50 minutes. This was the 460 size I think.

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I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke every last one of 'em.
- Ron White

Hmmmm... That makes allot of sense Kuzi. So now what I'm going to do is cut all my cigars by 1/3 and then use Pectin to glue them all together... and I will make "Mega-Gar"

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I'd rather be a Smart-A$$ than a Dumb-A$$

kuzi16:

Fairwind:

Nothing to explain, you have a firm grasp on advertising. I have smoked nubs and they're no different except a bigger ring and shorter length. Nothing special about them.

 

Dan

way to be a cynic.

LOL - not being a cynic, just that after smoking 5 of them, they're a good cigar but nothing world beating.

I just happen to like the toro length. I believe it has the right ring size to length for a cigar.

Good tobacco will make any cigar taste great regardless of the length.

I'll take a 6x60 from Rocky Patel over a nub any day of the week if I want a big fat cigar.

Just my taste and opinion of over 30 years of enjoying cigars daily.

Dan

Fairwind:

kuzi16:

Fairwind:

Nothing to explain, you have a firm grasp on advertising. I have smoked nubs and they're no different except a bigger ring and shorter length. Nothing special about them.

 

Dan

way to be a cynic.

LOL - not being a cynic, just that after smoking 5 of them, they're a good cigar but nothing world beating. I just happen to like the toro length. I believe it has the right ring size to length for a cigar. Good tobacco will make any cigar taste great regardless of the length. I'll take a 6x60 from Rocky Patel over a nub any day of the week if I want a big fat cigar. Just my taste and opinion of over 30 years of enjoying cigars daily. Dan

you make a point. the sweet spot on cheap tobacco is not as good as the beginning of great tobacco.

the toro also used to be my favorite. but i think now im moving into the lancero and the lonesdale and the corona. better wrapperto filler ratio. it gives the wrapper (the best tobacco in the cigar) a platform to shine on.

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Kuzi's cigar catalog blending 101 developing your palate

kuzi16:

Fairwind:

kuzi16:

Fairwind:

Nothing to explain, you have a firm grasp on advertising. I have smoked nubs and they're no different except a bigger ring and shorter length. Nothing special about them.

 

Dan

way to be a cynic.

LOL - not being a cynic, just that after smoking 5 of them, they're a good cigar but nothing world beating. I just happen to like the toro length. I believe it has the right ring size to length for a cigar. Good tobacco will make any cigar taste great regardless of the length. I'll take a 6x60 from Rocky Patel over a nub any day of the week if I want a big fat cigar. Just my taste and opinion of over 30 years of enjoying cigars daily. Dan

you make a point. the sweet spot on cheap tobacco is not as good as the beginning of great tobacco.

the toro also used to be my favorite. but i think now im moving into the lancero and the lonesdale and the corona. better wrapperto filler ratio. it gives the wrapper (the best tobacco in the cigar) a platform to shine on.

I have noticed the same thing, my tastes are moving towards smaller ring cigars. I like a smoke like the Serie V in the big 6x60, because it does have good flavor and burns for a long time, but in the lancero you get to taste more of the wrapper and the flavor is a lot better. I guess it really depends on my mood, but I don't smoke much over a 50 now.

Another point about the Nub, if you look at a Nub, and almost any other cigar, you will see that the Nub has the same number of wraps around the cigar. This is evidence that it was rolled as a short cigar and not rolled at 6 inches, then cut down to just the sweet spot. The concept behind the Nub is a valid theory, if you don't like the taste of the cigar it's not because of the size, but more that you just don't care for the blend.

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Jason
"A woman is an occasional pleasure, but a cigar is always a smoke."
- Groucho Marx

Great Explanation and great debate! I really enjoy NUB's. They turned the cigar industy on its head for the last year or so. Now most other manufacturers are making shorter fatter smokes.

Ive seen a nording, Oliva and a Tatuaje in new short fat sizes.

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