At this years PCA Trade Show, Matt Booth and His Room 101 Cigars team were showcasing his latest anniversary cigar – the 12th Anniversary. The (6 x 52) toro is hand handcrafted at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez in Nicaragua. This is the same factory that produced the 10th Anniversary. Do not ask me about the 11th – it was a secret.
Matt describes this as a his strongest Anniversary cigar to date and notes that it is a Nicaraguan Puro with a blend of leaf all grown, harvested, and cured on AJ’s fincas and explained simply as:
- Wrapper – Nicaraguan Maduro
- Binder – Nicaraguan
- Filler – Nicaraguan
In a press release for this cigar, Matt Booth stated this will be the strongest anniversary smoke to date.
The Room 101 – 12th Anniversary Toro is expressed in a single toro vitola and comes packaged in 20-count boxes with an MSRP of $11.00/cigar. Production of the 12th Anniversary was limited to a run of 1,001 boxes and has now begun shipping to retailer.
For this review, I sampled one of these cigars which I was gifted by the one and only – Shirtless Mike Holmes.
Pre-Light Examination
The Room 101 – 12th Anniversary sports an oily, dark brown wrapper that is smooth to the touch and has minimal veins running through the barrel. The cigar is solidly packed and seems to be well constructed finhed with a simple cap.
A single teal and white band with gold accents adorns the cigar. The center of which contains the company’s logo and the phrase “12TH ANNV” printed below. The right sides notes the years of operation “2009 – 2021” and the left side identifies it as a “ROOM101” brand. Once the band is removed, you will note the back of the band that states “no good deeds”. We will leave that as it stands.
Running the cigar along the nasals I noted a lightly pungent aroma along the barrel while the foot exuded enticing natural tobacco sweetness.
I sliced the cap straight across the shoulder of the cigar with my double blade Xikar cutter and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs. This is where the cigar starts to immediately impress me with notes of orange blossom honey and pepper. The more you puff the more the pepper grows on the pre-light.
Using my double flame torch lighter, I warmed the foot to an even orange glow. The foot took well to the heat and immediate off the first puffs I was greeted with pepper and honey notes. Follow along as burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Pepper and honey notes to start
- Orange citrus moves in quickly to brighten the blend
- Light grey ash forms on top of a medium char line
- Smooth draw with a decent smoke output
- Sweet toasted cracker notes add to the mix
- Ash fell after an inch of burn revealing a flat but centered burn cone
- Malt builds in the background
- There is a lingering mouth watering citrus after every puff
- Dark Chocolate notes enter in the second third to add to the pleasure
- Sweet and spicy aroma is wafting off the foot
- Creamy notes add to the chocolate
- Spice starts to develop midway with underlying cocoa notes
- Touch of earth deep in second third
- Strength is moving up rapidly
- Spice grows down through the final with nuances of chocolate and citrus
- Full Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 50 minutes
Final Analysis
The Room 101 – 12th Anniversary Toro is a blend worthy of an anniversary cigar. The flavor profile is one that the most experienced palate would certainly enjoy, I know I did. I especially enjoyed the pre-light orange honey that found it’s way into the journey early in the burn. The complexity of this had me wanting another when it was finished. It is a full strength cigar that creeps up on you so be prepared. The burn was excellent with just a flat burn cone when the ash dropped. This is most certainly worth picking up one of the 1001 boxes that are out there and I rate this one a solid 96. Great job Matt and AJ. I do believe you can find these at Smoke Rings 72 in Merritt Island Fl.
Point Deductions: (-1) Flat Burn Cone
Bonus Points: (+1) Buy a Box; (+1) Pristine Burn Line; (+1) Extremely Complex
