The San Andres (Serie SA) is by no means a new offering from Room 101. It has been on the market for almost two-years but it wasn’t until the end of 2013 that I had opportunity to light one up.   Produced in Honduras at Camacho’s factory, the San Andres is available in five vitolas: Papi Chulo (4 by 42), 305 (5 by 50), 214 (5 1/2 by 44), 615 (7 by 48), and 808 (6 by 60).

Overall, Room 101 cigars have been well received by the Casas Fumando crew. You can find our reviews of the other offerings below:

• Room 101 – 702 
• Room 101 – Big Delicious Smoke Inn Exclusive
• Room 101 – Daruma Sucio 
• Room 101 – Namakubi Roxxo
• Room101 – O.S.O.K. (One Shot, One Kill) Trucha

The Facts

Price Paid: $2.00
Vitola: 213 – Corona
Size: 5 ½ by 44
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Honduran Corojo Seco
Filler: Honduran and Dominican – Criollo Ligero and Corojo Seco
Drink: Water
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 5 Minutes

Pre-light

The medium brown San Andres Maduro wrapper is consistent in color, fairly bumpy, and small veins can been seen scattered down the leaf. As I gently press down the cigar I do not come across any soft spots on this firmly filled stick and, to the touch, the cigars feels velvety smooth. The natural leaf does not seem to contain many oils. 

The smell of the wrapper is pungent with vinegar, manure, and cedar aromas and sweet cedar notes are found on the foot. Upon clipping the cap with a double guillotine cutter, the cold draw highlights rich tobacco with the same sweet cedar off the foot aroma and some cinnamon spice.

First Third

Instantly, I am able to tell that I am smoking San Andres tobacco, however, I am having a hard time figuring out or at least communicating what aspect the profile highlights the Mexican tobacco.  The smoke is very savory with deep notes of cedar, leather, some saltiness, and spice. The Serie SA delivers a mouthful of thick smoke with each draw.  The light ash being formed is holding well past an inch and the eyeliner burn line is right on. The 213 vitola is a great size that feels comfortable in both the hand and mouth.

Middle Third

The cedar and saltiness are at the forefront of the flavor profile as I make my way into the second third. The cedar notes have a lot of depth and complexity in and of itself. The spice and leather seems to have calmed but the retrohale is a different story. The pepper on the retrohale is sharp and my eyes may have teared up just a little. The profile has become much richer and some sweetness seems to be showing its head. Possibly a cocoa-like sweetness. There is nothing interesting to report on with the ash or burn, which is a good thing. 

Final Third

The cedar continues to be the core of the profile but some change-ups are occurring every few puffs. I find a dry, shallow cedar on one draw and then some moist, deep earthy cedar notes on the next. The cocoa has not developed into anything more thus far but there is still some underlying sweetness. Maybe more similar to a light sugarcane sweetness. Some charred notes have found their way into the profile as I approach the final inch and the smoke is a bit warm causing me to extend the time between each puffs. 

Wrap-up

One worry I have with a small ring gauge sticks is overheating due to smoking too fast. Maintaining my regular rate,  I did not encounter any heat in the first or second thirds, but the last third did present some charred notes and a small amount of heat making me slow my roll. Once I slowed my smoking pace, the smoke cooled and the enjoyable rich cedar finished off the experience. I really enjoyed the 213 San Andres and it may be the first cigar I have smoked that utilized a natural San Andres leaf. The San Andres tobacco still had its distinct characteristics but did not overshadow the rest of the blend that seems to take place with cigars that have San Andres Maduro wrappers. There was absolutely no babysitting this stick. Not a single touch up was needed and no ash dropped in the lap. I can highly recommend this cigar and for a regular price under $6 this is a stick that will remain in my humidor for a while.

The post Room 101 – San Andres 213 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: The Daruma is another brain child from Mr. Matt Booth over at Room 101 cigars. Matt teamed up with Camacho cigars a few years back and has taken the cigar industry by storm with his amazing blends, and crazy design and marketing ideas. Gotta love the artwork and attention to detail this man puts towards everything that he does. The Daruma starts out with a crazy dark Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, bound by Cuban seed Brazilian leaf, and filled with a mixture of Honduran and Dominican tobaccos. The Daruma comes in 5 different sizes: Monstro – 5 x 60, Roxxo 4 x 48, Papi Chulo 4 x 42, Mutante 7 x 38, and the Sucio 7 x 48. This is a limited edition run and only 20,000 cigars in each format will be released ranging in price from $6.25 – $10.25 a stick. I picked up a few of these cigars at Tobacco Tin a while back. Great Selection they got going on there.

Here is the story of the Daruma taken from the Camacho site:

“The single eye I have penciled in on my Daruma doll is my silent reminder that I have set a goal that is pending completion. My Daruma will become a bi-oculared character once my task is complete. I have one year in which to complete my task – and if one of my attempts should fall short of victory I will not quit, but rather try again. Because, I know that if I do not give up and my will does not falter it is never a question of “if,” but only a question of “when.” We have named our latest series after the Daruma as he symbolizes resilience – a key ingredient to our success. Use your Daruma to set a goal of your own.

Fill his left eye when you have decided what you will be committing yourself to, his right when your task is complete. As the tradition is to burn the Daruma at the end of the year, take a brief moment to ignite a fine cigar in celebration of your accomplishment.”

