Vitola: EMH (Early Modern Human; Robusto Extra)- 5” x 56 ring gauge
- $9.49
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
As close as I can tell, the Cromagnon Fomorian first appeared in early 2013, an exclusive for the DC Cigar Tweet-Up. I’m not sure where the idea came from, but someone thought it would be a good idea to spin off a candela-wrapped version of the RoMa Craft Cromagnon. Of course, this was at a time when other candela-wrapped cigars like Illusione Candela, LFD Double Claro, and Alec Bradley Filthy Hooligan were starting to hit the market in force, so it may have been the force of that wave. While those others are still being made, I would wager that none of them as the cult following and media hype of this green cigar, though.
Like the other Cromagnon lines, this has 3 types of Nicaraguan filler, along with a Cameroon binder. While the original line uses Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro and the Aquitaine uses Ecuadorian Habano Ligero for the wrapper leaves, Fomorian uses Ecuadorian Connecticut Candela. Fomorian is a limited production cigar, although I don’t know exactly how many they do each year.
While other lines in the RoMa Craft catalog use names of prehistoric pre-humans, this cigar is named after an Old Irish myth in which the Fomorians were “hostile and monstrous beings who come from under the sea or the earth.” (Wikipedia) So like Alec Bradley, they associated the green wrapper with the Irish, but RoMa chose to do so in a rather obscure manner. I bought my review sample at Burns Tobacconist. I’ve smoked this blend a couple times before this review was written. Leaf Enthusiast sponsor, Small Batch Cigar, was sold out as of this writing, but they do occasionally have them in stock.
Prelight
The box and band for this release is pretty much exactly the same as for the regular Cromagnon EMH, except for “Fomorian” stamped on the box. This won’t phase regular RoMa Craft smokers. The bands are still secured with the strongest glue known to man and with a delicate wrapper like a candela, sliding them will prove even more difficult than normal if there is even the slightest amount of excess glue.
The wrapper leaf was a light green color with a bit of a dusky hue in places and veins that were fairly pronounced. I found cracks on this review sample, but it was the best of the two I purchased when I bought sticks for this review. Bottom line is that this wrapper is thin and delicate…choose your sticks with care before paying for them. The wrapper felt a little dry, which is nothing unusual for this type, and it smelled of hay and wood and cut grass, while the foot gave off notes of earth and chocolate.
After clipping the cap, I got a very good test draw that tasted of a mix of sweet hay, citrus, earth, and milk chocolate.
Flavor
A lot of the “modern” candelas tend to blend to mask the flavor of the candela leaf as much as possible. The Cromagnon Fomorian opens up with a big cut grass and sweet hay flavor, with lemon grass coming in next, then finally earth and sweet chocolate notes. The finish and the retrohale had tons of pepper spice.
I noted that I had to touch up the burn line several times with this cigar, something I don’t generally have to do with either of the other two Cromagnon releases. The second third had the grassiness fade a little bit, while there was still a lemony zest to the mix, backed up by earth and chocolate notes, along with a decent amount of pepper spice.
The last third had an introduction of cedar flavor with citrus and earth notes following behind and sweeter chocolate notes pushed down further in the mix.
Construction
Aside from having to touch up the burn line, I found nothing to complain about in the construction…and even that was a minor annoyance.
Value
The Cromagnon Fomorian has small production yet still maintains an excellent price point. It’s also one of the best candelas on the market, making it a great value.
Conclusions
I said it in the above paragraph: the Cromagnon Fomorian is “one of the best candelas on the market.” It has plenty of earthiness and pepper from the filler/binder bunch, along with a good deal of sweetness, while not backing down from the lighter grass and citrus notes that the wrapper bring to the party. Very good cigar and well worth seeking out if you need a candela for upcoming St. Patrick’s Day smoking.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
