Back in 2015, Room101 Cigars debuted a new cigar with a quirky name – the Johnny Tobacconaut. It was a limited edition Nicaraguan puro made in Honduras. Now six years later, the team from Luxury Cigar Club reached out to Matt Booth, Room 101 Cigars owner, to bring back Johnny as a full production cigar and exclusive to the Luxury Cigar Club (LCC). While the original limited edition was offered in 3 different vitolas, the latest is offered in a single (6 x 56) figurado vitola and is being produced at AJ Fernandez’s factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. It is packaged in 10-count boxes and carries an MSRP of $16.00/cigar.
While the original Johnny Tobacconaut was a Nicaraguan puro, the newest Luxury Cigar Club variety has a blend described as:
- Wrapper – Ecuadorian Connecticut
- Binder – Nicaraguan
- Filler – Nicaraguan
I received a few of these from the Luxury Cigar Club for review on Stogie Press and today I offer that review. It should be noted that this is Chapter 1 of this adventure, and I am told there will be more chapters to come.
Pre-Light Examination
The Room101 Johnny Tobacconaut Chapter 1 LCC Exclusive is an expertly rolled and formed figurado that is wrapped in a silky smooth, golden tan, Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper. There are minimal veins along the barrel and the cigar is firm from head to foot. It has a well applied cap and a perfectly formed tip on the foot. Before you get to see the actually cigar, you need to remove the outer paper sleeve that displays “Johnny Tobacconaught” in gold on a gloss black background. The only part of the cigar you can see is the head and the foot under that sleeve, but trust me the cigar is pristine once you remove it.
In addition to the outer paper sleeve, the cigar is adorned with two other bands. The primary band displays an image of “Johnny”, just like on the sleeve. He is a walking astronaut carrying a shovel and tobacco leaves. You can see he is just ready to get to work. The name Room 101 is printed on the side. A secondary band is placed just below using the same gold and black motif and declares this as the “Johnny Tobacconaut”.
As I ran the barrel of the cigar along my nose, I picked up an enticing buttery nut aroma. Of course, with the figurado foot tip, I was not able to discern and notes off the foot.
I used my double blade Xikar cutter to slice the cap straight, about a 1/4 inch down and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs. I can’t comment on the restriction factor due to the narrow tip on the foot of the figurado but the flavors were as intriguing as the barrel aroma, offering notes of sweet fruity cream with a growing peppery spice. I am thinking that Johnny is going to take me on a pleasant journey.
With the pre-light much to my liking, I used my single flame torch to ignite the tip and started to draw in the first puffs of light pepper and butter notes. I know some of you slice the tip off the foot to open it up for the first light, but I respect the craftmanship of the rollers and always light the tip. A good figurado should have no problem burning through the tip and this one met that expectation. Follow along as I take a journey with Johnny and burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Initial light delivers pepper and butter notes
- Once it gets past the tip, the draw opens up well and delivers a full volume of smoke to the palate
- The early butter notes scale back to more of a cream note as the pepper recedes
- White ash forms on top of a thick wavy char line
- There is a slight papery note early on that offsets the cream
- A pleasant cinnamon aroma wafts off the foot with an added fruit note entering the second third
- Ash fell in a decent chunk revealing a well formed burn cone
- Delicate sweetness adds to the growing pleasure, deep in the second third
- Chocolate nuances balance the profile
- Sweetness maintains
- Bitter notes in final with a slight spice increase
- Mild to Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 50 Minutes
Final Analysis
The Room 101 Johnny Tobacconaut Chapter 1 Luxury Cigar Club Exclusive was a fairly pleasurable cigar that offered a medium body of flavor and mild to medium strength throughout the journey. I enjoyed the cream and cinnamon notes early in the experience and found the second third to be the best part of the cigar with its growing core of sweetness and added chocolate nuances. The palate was fairly clean after each puff with just a mild lingering fruit note. The final got a tad bitter with an increased spice note to finish. This is one you may want to grab a fiver of and enjoy in the morning. I rate this a 90.
Point Deductions: (-1) Mild Wave in the Burn; (-2) Slight Papery Note Early in the Journey; (-1) Tad bitter in the final
