The Good Stuff: As I said, the Aquitaine Blockhead is a shop exclusive to Monte’s in Albuquerque and used to be only available at events. The Aquitaine blend itself is not an exclusive and made it’s debut at last year’s IPCPR. The exclusiveness pertains to the box-pressed format of the blockhead while the blend remains the same. The Aquitaine blockhead isn’t RoMa Craft Tobac’s first shop exclusive. Actually, it’s not even the first “Blockhead”. Skip Martin of RoMa Craft Tobac had previously released a Blockhead version of the Aquitaine’s sister line, the Cromagnon (which I reviewed here) to Tower Pipes and Cigars in Sacramento, California and Tobacco Grove in Maple Grove, Minnesota. The Aquitaine starts off with an Ecuadorian Habano Ligero wrapper, a Cameroon binder, and 3 different Nicaraguan fillers each from Esteli, Condega, and Pueblo Nuevo which is a small town on the Northern border of Nicaraguan and Honduras. The blend is identical to the Cromagnon only replaces the Connecticut Broadleaf with the Ecuadorian Habano Ligero. The Aquitaine comes in 8 different sizes including the Box Pressed Blockhead (6 x 54), the Knuckle Dragger (4 x 52), the Mandible (4.5 x 60), the EMH Early Modern Human (5 x 56), the Anthropology (5.75 x 56), the Cranium (6 x 54), and two limited edition sizes including the Atlatl (7 x 38) and the Mode 5 (5 x 50 perfecto). The Blockhead runs $9 a stick and they had plenty in stock at Monte’s while I was there. For more information about Monte’s you can visit their site here, Facebook here, instagram here or twitter here. I always stop in whenever I am in town (El Paso isn’t too far from them) and they have always been great people.

Size: 6 x 54 Box Pressed
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Ligero
Binder: Cameroon
Filler: Nicaraguan from Condega, Esteli, and a Ligero from Pueblo Nuevo
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $9.00
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales / Evil Twin Brewing Bible Belt (Imperial Coffee/Vanilla/Chili/Cacao Stout 13% ABV)

Prelight: The Aquitaine Blockhead is one badass looking cigar. We’ll start with the format in which the name “Blockhead” is obviously pulled from. It’s box-pressed to the max almost forming a perfect square. The corners and edges are real sharp and hard. Again, I’ve said it over and over I am a huge box-press fan and absolutely love this size. It’s very comfortable in both the hand and the mouth. Next we have the wrapper. The Aquitaine carries a very thick, incredibly toothy, and incredibly oily texture. It’s definitely one of the prettier wrapper leafs as the medium and dark brown color showcases the natural webbing in the leaf and carries only a few smaller veins. The Blockhead is rather firm and packed pretty tightly. It’s a heavier cigar but again the box-press makes it really comfortable to hold despite being a longer format. There are absolutely no soft spots or construction flaws. The cigar is capped off with a stoutly round, seamless, triple cap. The Aquitaine Blockhead is then polished off with the standard brown, and white layered, letterpressed bands with the word “Aquitaine” pressed into the front and the RoMa Craft Tobac logo in white on the back. I am a HUGE fan of these bands. Simple, elegant, clean, and they serve the purpose of distinguishing your cigars without the need to be overly flashy letting the cigar’s appearance speak for itself. I’ll put these bands up there with the Liga Privada, Most Tatuaje, and Illusione bands as my all time favorites.

The wrapper on the Aquitaine Blockhead lets looks a whole ton of syrupy, molasses, chocolate aroma mixed over some bold tobacco notes while the foot of the cigar is a bit more modest only showing some natural tobacco and spice aromas. The cap cut very clean and easily using my handy Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some strong syrup, and raisin notes with a bit of spice and tobacco mixed in.

First Smoke: The Aquitaine Blockhead starts off with some modest black pepper backed by some sharp spice, raisin, espresso and some grassy tobacco flavors. As I smoked down the first inch the pepper completely faded away and a real nice brown sugar sweetness crept its way in. While the Blockhead is very tightly packed with tobacco the format makes it incredibly easy to get a nice, big, thick draw with every little puff kicking out tons of dense, white smoke. The burnline is a bit thick, but dead even forming a compacted medium and dark gray ash which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: As I venture into the second third of RoMa Craft Tobac’s Aquitaine Blockhead some really interesting charred meat flavors began to sneak into the flavor profile. Maybe I’m just hungry, maybe the heat is starting to get to me but it was actually pretty potent and mixed in well with the syrup, cedar, and spice while there was still a slight sugar and espresso on the aftertaste. The retrohale far more modest than I was expecting as it coats my nasal passage with some soft cedar, spice, and plum. I really enjoy the retrohale from the Aquitaine and find myself routing it that way quite often. The draw is still flawless and the burnline is perfect and I am feeling zero in the nicotine department.

