Cigars Reviewed

Posts Tagged ‘Dominican’

So the long awaited Room 101 Cigars will soon be out. There are and will be multiple launch parties throughout the US. Be sure to check out Events and News for local dates or visit  Room 101’s Site or Facebook Page for more details.

Room 101 Cigars is the brain child (or love child) of Matt Booth and Camacho Cigars. “It’s an extension of my luxury lifestyle brand and a collaborative effort between myself and Camacho.” –Matt Booth. With such names behind it you can’t but hope it will be great. Matt Booth said in an interview at the IPCPR Trade Show that “It’s a collective of things that I dig, and I love smoking cigars.”… “It’s just another facet of that; it’s just something from my life; it’s my personal meditation cigar smoking.”

I have been very lucky in that I was able to receive a pre-production sample of a Room 101 cigar. The cigar is 5×50 with a Semilla 101 wrapper and Honduran and Dominican binder and filler. Just so everyone knows the Semilla 101 (aka 101 Seed) wrapper is an exclusive and unique leaf developed for the Room 101 line. The filler leaf combinations are also unique to these cigars.

The cigar I am reviewing today has no band (as this is a pre-production); the wrapper is a deep rich chocolate brown with a nice sheen and is smooth with little to no veining. The cap construction is very good and was easy to cut. I had no problems lighting this cigar or keeping it going, it burned beautifully and had a light gray almost white solid ash. The draw was what I consider perfect! Not too hard, not to easy, just right enough to pull through all the flavors (and enjoyment).

Initially it has a smooth rich earthiness with a nice spice note, a nice medium body experience.  Midway through, the mild spice develops into a much richer bolder spice note with hints of pepper and earthy undertones. It was a quick wake-up call that makes you pay attention and is more akin to a full body than a medium. Near the last third of the cigar the pepper y hints are almost gone and the spiciness is again second to the rich earth tones found during the initial light. By now the cigar feels like a full body but the change is well done and welcome.

Earthiness seems to be at the core of this cigar; it runs throughout the cigar and ties it all together. I hope that full production only makes this cigar better. I would smoke it again and with a MSRP ranging from $7 to $10 would highly recommend it.

OK, so today I have a Punch Rare Corojo to review for you. Here is a little background for those who are not familiar with the brand.

The original Punch cigar was created in Cuba around 1840 by a cigar manufacturer called Manuel Lopez. The cigar is named after Mr. Punch, the cantankerous half of the Punch and Judy puppet shows. It is currently produced in Honduras for Villazon Company and was first imported from there in 1969. Punch cigars are know for their bold, full-body taste.

So there you go, a little history lesson for you. Anyway back to the review. 

The Rare Corojo that I’m reviewing is a box press Magnum 5.25 x 54, Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper, Connecticut Broad leaf binder, Honduran, Nicaraguan and Dominican filler, and is produced in small quantities. 

I found this cigar to have an earthy and woody flavor that became bolder about half way then smoothed back out. It burned a little uneven and a few times I fought to keep it lit but it never went out. Aside from that I enjoyed the full-body flavor and richness this cigar had to offer. I look forward to reviewing others in the Punch line.

So what’s the bottom line? It’s good and you should try one for yourself. That’s it for now, till my next review remember “It’s simply about the cigar.”

I first tried this cigar at an event over the past weekend I picked up one each of the Cusano line.

I started with the Habano LXI witch is a robusto 5 x 50 with a Sun Grown Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Dominican binder and filler. It has a wonderful smooth med-full bodied, earthy and leathery flavor with a hint of  pepper,rich smooth aroma, good draw and the whitest ash i’ve ever seen.

My wife who enjoys a mild smoke tried it and loved it too. She encourage me to go ahead and buy a box. I’ll be reviewing other cigars in this line over the next week or so.