Monday, April 23, 2012

Room 101 La Serie C Robusto (5x50)

It is no secret that I am not a fan of Camacho, or the prior Room 101 cigars.  I'm not even sure these cigars are still made by Camacho, I really didn't care enough to check if I'm being frank.  I had not smoked a Room 101 in god only knows how long, and I'm not sure what made me decide to smoke this one, other than it was in fact a cigar and it was in fact sitting in my humidor, I usually don't need to many more reasons than that.

The cigar itself is not visually entertaining.  The wrapper is very pale in color, almost yellow and unhealthy looking really (if a cigar had a liver and it was failing it would be this color).  There are some prominent veins here, but I don't detect any reasons why that would cause a problem.  I will give a nod to some pretty cool bandwork though, so props for that.  An inspection of the cigar leads me to believe that it might be a little too tight in the bunch, but that will be seen when flame hits leaf.  The pre light aroma is light and dusty with some nice bready notes.  The pre light draw is too tight, but shows some light pepper and soft tobacco flavors.

The cigar opens with a profile that is interesting, but not particularly complex or deep.  The core profile shows some notes of light wood, bread and sweet floral tones but they are not particularly well developed at this point.  At the back of the palate there are some cedar impressions, but there is a soft bitterness that I only hope stays soft or disappears all together as the smoke progresses.  The draw is way too tight for me, and there is some struggle to get the right amount of smoke out of the experience in the opening moments.  The burn is solid, but also slow due to the draw issues I'm sure.

The first half of the cigar is really a neurotic ride through some wild flavors at the front and back of the palate.  The core profile is of light citrus fruit and bread however, there are also bitter and charred tobacco flavors here as well and it is throwing the cigar completely off balance.  At the back of the palate a light white pepper presentation has taken over, but there are weird cedar notes here as well and they are sharp and off putting when considered against the rest of the smoke.  The draw is still far too tight for the proper enjoyment quotient, but the burn is holding on despite a weak drawing performance.

The final half of the cigar does not further the cause for me in any way.  The core profile has some charred tobacco and coffee notes and they are overwhelming anything else that might be there for the tasting.  The back of the palate has become sharp and overtly peppery and I can't get hold of anything redeeming in the final third of the smoke.  The draw was still too tight.  The burn performed acceptably.

The finish was middling, but it did have a nice coffee tone to it.

Appearance- 86 I'll give the credit to the band here
Taste- 83 just really not all that good, I was disappointed
Construction- 78 the draw was very, very poor
Strength- 85 medium, but it did not complement the profile very well
Overall- 85.5 very, very ho hum

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