Finish: RoMa Craft Tobac’s Aquitaine Blockhead really took off into the final third. The spice and espresso ramped up, the pepper came back, the brown sugar and raisin stayed strong, and even that meaty flavor stayed with it. This is a flavorful cigar and I found it pretty bold, but the one thing I enjoyed the most was how creamy and balanced the flavors were. They weren’t fighting for your attention, instead they complimented each other resulting in a complete performance. The burn and draw were perfect the entire time and I never had to take my torch back out of my pocket for any touchups or relights nor did I feel much in the nicotine department. It took me about 2 hours to smoke this bad boy down to the nub and I enjoyed every minute of it. I experience no harshness and the only heat I felt was from the sun on my head.

Overview: It’s not hard to tell how much I enjoy the Aquitaine blend. I always have. Jeremy and I actually had a conversation the other day about where we would rank each of Skip’s blend and both of us had the Aquitaine right up at #1 or #2. The Blockhead has to be one of my favorites in terms of formats for the Aquitaine. The boxpress is comfortable and produces a massive draw which really lets the cigar showcase how complex, yet balanced it’s flavors are. At $9 a pop these are priced perfectly and I am glad I picked a few up while I was at Monte’s. The shop is about 4 hours away from me, but I tend to visit Albuquerque quite often so it’s not too hard for me to get my hands on them and I plan on picking up quite a few more next time I make a trek up there. Hell, this is a box purchase for sure as these are the perfect addition to just about anyone’s rotation.

Pairing: This is the second time I’ve paired a cigar with Prairie Artisan Ale’s Bible Belt which they produced in collaboration with Evil Twin Brewing (see Espinosa’s 601 La Bomba Bunker Buster). Why? Two reasons: 1) It’s simply a badass beer which pairs perfectly with most bolder cigars and 2) Skip has been on a tear with these beers lately and I found it fitting to do an homage to him. Bible Belt is a hefty Imperial Stout weighing in at 13% ABV which is basically a mash up of Prairie Artisan’s popular Prairie Bomb! (which I paired with Viaje’s 2013 Christmas Tree) and Evil Twin’s Even more Jesus. The result is a crazy flavorful stout aged over coffee, cacao nibs, vanilla beans and chili peppers. In contrast to the Prairie Bomb! the Bible belt is much more chili heavy which creates this awesome spice which pairs up perfectly with the spice in most cigar experiences while the creaminess, sweetness, coffee and chocolate do the rest of the work marrying up with the robust flavors of the Aquitaine creating a pairing that’s near flawless and impossible to replace. Knowing how often Skip smokes his own supply it’s easy to see why he’s been such a fan of this beer.

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The Good Stuff: We are not strangers to Smoke Inn, and it’s famous Micro Blend series. In fact, we have smoked every one and actually reviewed most of them. For those who aren’t familiar with them, basically Smoke Inn releases a few limited edition, exclusive sizes and blends made by some of the biggest names in the industry.

They Include:

• Tatuaje’s Anarchy
• Padron’s Anniversary 1964 SI-15
• My Father’s El Hijo
• Arturo Fuente’s Solaris
• Tatuaje’s Apocalypse
• Room 101’s Big Delicious
• The Quesada Oktoberfest Dunkel

And now Espinosa’s 601 La Bomba Bunker Buster. The press release pretty much sums up the blend, pricing, and availability:

Smoke Inn^TM has once again teamed up with a manufacturer for our eighth installment of our highly regarded Microblend Series^TM. Smoke Inn together with Erik Espinosa of Espinosa Cigars are proud to present the world a very special limited edition of Espinosa Cigars’ highly acclaimed 601 La Bomba Series, the Bunker Buster^TM. Bunker Buster Bombs are vicious weapons that penetrate deep into mountainsides destroying bunkers hidden in the heart of the mountain.

In the spirit of the Bunker Buster Bomb, the 601 La Bomba Bunker Buster^TM drills deep into your pallet unleashing a memorable full bodied smoking experience. Using the finest hand selected Nicaraguan Habano claro wrapper, the Bunker Buster^TM deploys a exceptionally strong Nicaraguan Criollo leaf binding a full blown arsenal of Nicaraguan fillers. The Bunker Buster^TM is a truly a full-bodied bold smoking experience.

The 601 La Bomba Bunker Buster^TM will have a National Release Party on Friday June 6^th, The Anniversary of D-Day, at Smoke Inn’s Casa de Montecristo location in Boynton Beach Florida from 6:00pm – 10:00pm. Total Production is 500 (10 count) boxes. The 5.5×56 Figurado Cigar will retail for $8.95 a stick, $89.95/ box.

Pre-orders will be taken at www.smokeinn.com beginning Friday, May 23^rd. All box pre-orders will receive a commemorative Military Challenge Coin along with FREE shipping while supplies last. ALL pre-orders will ship out Monday, June 9^th 2014.

Thanks goes out to the Smoke Inn staff for providing us a few samples for review.

