I know, I know, the site was down earlier this morning and I am sorry. I set the domain to auto-renew on a closed account. I’m an idiot. But hopefully today’s review of Camacho’s Room 101 Namakubi Roxxo makes up for it!

The Good Stuff: The Namakubi was released at this year’s IPCPR show in Las Vegas, and the be honest, it was one of, if not the most talked about blend from the show. This limited edition release will only be available for a short amount of time. There is only going to be 100,000 cigars released. This may seem like a high number, but it’s considerably low once you factor in the volume Camacho sells at. The cigar will be available in six different sizes and will rand between $6 to $10. The names are just as interesting as Matt Booth himself. I know there was some sort of connection with the names and maybe a hip hop artist or something of the like, I just never fully made the connect. Maybe someone “in-the-know” can fill me in. The sizes are: “Papi Chullo” – 42 x 4, “Roxxo” – 48 x 4, “Tiburon” – 44 x 6, “Sucio” – 48 x 7, and the “Monstro” – 60 x 5. You can pick these up now at Bonita Smoke Shop before they are sold out!

In Room 101’s press release they define “Namakubi”:

Although in many ways long gone, Samurai culture is believed to live on in spirit within certain groups. In ancient times when two Samurai clans would gather for competition there was a great deal at stake. Normally, the losing party would die as a result of wounds sustained in battle or be executed upon defeat. The Namakubi, or freshly severed head of the losing party would be prepared on a wooden tray then tagged in a regimented manner and presented to the leader of the winning clan as a gift.

Size: “Roxxo” 48 x 4  –  Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano  –  Binder: Propietary “Generoso” Honduran Seed  –  Filler: Dominican/Honduran

Prelight: The Room 101 Namakubi Roxxo is a stout little cigar. The size is just awesome and I hope it turns out great. With winter quickly approaching Daniel and I (more so Daniel due to the great white north) are always looking for great, short smokes. The wrapper on the Namakubi is a nice medium brown which starts off much light, but then gradually gets darker as you approach the foot of the cigar. The construction is great and there are only on larger vein towards the top of the cigar leading up to the seamless triple wrapped cap. Outside of a little excess glue on the wrapper, this cigar looks great. The Namakubi is really first to the touch giving very little when compressed. The foot of the cigar is a bit mushy though, but nothing really concerning. The band on these are classic Matt Booth sorting a great Asian/Modern typeface with some nice flourishes containing the “Namakubi” logo as well as a smaller “Room 101 LTD” title underneath. The black and red bad also has a really small scripted “LTD” in the back of the band as well.

The wrapper gives off really, no scent at all. I was surprised to find the powerful cedar and spice aroma that actually burned my nose a bit as I took a huge whiff off of the foot of the cigar. The cold draw compliments the aroma by pumping out a nice sweet spice and cedar mix. The cap clipped really clean as easy using my double bladed cutter.

First Smoke: Be careful lighting up this cigar. Because of the small stature my dumb ass burned the hell out of my finger using my single flame butane touch. The first few draws of this Namakubi surprised me. I was expecting really smooth, sweet greeting, but was met with a much more bold experience. The strong tobacco flavor and pepper only lasted a few puffs in before leading to the sweet spice and cedar I was expecting. Outside of the cedar and spice there is this interesting flavor in there that I am having a hard time trying to explain, but the closest thing I can think of is black licorice. A stretch, I know, but there is something in there. The Namakubi gives off a nice amount of stationary smoke but wow does it smell good. It’s like burning bits of cedar in a fireplace. They need to make manly scented candles with this aroma. The draw on this cigar is remarkable kicking out a massive cloud of extremely thick smoke with each little puff I take. The burnline is dead even producing a nice zebra striped black and light grey, tightly compacted ash which held on for about an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: Holy crap the retrohale on this cigar is amazing! I can’t stop doing it. The Namakubi coats my nasal passage with this crazy cedar/gingerbread prime. I love it. This little cigar is turning into a flavor bomb. The tobacco, cedar, and spice is still there but the cigar now introduced this gingerbread and pine medley. I know this is stretching it again but this cigar creates some awesome flavors that you normally can’t find in cigars. The burnline is still dead even on this cigar and I am not feeling any nicotine despite the fuller-body of the Namakubi.

Finish: Another shocked was the amount of pepper that reappeared during the final third of this little cigar. The flavors switched up a bit and now the experience is overall very smooth with some nice cedar, and sweet spices with a ton of pepper. This cigar really keeps you on your toes. I actually felt a little nicotine kick from this tiny little Room 101 Namakubi, but don’t let the size fool you. All in all it took almost an hour to smoke the entire stick with no harshness whatsoever all the way down to the nub.

Overview: Cigar manufacturers have constantly raised the bar, pushing the limits of blends, and Camacho did just that when they created the Room 101 Namakubi. It’s a hell of a cigar. One big characteristic was the flavor as it produced an experience unlike any cigars on the market today. Each year cigars like this one raise our expectations. This full bodied flavor bomb is sure to satisfy the most experience cigar smoker as well as introduce any novice to a world of great cigars. I would by again  and it’s box worthy for sure.