Size: Sucio 7 x 48
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Cuban Seed Brazilian
Filler: Honduran / Dominican
Body: Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $9.25
Pairing: Gulden Draak 9000 Quadruple (Belgian Strong Ale 10.7% ABV)

Prelight: The Room 101 Daruma is a very mean, very dark, very meaty cigar. The  Daruma starts off with a crazy dark, very consistent dark brown wrapper. It’s really hard to find anything more than a few tiny, webby veins with a bit of darker color to the wrapper surrounding them. The Daruma is very heavy, very big, and very firm. The only soft spots seem to be around the food of the cigar. The cigar is then polished off with a round double cap, and an absolutely beautiful grey and silver band similar to what we saw on the OSOK except it reads “daruma” in a crazy typeface similar to the Namakubi’s. I LOVE these bands. The wrapper on the Daruma gives off a nice, very potent spice and cedar aroma while the foot releases a crazy sweet berry and tobacco mixture. The cap cut very easily and clean using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw produces a really nice cedar, spice, berry and tobacco flavor. Almost identical to a mashup of what aromas the cigar kicked out before it was cut.

First Smoke: It took a whole lot of convincing from my single flame torch to get this Daruma lit, but once I did it was off to the races. This cigar lets loose serious amounts of thick smoke with every tiny puff. Perfect draw. The Daruma starts out with some incredibly sweet tobacco, deep cedar, cherry, and lots and lots of spice. I’m impressed with the amount of flavor already present in this cigar.  The burnline is incredibly sharp and dead even leaving behind a trail of flaky, medium gray ash that only held on for an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: It’s strange that I didn’t pick up any pepper in the first third, but as this cigar progresses I taste more and more of it on the tip of my tongue. The cedar is in full control now mixing up beautifully with the sweet tobacco, spice, cherry, and now some interesting chocolate notes. The retrohale is crazy strong coating my nasal passage with straight up pepper and spice. I don’t find myself doing it too often. It kind of burns. Despite the cigar being crazy full body up to this point, I am feeling nothing in the nicotine department. We’ll see how that changes as I approach the final third.

Finish: A lot of the flavor has dropped out of this Daruma into the final third. That’s not a bad thing though. With so much cigar it’s not that it is finishing so smooth and creamy. Leading the pack is the cedar backed but spice, soft chocolate and tobacco. The pepper has completely faded. Along with the body dropping, the small amount of strength has dropped out a bit too making for an incredibly smooth finish. This is how all cigar should end. This cigar took a little under 2 hours to finish and left me feeling absolutely no nicotine kick at all.

Overview: Matt Booth does it again. I am a fan of Room 101, but even then I go into his cigars always a bit skeptical due to marketing. The last few times he has exceeded my expectations and the Daruma is another notch in his belt. This cigar starts out bold and complex, with nice switchups during the experience and a smooth finish with a perfect burn the entire time. What more can you ask for? Despite the higher price tag I would still coin this blend as boxworthy especially since they are limited edition. Get them while you can!

Pairing: MMmm match made in heaven. I paired this Room 101 Daruma with a beautiful Belgian beer, Gulden Draak’s 9000 Quadruaple ale. This 10.7% percent power house strong ale is brewed at the Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V. in Belgium. Starting off with a beautiful orange/red amber color this beer has me written all over it. The beer starts off very smooth and sweet with notes of apricot, banana malt, and caramel. The flavors are so fruity and smooth they completely mask the alcohol content in this beast. Now imagine those same flavors with some cedar and spice with hints of cherry that the Daruma added. Heaven I tell ya. This was a perfect pairing. Another beer style that would go great with this cigar is a heavy abbey or even a mellow barely-wine.

The post Room 101 Daruma Sucio appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

FOX CIGAR BAR PRESENTS: FOXTOBERFEST 2012

Cigar and Beer Festival – October 27th, 4pm – 10pm

Fox Cigar Bar in Gilbert, AZ is proud to announce our first annual Foxtoberfest Festival! Foxtoberfest will be packed with premium cigars, a wide variety of beer, Oktoberfest themed food and entertainment. Great cigars, amazing beer, traditional cuisine, all while raising money for a local scholarship fund!

Special Guests Include Cigar Manufacturers:

Jesus Fuego – J. Fuego Cigars
Eddie Ortega – Ortega Cigar Company
Matt Booth – Room 101 Cigar Company
Craig Cunningham – Esteban Carreras Cigar Company
Clint Aaron – 262 Cigar Company

Fox Cigar Bar has teamed up with local brewery Four Peaks Brewing Company to provide some specialty beer created just for Foxtoberfest. In addition, Fox Cigar Bar has selected some of the best craft beer breweries from around the country to bring you a wide variety of Oktoberfest and Pumpkin styled beers.

Entry to this event is free. However, VIP tickets are available that allow guests to participate in cigar seminars with the manufacturers, sample additional beers and walk away with some additional commemorative merchandise.

Tickets can be purchased in our lounge, online, or over the phone (480.917.3117). Tickets go on sale September 15th and can be purchased in advance or at the door the day of the event.

Fox Cigar Bar is an 18 and over establishment that has a wide variety of premium cigars, craft beer, premium spirits and a comfortable atmosphere. Fox Cigar Bar has a large indoor smoking lounge as well as a outdoor patio area.

Fox Cigar Bar is located at: 1464 E. Williamsfield Rd. #105 Gilbert, Arizona 85295. Hours of Operation: Sunday – Thursday 10am – 12am * Friday & Saturday 10am – 2am

If you would like more information or to schedule an interview with Cliff Coen, please contact him at 480.917.3117 or via email at cigarcliff@gmail.com.

The post Foxtoberfest 2012 – Event Coverage appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.