Vitola: EMH (Robusto Extra)- 5” x 56 ring gauge
- ~$10
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
This could start out as one of those “I never really cared for ‘X’ reviews”…because I never was a huge fan of the RoMa Craft Aquitaine. It was good, but never set my taste buds off like the Cromagnon or Neanderthal, or either version of the Intemperance, for that matter. Because of that, it had literally been 5 years or more since I had smoked one…until recently.
While I was still working at Burns, RoMa Craft reached out to us to see what they could do to improve the brand’s standing and sales in the stores. One of the plans hatched was that Burns would end up getting two boxes of every Limited Edition that RoMa was producing by the end of 2019. There are a certain segment of customers who were excited by the prospect, so we were able to make the deal happen. One of the first things to show up was the Aquitaine EMH Sabre Tooth.
I couldn’t determine how many of these were made, but it seems that it is a very small change to the standard Aquitaine blend. That blend consists of 3 types of Nicaraguan fillers (Esteli, Condega and Pueblo Nuevo Ligero), a Cameroon binder, and an Ecuadorian Habano Ligero wrapper. The Sabre Tooth adds a barber pole effect with a strip of Connecticut Shade added. Bottom line, this strip of leaf is so thin it has little chance of affecting the flavor…but it looks cool.
I have smoked a couple of these already before this review sample. I bought them all at Burns Tobacconist. If you don’t have a RoMa Craft retailer near you, Leaf Enthusiast sponsor, Small Batch Cigar does carry them and had Sabre Tooth in stock as of this writing. I got some information about the Aquitaine blend from Cigar-Coop.
Prelight
As with other RoMa Craft boxes, the Aquitaine EMH Sabre Tooth has a plain wooden box with medium brown cliches on nearly all sides, indicating blend, size, and the Cromagnon skull. This one adds a black cliche of a saber tooth tiger, as well on top and front of the box. Also following RoMa Craft practice, the band is a 2-piece, white band with glyphs in spot UV and a brown band over it with the blend name in blind embossing. RoMa Craft has definitely established a unique band scheme…they are almost impossible to read in any lighting condition, so you won’t know what they are unless you already know…and they are nearly impossible to remove by normal human means…if you try to tear, the glue is so strong that the band will just shred…if you try to slip it over the head, you are likely to catch a piece of wrapper leaf and rip it because the bands are very snug. Still…the bands are unique and the fans of this brand would probably call me all kinds of horrible names just because I had the audacity to criticize them. Come at me, bro.
The Habano wrapper leaf was a medium-dark brown color with a touch of darker mottling and a nice oily feel to it. I don’t know if this is a true barber pole or if just a strip of Connecticut Shade is applied after the initial wrap, but either way, the golden strip was well done and mostly even in width from bottom to top. The reason it’s hard to tell how it was done is that the seams are just that flat and even the whole way. The aroma from the wrapper was earth and cedar with a little bit of a vegetal note that was almost bell pepper. The foot had lighter earthiness, some hay, and a slight unsweetened cocoa powder aroma.
I used my standard Xikar Xi cutter…still the best all-around cutter I’ve used…and got a vey good prelight draw that had flavors of wood, bell pepper, and sweet hay, along with touches of semisweet chocolate and red pepper.
Flavor
Despite its slightly large ring gauge, the Aquitaine Sabre Tooth fired up quickly and easily, delivering flavors of earth and cedar up front, with notes of dark chocolate and dark roast coffee coming in behind, along with a finish that had a nice red pepper spiciness. As I smoked through the first third, earthiness as at the forefront most of the time with the cedar coming and going; the sweetness quickly took a back seat.
During the second third, there was an increase in red pepper flake and it became a major flavor component in the profile, almost equal to earth. The cedar notes faded a bit but the sweeter flavors continued on as a solid counterpoint.
The last third had the cedar flavor come back to prominence with the earthy notes dropping down a bit. The pepper that had come into the fore backed off quite a bit, too, just showing on the finish again.
Construction
I had a great draw, very even burn line and solid ash.
Value
Very good cigar at a slightly above-average price, so good value.
Conclusions
Although I still prefer the original Cromagnon with its Broadleaf sweetness and spice, it was great to revisit the Aquitaine and find that my tastes had changed enough that I really enjoyed it. This Sabre Tooth version is not much different from the regular release when it comes to flavor and it was very flavorful and complex, providing an excellent smoking experience from beginning to end.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