Pairing: As strange as this beer is, I couldn’t have picked a better pairing. Dogfish Head’s Midas touch isn’t for the faint of heart. This “beer”, and I use the term “beer” loosely, is more of a crazy halfbreed beer/mead wine. This 9.0% beast of a brew is actually made from ingredients found 2,700 year old drinking vessels from the tomb of King Midas. This “beer” taste’s nothing like a beer with sweet notes of jasmine, saffron, honey, and an overall floral experience. This beer is EXTREMELY hard to find, and pretty pricey when you do ($5 – $8 a bottle), but it’s well worth it. Even if you hate it, it’s worth trying once. The floral flavors paired wonderfully with the flavor bomb of a cigar the Namakubi was. You really need something to balance out the cigar or the cigar would overpower just about anything you are drinking. This cigar would go great with some really hoppy IPA or even a nice bitter beer.

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Drew Estate ACID Subculture Def Sea Perfecto

If I am not mistaken the only place you can get these are through Cigars International. They’re awesome, and provide super quick shipping out of Pennsylvania.

I would imagine most other subculture blends will be equally hard to find. I have been blessed to have stumbled across 2 other subculture cigars. One was the largest cigar I have ever had. The ACID Hawg. This one was found in my hometown of El Paso, Texas at Kern Place cigars. The place is great, and Brad, the owner is an amazing conversationalist. They have two locations on the West side, one in the Cincinnat Entertainment disctrict and the other a bit further down mesa. They also have one (in which I frequent most often) snuggly hidden just off Lee Trevino on the east side.

The other is the ACID Toast. This I was lucky enough to receive in an infamous Acid Tin. Contents of these tins vary, but they are incredibly easy to find.

The Good Stuff: The entire subculture line boasts “taking cigar manufacturing to new limits”. Each small batch cigar is not only aged an extra year, but is also the most intuitive of infused blends. The ACID Def Sea is no exception. The Def Sea is a smoothly blended cigar wrapped in Sumatra seeded tobacco leaves and infused with the insane blend of flavors from honey water, to jasmine.

Size: 6 x 52  –  Wrapper: Sumatran  –  Strength: Medium  –  Shape: Perfecto  –  Country: Nicaragua

Prelight: The ACID def sea is a perfecto shaped cigar. This means it holds a torpedo shape at both the foot, and the head. Torpedos have to be my favorite shapes as they burn almost perfect every time. The cigar holds a very oily, creamy, dark Sumatra wrapper. It’s very close to a maduro, but no where near as sweet. Sadly from the picture above you can see that my cigar didn’t come in the best condition. Not only does it have a few cracks but the head of the cigar looks like its been smashed one time too many. Outside of that the cigar is great in construction, I can’t image how hard it is to roll one of these.

First Smoke: Kinda funny, but every time I smoke a cigar my wife takes the shaving from the head left on my cutter and sucks on it. Since she isn’t a cigar smoker this is how she bases her reviews. Oddly enough she looked at me with a sad face. She obviously gave this one a thumbs down. Being a man, I felt my review would be much different. The first hit was enormous. That had to be the best part of this cigar outside of the shape. It sports a very large, thick draw. Not nearly as big as the Ambrosia Kaya I reviewed recently, but large none the less. The taste. This is what caught me by surprise. Maybe I’m not a Jasmine fan but I really didn’t like the flavor produced by this cigar. It was really sweet (a good thing), with hints of honey, jasmine, pine, and cedar. The cigar itself wasn’t that flavorful at all and actually felt more like I was smoking a traditional cigar than an aromatic. The cigar was very easy to light, and burned very clean.

Halfway There: Another surprise was the fact that shortly after the first few draws not only did the cigar ash off (not even a half inch in, this may be due to the condition the cigar was in), but the burn seemed to have a mind of its own as you can see here:

Drew Estate Acid Subculture Def Sea Perfecto

One minute its burning great, the next its powerful on one side, then the other. It was kinda interesting to watch. Also note in the picture you can see the wrapping beginning to come undone.

The flavor is still there and hasn’t increased as of yet. As much as I would like it to. The draw has increased a bit and again, its the best part so far.

Finish: On a good note, outside of the image above there were no further defects in the wrapping. The cigar finished very smooth, but still lacked in flavor. I didn’t take it to the nub, but close enough to call it quits. This cigar just wasn’t as “Action-Packed” as I was hoping for. The cigar was still very smooth, and did not increase in strength as I smoked along.

Overview: Would I try this cigar again? Probably not. Would I suggest it to anyone else? Yes, especially if it is someone that solely smokes traditional cigars, or has a fear of infused cigars. I’m not at all unimpressed with this cigar. A lot of work goes into the subculture line and it clearly shows. The flavors in this guy just wasn’t my cup of tea. I still have the “Toast” in my humidor, and the “Hawg” was one hell of a cigar. It actually took me two days to smoke that one down (thank god, and my wife for my Cigar Savor).

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