Size: 5 x 56 Figurado
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Claro
Binder: Nicaraguan Criollo
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $8.95
Pairing: Prairie Artisan/Evil Twin Bible Belt (Imperial Stout 13% ABV)

Prelight: The 601 La Bomba Bunker Buster looks like something straight out of an Army Surplus Store. We’ll start with the band cause, well cause it’s pretty awesome. The Bunker Buster carries a military green band with the standard 601 La Bomba Crest in a darker green, metallic gold, and white. Underneath it has the words “Bunker Buster” printed in a stamped looking metallic gold font. You’ll find some class chevrons and the words “Espinosa” and “S.I.M.B. 2014” which we all know stands for Smoke Inn Micro Batch 2014. All in all the band design is very unique, eye-catching and fitting. I really dig it. Underneath the band is what matters, the cigar. First off it’s a format we don’t see too often, a perfecto boxpress. The Bunker Buster starts with a stubby, tapered foot which is barely open as it leads to a much wider box pressed body before tapering off again to a very pointy cap. I’m not overly enthusiastic about the perfecto format as I know many people are, but you can box press just about anything and I’ll fall in love with it. The wrapper seems a bit thin while it seamlessly sits around the tobacco. It’s pretty oily with some soft tooth and only a few tiny veins. The wrapper is a medium brown in color with some darker areas around the cap and the webbing in the leaf. The cigar is a bit soft in my hand, but very consistent which usually translates into a great draw.

The wrapper on the 601 La Bomba Bunker Buster gives off only a faint spice while the foot of the cigar carries a very strong cedar and sweet tobacco aroma. The cap cut clean and easy using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw is rather tame only showing of some grainy, natural flavors.

First Smoke: The 601 La Bomba Bunker Buster started out with some strong black pepper, leather, spice, coffee, cedar, and tobacco. I’ve smoked a ton of La Bomba in my days and expect a very peppery experience but the pepper is really toned down in the one in comparison to the others. It was strong for the first few draws, then nothing but a backing flavor behind the cedar, spice, and coffee mixing in the with natural flavors from the tobacco. The draw was a bit tight for the first couple of puffs but once it got going it was kicking out a ton of thick smoke with every little puff. The burnline is pretty thick, but dead even. The ash left behind is a bit flaky, medium and light gray, and held on for a bit over an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: I’m really surprised, and actually pretty happy with how tame this La Bomba is in comparison to some of it’s counterparts. The pepper is completely gone going into the second third and now the cigar can really showcase a much sweeter profile leading with strong cedar, orange, coffee, spice, and lots of natural tobacco. This is an example of the La Bomba at it’s finest. The retrohale is really clean coating my nasal passage with some strong cedar, spice, and even a bit of a berry flavor/aroma. The burnline is still pretty even and I am already feeling a bit of a nicotine kick as I close out the second third.

Finish: The final third is where the already bold Bunker Buster starts to show what it’s all about. As I stated, the body was already complex and bold, but it really steps up pumping out a ton of spice, berry, cedar, coffee, and natural tobacco. While there is a ton of flavors I love how smoothly and creamy them blend in. So balanced, so smooth with an almost milky finish. I took this bad boy down to the nub and experienced absolutely no harshness or heat. It took me about 2 hours to smoke this cigar down and it left me with a great little nicotine kick and a very relaxed state.

Overview: I eluded to it in the review, but I will now just come out and say it. The 601 La Bomba Bunker Buster is one of the best, if not the best cigar in the 601 La Bomba portfolio. I found that many of the others feed off that pepper and it ends up costing as the experience is all muddied up with that pepper and more of the true flavors really never have a chance to shine. This is the exact opposite in the Bunker Buster. This cigar takes a step back from the pepper and really lets loose the more deep, complex, and bold flavors that the blend has to offer while finishing incredible smooth and creamy. The price is pretty damn modest. Honestly this cigar will find it’s way into my rotation and it’s pretty easy to call it a box-worthy purchase.

Pairing: The Prairie Artisan Bible Belt is a collaboration between Prairie artisan and Evil Twin brewing. They came together and made a imperial stout aged on coffee, cacao nibs, vanilla bean, and chili peppers coming in at an awesome 13% ABV. The Bible Belt tastes similar to the Prairie Bomb! That I paired with a while ago except it’s toned back a bit on the sweetness and is much heavier on the chili. The Bible belt leads off with a strong chili flavor which quickly transitions to a milk-chocolate flavor with lots of sweetness and spice before finishing malty and creamy with some slight spice on the after taste. No booziness at all which is incredible due to the amount of alcohol in this bad boy. Now take those notes and lay them over the flavor profile of the La Bomba Bunker Buster and you’d have a pretty close carbon copy resulting in one hell of a pairing. Usually I don’t drink many stouts during the summer but this one isn’t as heavy as others and I actually find it quite refreshing.

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