The Good Stuff: The OSOK is the latest release from room101, created by Camacho. Room101 is a brand masterminded by fashion/jewelry aficionado extraordinaire Matt Booth. Not only is Matt one of the more unique people in the cigar community, but during a recent trip to the Dominican Republic with a handful of fellow bloggers we were each talking about who the nicest, most down to Earth people in the industry are and his name was mentioned by just about every single one of us there.

On the tail-end of last year’s Namakubi and Connecticut releases, Matt decided to release a small-run, brick and mortar exclusive blend, the One Shot, One Kill. I’m not positive how many boxes were released in the limited edition release, but I know that there aren’t many left out there. We were lucky enough to find this box at Smoke Inn, but I don’t know how many, if any at all they still have left.

The OSOK starts out with Honduran Corojo and Dominican Piloto Ligero fillers, bound by a Honduran Corojo binder and a Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. The Cigar comes in 3 sizes, all of which are figurados, the Chingon (8 – 60×44), the Filero (4.5 – 52×42), and the Trucha (6.5 – 30x50x19) come in boxes of 10 and run from $8 – $12 a stick.

 Size: 6.5 – 30x50x19  –  Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano  –  Binder: Honduran Corojo  –  Filler: Honduran Corojo/Dominican Piloto Ligero

Prelight: I don’t know if unwrapping the OSOK is fun, or more of a curse. There is a lot of room for error, but luckily I was able to cleanly remove the Chinese fingertrap looking outer wrap (which looked something like a cool Asian, sugar skull, bandana theme, to reveal another layer of tissue paper which easily came right off. After “undressing” the cigar I am finally greeted with a simple, black and silver Oval band with the “O.S.O.K.” logo, “Room101LTD” and “Exclusivo Para La Familia 101” underneath. I love the artwork on the packaging, although the band looks somewhat similar to some of the Zino bands.

The cigar itself is a beautiful dark, rich, oily chocolate brown with a nice toothyness and over a few smaller veins running through the cigar. As most Figurado’s the foot of the cigar starts out at a small point as the body widens up before tapering up to a very pointy double cap. The wrapper feels really tough and durable as the cigar actually weighs a lot less than I thought it would. It’s light and very comfortable in hand.

The wrapper gives off only a very light cedar and floral aroma while the foot of the OSOK boasts of strong cedar and spice. The cap cut clean and quite easy using my double bladed Palio cutter. The OSOK produced a nice, super sweet, cedar infused cold draw with just  a touch of spice. I’ve always applauded Camacho’s thick cedar flavored tobacco and I hope this one carries matching characteristics.

First Smoke: It takes a little bit, but the foot of the Room101 OSOK finally get’s lit using my single flame butane torch. I’m always skeptical on how well figurados will burn. Expecting the OSOK to start off with some powerful cedar flavors, I was surprised when I was greeted with a much deeper, dark chocolate, coffee, and roasted nut flavor with just a hint of spice. The draw started out really tight, but after the foot finally toasted up the OSOK began to produce massive clouds of thick, white smoke with every little puff. The cigar gives off a decent amount of amazingly cedar-scented stationary smoke. Startling enough, the burnline is dead even right off the bat, producing a semi-flaky, dark grey and black ash which flowered up a little on the tip. The ash held on for an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: There’s the cedar! Into the second third of this Room101 OSOK, the cedar has finally jumped up to what I expected. I know a lot of readers don’t like the strong cedar cigars, but I absolutely LOVE it when done well. And Camacho tops the list of perfectly balanced, cedar-heavy cigars. Outside of that, the coffee and chocolate are still in there, just very mild along with the spice that’s only really evident in the aftertaste. The retrohale, needless to say, is awesome and primes with a massively strong cedar flavor/aroma. I am not feeling any nicotine from this cigar yet, and it’s still burning dead even with a razor-sharp burnline.

Finish: Along with the spice, the body and chocolate started to really ramp up into the final third of this Room101 OSOK. Even with the strong and bold flavors this cigar has remained smooth, yet complex throughout. I am only feeling a very slight nicotine kick as I took this 2 hour cigar down to the nub. No harshness, no heat, just smooth and enjoyable. Even though its dry and winder here in the desert, I had no dry mouth either which is always a huge plus.

Overview: Camacho has always created quality smokes in my opinion. I didn’t know what to think about the Room101 when it first debuted. From my experience with Matt Booth’s bends, they are really hit or miss. Either they are decent cigars, or just amazing blends. Even through all the hype that surround these cigars, there have been a few blends that surpassed the hype as exceptional cigars, and the OSOK is one of them. I went into this smoke a bit apprehensive as there is a lot of marketing, design, and hype put into this limited edition run. I am happy to say the OSOK lived up to it in every possible way. The cigar is outstanding, from the flavors, to the construction, and yes, even the crazy thought and design that went into these. This cigar may be a bit pricey, but know that you are paying for a quality, enjoyable smoke and not the packaging. The $10 price tag is well worth is for any seasoned smoked as well as the novice looking for a premium experience.  If you can find them, spring for a box, you won’t regret it.

