At the 2016 IPCPR, Rafael Nodal of Boutique Blends introduced the newest cigar in the Aging Room family – the Solera. During the event Rafael held a press conference to describe the unique and innovative concept to this cigar. You can watch Rafael explain his creation and the process used here:
The Aging Room Solera is available in 4 different blends:
- Dominican Sun Grown
- Maduro
- Shade
- Corojo
As Rafael explains:
“The Solera method of aging has been used for centuries in the making of wine, sherry, rum and brandy. Now, for the first time, we are using the Solera system by combining different vintages of tobacco at different stages of the aging process to obtain a fuller flavor and more complex cigar.”
Each blend of the Solera is available in 3 vitolas – each with a musical term:
- Festivo – 52 x 4.7
- Fantastico – 54 x 5.6
- Fanfare – 57 x 6.125
Each vitola is packed in box counts of 21 and retail in the range of $6.00 to $7.50. The boxes are bold in color as are the bands on the cigar.You certainly won’t miss these on the shelf!
For this review I sampled the Aging Room Solera – Dominican Sun Grown Fantastico which is an orchestrated blend comprised of:
- WRAPPER
Dominican Corojo - FILLER
Dominican Habano - BINDER
Dominican Habano
As a gift for attending the press conference, I received an Aging Room Solera – Dominican Sun Grown in a special commemorative IPCPR 2016 Coffin box.
Cigar Review Notes
- Black tea aroma on foot
- Removed secondary band – delicious sweet tobacco aroma along barrel
- Finished with a twisted cap
- Medium to dark brown silky smooth wrapper
- Tea and graham cracker on the cold draw
- Toasty on first puffs with just a smattering of pepper
- Smooth retrohale
- Early nut entry
- Syrupy sweetness evolves
- Restricted draw with medium body of smoke
- Baking spice (nutmeg) notes wrapped in dry leather
- Light grey ash on a wavy medium char line
- Ash falls revealing a slightly off centered burn cone
- Lemon peel enters start of second third
- Long nutty finish
- The lemon continues with a spicy retrohale through end of second third
- Wave fixed and ash is carrying long
- Background of honey fills the profile with the nut makes for a honey roasted nut flavor into the final third
- Long 90 minute smoke
Overall the Aging Room Solera Dominican Sun Grown was a flavorful smoke that provided a solid 90 minutes of smoking pleasure. I particularly enjoyed the lemon and honey notes. I was a bit concerned with the burn through the first half but it found itself in the second half. My personal preference would be a more open draw but again that is personal.
Aging Room Solera