Vitola: Espressivo
Size 5” x 50 ring gauge
Price: approx. $7.75
Purchased at Smoky’s Tobacco
Background
Aging Room Cigars is one of those “enigma” companies in the cigar industry. You hear about them, you might see them in magazines, but finding a retailer who carries them can be a challenge. Certain bloggers rave about them, but when you check the stores they bought from, they are sold out. So they almost exist just on a sort of “underground word-of-mouth.” Well, except for the occasional appearance on the big lifestyle magazines annual list of cigars they favored. For 2011, the M356 blend made the list and for 2013 the F55 Quattro showed up.
From the company’s website:
The new concept of Aging Room is to bring you blends made from rare and limited tobacco, whose limited availability would be insufficient for a regular release and is made only in small batches.
Not to sound jaded, but some of that is sounding somewhat familiar. Lots of small batch and limited release sticks on the market these days, from companies both large and small. Aging Room is the brainchild of the same people who gave us Swag Cigars, namely the Oliveros Cigar Company.
The F55 Quattro was named the #2 cigar (and #1 non-Commie-Dirtbag cigar) of 2013. It uses Dominican filler and binder, along with a Sumatra wrapper from the 2003 harvest. According to the Oliveros website:
The blend F55 gets its name because the blend was conceived on February 24, 2012, when the wrapper, Sumatra Wrapper aged since 2003, arrived in our factory from a German manufacturer that was aging (it) for a special release, but due to the current economic problems of Europe, decided to sell it to us.
The Quattro F55 is a Small Batch production of approximately 400,000 cigars.
It was made in 5 vitolas and I bought 2 sample of this size from Smoky’s in Knoxville. This review is based on my second cigar.
Prelight
The design of the Aging Room bands is still interesting to me…a combination of Old West and Grunge in the fonts, along with brass knuckle icons, some embossing and foil…it all makes for an attractive and unique look. The wrapper was light brown in color, with some darker mottling, and it was oily to the touch, though not so much to the eye. The box pressing was about average, with the corners defined, but not sharp, the sides not quite straight, but with no threat that the cigar will roll of the table. Giving it a sniff, I got floral and sweet hay notes on the wrapper, with more sweet hay and a touch of earth on the foot.
The cigar felt fairly light for its size and after cutting, the very open draw confirmed that it was a little less than solidly packed. Plus side: I shouldn’t have to worry about too tight a draw. Downside: the cigar might well burn fast and hot. The prelight flavors were mostly grassy and mildly earthy.
Flavor
Once lit the F55 Quattro provided a solid earth and cedar base flavor, along with subtle metallic, mineral-y notes. The retrohale was nutty and had a blast of red pepper. The pepper went away fairly quickly and the remainder of the first third had notes of wood, earth and hay on the palate, roasted nuts on the nose.
During the second third, I got more earth and cedar on the palate, while the grassier notes diminished. The retrohale was still nutty, but the red pepper spiciness returned as well. Heading into the end run, the cedar flavors held sway with earthiness playing a solid supporting role.
Construction
The light-weight construction I noted in prelight did mean that the cigar burned fairly quickly, though not as hot as I had feared. I did a couple minor touch-ups, but the ash was mostly solid for half an inch, with just a bit of flaking. The draw was just a bit too loose.
Value
This size of cigar hovering around the $7.50 to $8 mark is a good value, especially considering the “small batch” designation (although how small a batch is 400,000 sticks, really…I have to be honest when I say that small batch to me is more of the 10,000 to 50,000 range).
Conclusions
Overall, the Aging Room F55 Quattro was a solid smoke, exhibiting the best of what Dominican tobaccos can bring, especially when paired with a fine, aged Sumatra wrapper. While I would not have named it #1 free-world cigar of the year, I can see why it has achieved a following among those who like a very cedary flavor profile. Not liking my cigars to be overly cedar, I found this one to provide a very good balance with other flavors. The body was medium to full, as was the nicotine strength level.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
This article originally appeared on Tiki Bar Online