Pairing: Going out on a limb here, I wouldn’t recommend this pairing for the faint of beer-heart. New Belgium La Folie is a yearly limited-run series. It’s a Flanders-style reddish brown sour ale. That’s right, another sour. And probably one of the most sour beers I have ever had. Each sip make’s my lips pucker up with hints of cinnamon, orange, cheery, apple, barley and hops. La Folie is brewed once a year at the New Belgium brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado. Coming in at 6% ABV this beer made a perfect non-traditional pairing with the Room101 OSOK. While the OSOK is smooth and flavorful the sourness from the La Folie really pushed some crazy citrus flavors through the experience and added a whole new dimension to an already complex cigar. If you haven’t had a sour ale before, do not start with this one. You will hate it. If you are on the fence when it comes to sour ales, don’t try this one. But if you like Flanders/sours then La Folie is the epitome of a perfect sour ale. At $14 a bottle and aged for 1-3 years in French oak barrels, it’s not for the weary.

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The Good Stuff: The Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial is the second cigar blended by the legendary Don Pepin Garcia’s son, Jaime Garcia (My Father being the first). The Reserva Especial is a blend consisting of two different Nicaraguan tobaccos. One grown by the Pepin family, the other grown by the well known Oliva Tobacco Company wrapped in my personal favorite wrapper, the Connecticut broadleaf.

The size I am doing a review of is the toro. You can easily order these from the great team over at Bonita Smokeshop, along with just about any other Pepin product.

Size: 6 x 54 – Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf – Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan – Body: Medium/Full

Prelight: The Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial is a toothy little beast. The cigar is wrapped with a beautifully, very dark chocalatey brown. The wrapper gleams from the massive amount of oils from the foot, all the way to the rounded off, triple wrapped cap. The Reserva Especial is firm to the touch near the head of the cigar, but quite softer then most cigars movie down to the foot. There aren’t any real soft spots, but the softness of this cigar almost worries me. It does have a good weight to it though. There is only one, very small vein on the underside of the cigar. The band stays true to form with most of the my father cigars we see coming out of that factory. Its an off-white with a full brown, gold, and blue crest stating “Jaime Garcia” and “Reserva Especial”. The underside of the band simply states “My Father Cigars”. The wrapper gives off a very sweet, chocolate and mocha type aroma where as the foot of this cigar has a more pronounced oat and tobacco scent with cocoa undertones. The cigar was clipped with ease by my Cuban Crafters Perfecto double blade cutter. The cold draw was very firm with rich tobacco, cocoa, and lots spice.

First Smoke: As I have come to expect from most cigars produced in the My Father factory the Reserva Especial starts off with a boom of spice and pepper. This initial hit pairs seamlessly with the sharp spice of the New Belgium Biere De Mars that I have decided to pair this cigar with. Once the pepper begins to wear off, subtle notes of cocoa and coffee become present over stronger notes of sweet tobacco, leather, and wood. The burnline is razor sharp but has developed a bit of a wave pattern early into the cigar. The draw is very loose, and produces a very thick, cedar scented cloud of smoke. The Reserva Especial gives off little to no stationary smoke, and what little bit of smoke that does is escape is pleasantly scented with a strong cedar aroma as well. The ash is a very light grey and very tightly packed in most places. The ash held tight for about an inch and a half before falling.

Halfway There: The pepper introduction to this cigar was just that, and is not longer present. The dominating flavor is by far the woodsy, grassy flavor that began as just an afterthought in the first third backed by the sweet tobacco, and a strong, almost espresso coffee. There retrohale on this cigar is to die for. Almost pure cedar, and in credibly smooth. I’m impressed thus far with how just perfectly smooth this cigar is. The burnline did a heck of a job fixing itself, and has burned perfectly and still razor sharp all the way through the second third. Up until this point I still have yet to feel any signs of nicotine.

Finish: What a smooth finish, and I can’t stress that enough. This cigar is definitely @KightRid acceptable with no signs what so ever of nicotine. The Reserva Especial finished off very clean and smooth with the dominant flavor still being wood and grass, backed up by cocoa and lots of strong coffee notes. The burn went a little wavy into the final third, but cleaned itself up and there was no need for any types of relights or touch ups. The pepper did make a slight come back deep within the last inch or so, but it was more of just a reminder of how this cigar started out. All in all it took only about an hour and a half to take down this Toro sized cigar.

Overview: Overall I was VERY impressed with this cigar. I am a Pepin love through and through and this cigar didn’t fail in any way shape or form. The woodsy, sweet, soft cocoa and coffee flavors preformed brilliantly with one another. Near perfect burn, medium body, and great aftertaste. And with the affordable price point? You really couldn’t ask for me. Perfect for a beginner cigar smoker, and everyday cigar for the aficionado, This cigar will be in my regular rotation from this point forward. Box worth by far.

Pairing: The Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial was paired with one of my favorites, New Belgium’s Lips of Faith Series Biere De Mars. New Belgium has a knack for coming up with some of the best traditional brews, and as of late some of the better non traditional. They save these brews for the Lips of Faith collection. Very sought after, and VERY hard to come by these brews are more expensive to produce, and require a more skillful team making them so rare. The Biere de Mars I drank was picked up on my latest trip to Denver Colorado. I ventured north to the New Belgium brewery in Fort Collins and picked up a few beers to take back with me.

Biere De Mars is a Celestial collision of orange – hued ale, citrusy lemon verbena, and unidentified flying brettanomyces.

I don’t know exactly what that means, but its good stuff. 6.2% citrus, bready, spicy beer. It was just an absolute perfect match for this cigar. I would recommend something of the sort for pairing, or even a hefty stout, iced tea or apple juice. Something citrusy, and sweet.

New Belgium - Lips of Faith - Biere De Mars - Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial

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