One of the coolest things about working in the cigar business is getting to sample all of the new items before they are released. I like to get my hands on the cigars as early as possible, smoke them, and form my own opinions before they have a chance to be reviewed by the "professionals." It's nice to smoke a cigar that hasn't been reviewed yet, or better yet, be one of the first to review it! Then sit back and see what the other writers and bloggers have to say.

Judging a cigar is not an exact science, and just because you like something, doesn't mean the rest of the world will. This is why buying cigars for a retail shop can be such a crap shoot. There are no guarantees that the cigar you think is great will be appreciated by enough smokers to justify its addition to your humidor.

It's also great to see a nice rating or review on a cigar that you really like yourself. Couple that with the fact that we already have this cigar well stocked in our humidors and that is the proverbial homerun.

The stars all lined up for me just last week when the latest Cigar Aficionado hit newsstands. In the July/August issue CA gave the Nub Maduro 460 a highly coveted 90 rating. These half-pint cigars have always been a favorite of mine. Although I tend to favor the box-pressed torpedo versions a little more, I have smoked my fair share of the round 460. If you like dark, rich tobacco flavors and lots of coffee notes in your cigar, then look no further than this beauty.

So how spot on is CA's assessment of this cigar? There is only one way to find out, so I went into my humidor and plundered through my Nub collection. Although I have dozen or so box-pressed versions, initial indications were that I may have been out of the 460. Not being a quitter, I dug a little deeper and voilà, I had one.

After pouring myself a mug of Cuban Coffee, I grabbed my lighter and cutter and retired to my patio. After toasting this cigar it didn't take long for me to realize that the 25 words Aficionado used to describe this cigar just weren't enough.

The initial puffs are everything one would expect from a full-bodied Maduro. It's what my better half, the lovely Mrs. Loreal, would refer to as a smoke bomb. It's her term for cigars that emit a lot of smoke, most of which often finds its way to her side of the swing as we relax out back. Expecting these results, tonight I take my test drive alone.

Large volumes of cool smoke, which soon intensifies into a robust coffee flavor, are all of the things I love about smoking this cigar. There may be some negative sides to smoking the larger ring gauges, mostly weakened binder and wrapper influence on taste, but the positive is cool smoke. The Nub 460 Maduro delivers plenty of cool smoke.

Thirty minutes into smoking the Nub 460 Maduro

I am certain that the coffee accompanying the cigar is making those flavors more pronounced, but there is a mild hint of cocoa. The wrapper is Brazilian and although they don't specify the exact leaf, I believe it to be Mata Fina because of the slight undertone of sweetness. The Nicaraguan binder and filler give it plenty of strength and make sure that the sweetness is kept in check.

This is an absolute gem of a cigar and don't let the Nub in the name fool you. This is still an hour smoke, so take your time and enjoy this perfectly constructed and well balanced cigar.

Long Ashes,

Chris Gwaltney

ABC Fine Wine & Spirits regional manager in Jacksonville. Follow him on Twitter @chrisgnole