Nat Sherman Cigars

NAT SHERMAN BRAND HISTORY

Nat Sherman is an iconic New York City cigar brand named for its colorful founder who started the business in 1930 at 1400 Broadway, near 38th street. Nat Sherman was born fourth in a family of eleven siblings. His Hungarian immigrant parents were so poor at one point, they moved twelve times in a single year to take advantage of the first month’s free rent landlords touted as an incentive to move in. Nat grew up hustling and displayed the audacity of a natural grandstander for much of his life. That may be an unsurprising footnote, however, from the proprietor of a cigar shop that counts the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and John Wayne as former patrons. Today’s equally illustrious roster of clients includes Rudy Giuliani and Robert Downey Jr.

Exacting the origins of Nat Sherman’s entry into the cigar world treads a mix of speculation and fact. Whether it was the result of a gambling debt, or some other form of liability arising from a purported speakeasy that Nat ran, we’re not sure. But, we do know that Nat became part owner of Traub Brothers and Bear, a tobacco company, as well as the Epoca cigar brand, as a means to settle a debt that was owed him. In a separate settling of affairs, the builder of a new construction at 1400 Broadway ran out of cash to complete the project with four stories left to go. Nat loaned the builder the funds to finish and in turn, the builder offered Nat retail space on the first floor as a form of repayment. Nat conveniently plugged his budding cigar enterprise into the retail space, opening his legendary cigar shop in 1930. The Nat Sherman store attracted Manhattan businessmen and showbiz fixtures, quickly becoming a profitable hot spot. The enterprise sparked a family legacy that would span generations and spawn the Nat Sherman cigar brand.

The location of the Nat Sherman shop has moved over the years to handful of flagship New York City storefronts, though the first move wasn’t until 48 years after its debut in the garment district on Broadway. A 74-year-old Nat refused to pay a rent increase and relocated the business to Fifth Avenue in 1977. Today, the shop is located at 12 East 42nd Street where its quarters suit it well with a classic, old-world feel.

In addition to its iconic retail space and cigar brand, Nat Sherman is equally if not better known for its signature line of boutique cigarettes, which are sold in premium smokeshops around the world. Nat is credited with offering the first cigars with a plastic tip, as well as introducing a cigarette blended with Cuban cigar tobacco in the 1940s for a customer unwilling to accept the ban of cigar-smoking on airplanes. Prior to the Cuban Trade Embargo, Nat also secured distribution of Cuban cigars in the U.S., one of only three official authorized dealers east of the Mississippi.

Despite his innovative flair and booming persona, Nat’s overbearing character and my-way-or-the-highway approach didn’t always resonate positively with his son, Joel. As a result, Joel eventually walked away from the family business in 1978 to work for other companies. Joel ran Concord Shear, a maker of gentlemen’s accessories, and eventually became the company’s owner. He returned to run Nat Sherman after his father’s passing in 1990 at the age of 86. Joel’s children, Bill, Michele, and Larry, joined their father in managing the company their grandfather started, but only after working in other industries. Joel made it a priority to encourage his children to draw on other experiences before choosing to work in the family business. Nat’s somewhat absenteeism as an owner had led to a handful of bad business decisions prior to his death. The family had to litigate to maintain control of the Nat Sherman brand, despite being named as trustees in Nat’s will.

Although the family’s cigarette business grew with a seamlessness, restructuring the cigar brand was a much tougher venture. The Nat Sherman cigar franchise had long been considered a heavily discounted line, exclusive to large catalog and online retailers. Reinvigorating Nat Sherman as a premium cigar brand that retail cigar shops could embrace was the family’s ultimate goal. They hired Davidoff’s former Director of Retail Operations, Michael Herklots, to take on the challenge in 2011. During his tenure, the brand has certainly turned a romantic light on its image, playing upon its deep New York roots and debuting a number of new cigar blends.

