RoMa Craft Tobac is giving aficionados a glimpse into its blending process with its new “CRAFT Maquette” series. Drawing inspiration from the world of sculpture and architecture, the series presents consumers with the evolving taste of a blend.
Leading the series is “Il Nonno,” which translates from Italian as “grandpa.” This 5 x 52 robusto is at $15, offered in a limited run of only 125 packs of 10 cigars. Riverside Cigar Shop in Jeffersonville, Ind., will exclusively stock the blend starting mid-September.
Skip Martin, co-founder of RoMa Craft Tobac, shared the motivation behind the series in an Instagram post: “Artists use maquettes to explore shapes and poses of sculptures, while architects turn to them during the design process. Similarly, maquettes help creators refine their ideas efficiently. In the world of cigars, blending samples serve a similar purpose.”
Up for review today is another cigar from RoMa Craft Tobac, a brand I became a fan of after finally deciding to review the Intemperance BA XXI Ambition which is a downright enjoyable smoke. Today, we’ll look at the Cromagnon “Mandible,” which features a USA Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper (yum), and produced in the large 60 ring gauge format–I size I typically find pretty unappealing. But, today I’m up for something new, so let’s get to it.
Blend Specifics
Cigar Reviewed: Cromagnon Mandible by RoMa Craft Tobac
Wrapper: USA Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Binder: African Cameroon
Filler: Nicaraguan (Esteli, Condega, Pueblo Nuevo)
Size: 4 1/2 x 60
Appearance and Construction
The outer Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper has a dark complexion and a leathery feel, and the cigar is packed tight its entire length. The band has a cool, sleek look as well, though it’s hard to read the brand name because it’s debossed in black.
Taking a whiff off of the foot brings a blast of spice, sweet granola, and mustiness. The draw is perfect, a 7/10 in terms of amount of restrictiveness.
I’m very excited to light up.
Flavor & Smoke Characteristics
The Cromagnon Mandible opens with thick smoke that’s chock full of bitter espresso, coarse black pepper, grilling spices (mainly red pepper), and some charred wood. It’s at about medium in terms of strength and medium to full body, and damn it’s good. Only drawback: smoke production is adequate, but not quite as voluminous as I expected.
At an inch in, the Cromagnon Mandible takes a significant turn toward a more savory profile, with some leather and smoked meats joining the grilling spices that are still heavy on the tip of my tongue. Interestingly, a quick purge brings out a new, creamy cocoa flavor in the smoke. At this point, it’s clear this is a special cigar, and one I’m glad I purchased to review.
The second third develops the themes established in the first, with the flavors finding even more balance, and the body ramping up to medium full. Flavors include charred wood, Mexican chocolate, salt, smoked meats, and heavy red and black pepper. It’s the kind of flavor profile that tricks your brain into thinking that you’re eating a full meal. The retrohale is surprisingly tame, with black and red pepper. Construction wise, the Cromagnon Mandible never falters, with the all white ash falling in one inch increments and the burn remaining razor sharp. Smoke production also improves near the end of the second third, with the cigar producing opulent amounts of smoke.
The final third of the Cromagnon Mandible is just as stellar as the first two. There are no notable flavor changes, but the smoke remains remarkably cool even as the cigar continues to deliver big flavors of wood, spice, and bitter chocolate.
A truly excellent cigar.
Conclusion
The Cromagnon Mandible is a fantastic cigar. With full bodied smoke and big flavors of black and red pepper, charred wood, cocoa, and more, it’s just about as close as you can get to a perfect cigar following a big steak dinner.
If you’re a fan of rich, flavor bomb cigars like Padron, you’ll love this blend.
Up for review today is the RoMa Craft Tobac Intemperance BA XXI. I haven’t smoked many cigars from Roma Craft Tobac, but I do have to say that after reviewing this cigar, I will be smoking many more in the future. Read on to learn why.
Blend Specifics
Cigar Reviewed: RoMa Craft Tobac Intemperance BA XXI Ambition
Wrapper: Brazilian Arapicara
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Nicaraguan and Dominican
Size: 5 1/2 x 54 Belicoso
Retail Price: ~$8
Appearance & Construction
The Intemperance BA XXI is an attractive cigar, with an espresso bean colored Brazilian Arapiraca that has minimal veins. Strangely, the wrapper leaf doesn’t actually extend all the way to the foot of the cigar. I couldn’t tell you why, but William Cooper at Cigar Coop looked into it and found the following:
At the footer of each of the Intemperance BA, it has an exposed binder, and then some exposed filler. Martin explained there were two reasons for this: First because Arapiraca wrapper is sensitive to humidity, the wrapper would actually shrink. They found the best way to work with this wrapper would be to let it age before cutting the foot (thus the shrinkage). Secondly, by exposing the binder and then the filler, it allows the cigar enthusiast to experience those parts of the blend without the dominant flavor component of the wrapper.
Besides the fascinating construction, the foot of the cigar smells great, with strong aromas of cedar, grilling spices, and earth. The cold draw is very spicy, with balanced, sweet notes of sweet earth and wood. Construction-wise, the draw is mostly free, about a 6/10 in terms of amount of restrictiveness.
Flavor & Smoke Characteristics
The first few puffs of the Intemperance BA XXI Ambition are noticeably thin on flavor, a direct result of having no combustion of the wrapper leaf. That’s short-lived though. Only two minutes in to the smoke, the wrapper leaf begins to burn and the flavors become much more rich and textured, with creamy fruitiness leading the way (a unique note to be sure) followed by rich cocoa and espresso notes. Every now and again, the smoke becomes a bit toasty, which keeps things interesting. Speaking of interesting, there’s also a surprising salt and spice that hits just the very tip of the tongue and sizzles momentarily, especially when I hold the smoke in my mouth. The cigar performs great on the construction side, with cool smoke, great smoke production, and a razor sharp burn line. As the cigar continues on in the first third, the spicy and toasty elements of the smoke begin to take center stage, upending the predominantly smooth and rich introduction. I’d put body and strength at medium in the first third.
The Intemperance BA XXI continues to shift and evolve all the way through the second third. First shifting to a spicier, drier and more full strength profile with leather, pepper and charred oak, and then minutes later shifting toward silky smooth smoke that highlights salty-sweet notes of popcorn, grilling spices, milk chocolate and concentrated espresso. For the most part the retrohale is mild and unassuming except for a few puffs here and there where a nicely placed dry spice comes through and livens things up. It’s a whirlwind, but a good one. Absolutely no issues with construction either: a great draw and good burn all the way through with the ash falling in inch and a half increments.
In the final third of the Intemperance BA XXI Ambition, the strength and body finally peak just past medium, with a noticeable uptick in dry wood, leather and spice and a diminishing of the smoother espresso and chocolate flavors. It’s a great way to wind the smoke down, not with a whimper but with more of a bang. The only negative that comes up is that the draw, already free near the beginning, opens up even more leading to the smoke overheating in the final inch.
Conclusion
As Halfwheel rightly noted in their review of the Intemperance BA XXI, this cigar relies less on blasts of power and more on finesse. I’ve got to hand it to Skip Martin and the team at RoMa Craft Tobac. They really have proven in this cigar, and in the CroMagnon, that they are capable of blending truly unique and skillful product.
