Doc's Analysis - AJ Fernandez New World Oscuro Robusto

It's always cool and interesting to discover something new. Like the tv series everyone is talking about, a new marinade to try, or a cigar brand that you've never seen before. Discovering something your culture has never seen or had before is next level cool though. Back in 1492 when good ol' Columbus sailed the ocean blue, he ended up on the shores of what he thought was the coast of Asia. In fact, it was an island in the Bahamas and the natives presented him with tokens of friendship which included some dried tobacco leaves. Europeans were unaware of what delight can be had when smoking tobacco. I imagine they probably looked at each other with confusion and amusement over the gift, like "gee, thanks for the dead leaves bro...". I suppose no additional history is needed. We know what happened next. They all went "dAYum!" and it was the next hottest commodity for the entire world.

This pivotal moment in history was the inspiration for the New World cigar brand, which was the first time that AJ Fernandez had collaborated with his father Ismael. The cigar band has an iconic painting of Columbus stepping foot on the beach. New World has a handful of productions lines and one of them is the Oscuro. Let's chop it, blaze it, and see what's up.

Great look

Wrapper is awesome and so is the band

Beautiful soft tooth

Ha, looks like it was half round half box pressed

The Deets

Cigar: AJ Fernandez New World Oscuro Robusto

Origin: Nicaragua

Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua SA

Size: 5.5 x 55

Wrapper: Dark Nicaraguan

Binder: Jalapa

Filler: Ometepe, Condega, Estelí

Appearance  9/10

 A nice looker here. The dark wrapper has a delicious hue with excellent seams and a soft toothy feel. Cap is orderly and no veins in sight. The main band & foot band work well together, but the main one was a little loosey goosey. The profile was supposed to be box pressed, although the light bunching made it susceptible to deformations, and there were some. Overall I really like the look of the brand.

Draw  9.5/10

 The squishability of the cigar had me start with a punch. Dry pull says gimme one more punch. Perfect. The double punch was on point for this sample and had lots of smoke output. No tweezin, no pokin, just smokin.

Burn/Construction  8.5/10

 Well I was in the outdoor recliner when the cat nestled on my lap and made himself comfortable. Then I realized I didn't have my phone on me. If you have ever owned a cat or dog, you know the dilemma of needing to get up but not wanting to disrupt your little baby. So that's why there are no burn pictures. You'll just have to use your imagination!

Removing the foot band and it's gobs of dried goo wrecked havoc on the wrapper in that spot. No choice but so simply deal with it. Ash was firm, white, and with just itty bitty wings that never actually took flight. The burn line was acceptable and was kissed by fire a couple times. I noticed a very small amount of swelling, although it didn't cause any problems.

Taste  9.5/10

 1/3 - Smooth, cool earth kicking things off. I pick up strong pine nut and a general bread note. Retro is soft black pepper with a finish that has a subtle lemon vibe. There is some complexity here, although the notes are in & out and difficult to pin down. Like each puff is playing the telephone game, where each tells the story slightly different.

2/3 - Pretty similar to the first third with leather, pine nuts, lemon, and bread all taking turns on who will dominate the next puff. Soft cedar joins the mix and the retro is still a huggable smooth black pepper. Body has warmed up to Medium+. Sweet sands help finish the 2nd third and usher in the final.

3/3 - We're still complex in the last third that maintains the previous notes, while slightly transitioning into black coffee, dark chocolate, and hearty leather. Lemon has faded completely, but all the other previous notes continue to be present as support from the rear.

Overall  9.1/10

 The father son duo had a goal in mind when developing the New World brand. They wanted to create a cigar that was in the ballpark of $5 (2014), but that would smoke like a cigar that cost double or more. Well I think they nailed it with the Oscuro. I don't know about you, but often times I can tell when a cheap bundle stick simply gets a band and is being passed off as more than it is. Definitely not what's happening here. A great looking cigar with a delicious, complex, and balanced flavor profile. All for under 10 bucks?! This cigar is a leader in its price bracket.

**Number of cigars smoked for the review: 1