RoMa Craft Aquitaine EMH Cigar Review

Last month my good friend and Stogie press associate Alton Otto, gifted me a RoMa Craft Aquitaine EMH cigar. This is a cigar I have not smoked yet and it has been out for a several years. It is a sister blend to the RoMa Craft CroMagnon and according to the company’s website it sports:

“the same long-filler, full-bodied blend found in the US Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapped CroMagnon, including its unique Cameroon binder. However, the Aquitaine features a beautiful Ecuador Habano Ligero wrapper selected from the best tobacco we could find. This eighth and ninth priming ligero leaf is thick, oily and has amazing texture.”

The full blend is described as:

• Wrapper -Ecuador Habano Ligero
• Binder – Cameroon
• Filler – Nicaragua

Roma Craft Tobac adds more to the blend description by stating:

“The filler leaf for this blend was acquired from three separate growing regions in Nicaragua: Esteli, Condega and a small farm north of Esteli on the Honduran border, Pueblo Nuevo. This third leaf, a ligero, brings a strong, smoky, savory flavor to the blend. When combined with the spicy characteristics of the habano wrapper, the exotic bite of the Cameroon binder and the clean finish of its viso and seco companions, the blend adds another dimension to the deep rich tobacco flavor we present in the CroMagnon.”

The RoMa Craft Aquitaine is available in six vitolas, each with a unique name and packaged in 24-count boxes:

• The Knuckle Dragger, a 4 x 52 Petit Robusto – ($6.25)
• The Mandible, a 4 ½ x 60 Petite Gordo – ($7.25)
• The Mode 5, a 5 x 50 Short Perfecto – ($7.00)
• The EMH, a 5 x 56 Robusto Extra – ($7.75)
• The Anthropology, a 5 ¾ x 46 Grand Corona – ($7.25)
• The Cranium, a 6 x 54 Gran Toro – ($8.25)

There is also a Store Exclusive/Event Only vitola:

• The Atlatl, a 7 x 38 Lancero – ($9.50)

With the amazing description from the company I was intrigued to sample and review the RoMa Craft Aquitaine EMH.

Pre-Light Examination

The RoMa Craft Aquitaine EMH is short stout cigar with a gorgeous medium-dark brown wrapper finished with a well applied triple cap. The cigar is tightly packed with no soft spots along the barrel. There is a decent oily sheen to the wrapper and it has no heavy veins but there are a few bumps.

Like most RoMa Craft Tobac cigars, the Aquitaine is finished with a simple band. In this case a thin medium brown and white band that states Aquitaine in raised letters.

As I ran the cigar across the nose I did not pick much up along the barrel but did get a musty earth aroma off the foot.

I sliced the cap with my double blade Colibri cutter just above the first line of the cap and gave it some cold draw puffs. The draw was open and offered a deep earthy note.

I used my triple torch to  warm the foot to a nice orange glow and began the Aquitaine journey.

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Cigar Review Notes

• Early light was fairly smooth with a light hit of pepper
• There is that early earth and musty note in the profile
• Salty butter note joins the mix after a half-inch of burn
• Sweet cracker aroma
• Light grey ash develops on thick char line
• Sweetness moves in at the end of the second third 
• Strength start to ratchet up
• Spice enters near mid way
• Hint of bitterness enters end of the second third 
• Sweetness moves back in with a touch of cocoa powder 
• Burn has been beautiful 
• Coffee completes the journey in the final third
• Finishes with a medium plus in strength
• Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 15 minutes

Overall, the RoMa Craft Aquitaine EMH was flavor packed cigar with continuous transitions through the burn to keep the palate enticed. There was a slight bitterness at the end of the second third but that was overtaken by natural sweetness after a few puffs. The burn was error free from foot to nub and this is one you want to take to the nub!  Although the strength starts off easy on this be aware that it does crank up after the midway point.