Noob Reviews #9: Nat Sherman Metropolitan Selection Maduro

Noob Reviews: A new smoker’s guide to the best beginner smokes

Sometimes it’s better to let go, drift along, and see where the trails of cigar smoke will take you. The best surprises in life often come this way. Instead of picking my own stick this week, I took a suggestion from our photographer, Ron, and I’m glad I did. I’ve been meaning to try Nat Sherman for a while, but my list of things to try is getting mighty long and slow-going. So today I’ll allow a stick to cut to the front of the line and be the catalyst for a mouthwatering review: the Metropolitan Union Maduro (4 1/2 x 50).

Holding the cigar in my hand, I could already tell it was going to be a great smoke. It was light, but packed solid with thick, aromatic leaves. It had a smooth tooth on a dark, chocolaty Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper that felt very close to holding a Padron 2000; be still my beating heart. The Dominican fillers were held together by a binder that had some scattered veins poking up randomly under the wrapper. Looking at the band I found myself wondering what significance 10:10 has for Nat Sherman, the time shown on the clock guarded by two Native Americans. A quick Google search kicks back nada. Oh well, a little mystery is okay with me. Putting my sniffer on this beauty, I inhaled and picked up heavy, dark chocolate with earth and minerals. The cold draw was nothing but straight-up tobacco.

After a painless light, I was already in a galaxy of flavor. I love it when cigars come out of the gate with guns blazing. The first two or three puffs assaulted my palate with baking spices, nuts, grass, hay, and chocolate. The body of the smoke left a feeling in my mouth that reminded me of Little Debbie’s Nutty Bars, one of my childhood favorites. If I didn’t know better, I would think I was smoking the 70 ring gauge version of this line; the smoke output was unbelievable for this little guy. As the initial fireworks winded down, the smoke settled into a bread and graham flavor. All through there was a candy-like sweetness that came in and out, drenching my tongue in syrupy sugar.

As the burn progressed, the stick took a hard left turn into the land of citrus and floral tones, much to my surprise. It was a mixture of lemon, honeysuckle, and possibly a flavor from some parallel dimension. All of these notes went around in a sort of wack-a-mole fashion, with each taking turns popping into the forefront. At times it’s like I’m inhaling lemon zest; then it changes and I’m sipping on the honeysuckle flowers down the street from my parents house. Capping off this extended, magnificent display was a delectable milk chocolate on the finish.

If you’ve been reading between the lines then you already know I loved this cigar. It was incredibly complex, much more than I had anticipated. So much so that I had a few firsts on the flavor front. Finally tasting things that you’ve read about in other reviews is one of the greatest experiences in cigar smoking. Your horizon broadens just a little each time. While this cigar will blow the socks off of any noob smoker, aficionados take note: you will be impressed with the Nat Sherman Metropolitan. I challenge anyone to prove me wrong.