Review of New World Cigar by A.J. Fernandez

The New World cigar was introduced by A.J. Fernandez in 2014. This cigar is a box pressed Nicaraguan puro, made entirely with tobaccos from four different regions in Nicaragua. New World cigars are available in four sizes, including a Robusto (5½ x 55) named Navegante, which was sampled for this review. Price is about $6 per stick, but falls to an average of just over $5 if purchased in a box of 21 cigars. The cigar commemorates the discovery of tobacco in the new world by Christopher Columbus in 1492, and the blend was a collaboration between A.J. Fernandez and his father.

I found the New World Robusto to be medium-to-full bodied with a very enjoyable sweet peppery flavor at the start. The flavor smoothed out a bit after few minutes, when the tastes of earth and cocoa became more predominate, with a pleasing hint of spice. The cigar had a great/near-perfect draw, even burn, and held a long ash. No relights nor touch-ups were needed during the 50 minutes that it took me to smoke the cigar down to two inches remaining.

I enjoyed smoking this cigar all the way down to the very last puff, and give it a superior rating of 4.25 points on a 5-point scale. For comparison, the larger New World Gobernador vitola (6½ x 55) was rated 88 in the March/April 2015 edition of Cigar Aficionado. Considering the relatively low price for a cigar of such high quality, I consider the New World to be a great value and worthy of a very strong recommendation.