So far, the strategy has made inroads that have led the company back to a premium perception. With a renewed focus on its cigar division in place, the Sherman family sold their business to global commodity giant Altria in 2016. Altria is the parent company of Philip Morris USA and the Marlborough cigarette brand. Michael Herklots has continued his mission of rebuilding the Nat Sherman cigar brand under the company’s new corporate management. Because Altria is heavily leveraged in the cigarette industry, the company’s requirements conform to a far more restrictive interpretation of FDA regulation, which has constricted the marketing of the Nat Sherman Cigar brand considerably, at least for the time being. Regulations aside, Nat Sherman distributes a number of boutique cigars that have experienced momentum in recent years, such as Timeless and Metropolitan. They also continue to make a few brands that are more widely available online, like Nat Sherman Host.

NAT SHERMAN BRAND OVERVIEW

Today, Nat Sherman cigars are handcrafted by master cigar-maker Manuel Quesada. Many blends in the company’s current portfolio are the result of a collaborative effort between Quesada and Nat Sherman’s Vice President of Brand Development Michael Herklots. Nat Sherman Timeless Collection has scored a series of 93 and 92-point ratings and has made appearances in Cigar Aficionado’s ‘Top 25 Cigars of the Year,’ first in 2012 for the No. 2 size, and second in 2013 for the Divino. Manuel Quesada crafted a blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos under a gingerbread-hued Honduran wrapper leaf with notes of cedar, espresso beans and dark cocoa. The original blend is handcrafted in the Dominican Republic, while a second edition, Nat Sherman Timeless Nicaragua, is made in Nicaragua from a recipe of all-Nicaraguan tobaccos. The Nicaraguan cigar received a 92-point score as well as a ‘Top 25’ ranking for its medium-bodied profile of wood, molasses and cocoa. The brand’s Timeless releases have received a number of positive reviews from critics and consumers. The cigar bands on Timeless are designed to mirror the face on a wristwatch or clock.

Time is a consistent theme in many of the company’s releases. A large, iconic clock flanked by a pair of cigar-store Indians adorns the exterior façade of the Nat Sherman store in New York. The monument appears on the bands and boxes for Nat Sherman Host and Metropolitan cigars.

The brand’s greatest nods to its past are Nat Sherman 1930, a cigar commemorating the year of the company’s birth and Nat Sherman Epoca, a resurrected edition of Nat’s first cigar brand. Handcrafted in the Dominican Republic, Nat Sherman 1930 is made from a toasty brown Dominican wrapper leaf and a flavorful core of Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos with notes of coffee with cream, cedar, and a touch of spices. Nat Sherman Epoca is drafted from an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper over Cuban-seed tobacco from Nicaraguan and the Dominican Republic. Notes of toasted nuts and leather deliver a touch of white pepper around the edges in a cigar that harkens back to an era when 5-cent cigars and speakeasies were commonplace. Epoca features the original artwork on the boxes and bands from the brand’s original 1920’s release.

Nat Sherman Metropolitan is a revived product line that originally debuted during the Cigar Boom of the 1990s. Its latest incarnation is drafted in three distinct varieties. Metropolitan Connecticut and Metropolitan Maduro are handcrafted in the Dominican Republic in a pair of mild to medium-bodied profiles made with a Connecticut Shade or Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, respectively. Nat Sherman Metropolitan Habano displays the greatest degree of evolution in its Nicaraguan-made blend of all-Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos beneath an oily Cuban-seed wrapper leaf. Leathery aromas of cedar and black pepper deliver a medium to full-bodied finish.

Nat Sherman 85th and Nat Sherman Sterling are a touch more on the high-end side. The 85th celebrates the company’s 85 years in business with a medium to full-bodied blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos under a glistening Dominican wrapper leaf. The small-batch, limited edition smoke goes for around $19 per cigar. Nat Sherman Sterling displays a premium portrait of vanilla, wood and spices with an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper and perfectly constructed Dominican long-fillers.

Nat Sherman fans from back in the day still love Host for its mild, sweet amalgam of nuts and crème brûlée. Nat Sherman Host is handcrafted in Honduras and comes in either an Ecuador Connecticut or a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. Value fiends accustomed to getting their Nats from a catalog likely favor Host over the brand’s newer releases. Whether you’re an old Nat Sherman loyalist who’s curious about what the brand’s been up to, or you’re a bona fide aficionado who wants to taste cigars from a company born and bred in NYC, Nat Sherman is likely to spark your interest with its revitalized, premium portfolio.