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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