Vitola: Corona- 6” x 44 ring gauge
- ~$10.75
- Purchased at Maxamar Ultimate Cigar
Background
During the re-launch of the Room101 Cigars brand, brand owner, Matt Booth, worked with Robert Caldwell on several projects, and they worked alongside AJ Fernandez on one in particular: The T. The blend was originally referred to as “The Truth,” although it had to be changed for copyright reasons. It debuted in 2017 with a Maduro wrapper, which was soon followed up with a Connecticut Shade version, and 2019 saw the release of the Habano edition.
The T Habano uses Nicaraguan filler and binder, along with a Habano wrapper of unspecified origin. It is available in 4 different sizes.
Also of note is the fact that the collaborative efforts of Matt Booth and Robert Caldwell seem to be offered by both companies for sale, meaning that The T and Hit & Run could be considered Caldwell brands or Room101 brands.
I picked up my first sample of The T Habano at Maxamar Ultimate Cigar in Orange, California, back in October. This review is based on that first smoking of the blend. If your local shop doesn’t carry these, Leaf Enthusiast sponsor and the online arm of Maxamar, Small Batch Cigar, does have them available.
Prelight
The T Habano keeps with the packaging design of the previous releases in the series with the name of the blend and the names of the collaborators all featured prominently on the box lid. The main thing different is the color scheme. The first had a gray background (except for one release that was green). The Connecticut was gold. Now the Habano is dark brown. The band is a different color scheme, as well, though it doesn’t perfectly match the box. The main band is olive green with some yellow trim and white type, while the secondary band is yellow with olive type.
The wrapper leaf was a milk chocolate brown color with a nice oiliness to the touch and a strong aroma of earth and manure. The foot of the cigar had notes of earth and coffee bean and cocoa powder.
Once clipped, The T Habano had a good draw with cold flavors of cedar and a light fruity sweetness, along with a touch of earth.
Flavor
The T Habano started off with a heavy woodiness, mostly cedar, but some other generic wood notes in the mix, as well. There was a little sweetness, almost a citrus note, along with a white pepper on the finish. After a few minutes, the wood backed off slightly and allowed more sweetness to come through.
As I got into the second third, the pepper built steadily and I got more cedar while the sweetness morphed into more of a dark fruit note. There was some earth in the background and the retrohale was nutty and a little spicy.
The last third of The T Habano had a crescendo of woody flavor with black pepper that was intense at times and a lingering sweetness that provided a nice balance.
Construction
The draw was very good, the burn line was even enough, and the ash held on for a half inch or more.
Value
The experience was good. The price tag was a bit high, just on the verge of too high, really, for an AJ Fernandez blend. Still I was okay with the price if not happy with it.
Conclusions
The T Habano is a nice installment in the series. I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as the original (Maduro) but it was good and I would smoke it again. It was characterized mostly by notes of wood throughout with pepper and fruit sweetness to provide balance. It wasn’t my favorite example of a Habano-wrapped cigar, but it was a pleasant experience.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
