Room101 Serie HN

Matt Booth, Room101’s curator and resident madman, has been on a roll lately. He has had a run of new releases that have been well received throughout the tobacco industry. For me, that run started with the San Andreas – an inspired blend, in my opinion. There was Daruma (a big hit and top 5 of 2012 imo), Big Delicious (a fan favorite limited edition cigar), Namakubi Ecuador (fan-effin-tastic, if you ask me), the legendary OSOK (I’m not a fan of this one, but who asked me, right?), and the new Master Collection One (which everyone seems pleased with). So I immediately dismissed the quiet release of the Serie HN as a price-point cigar designed to satisfy a niche need, along the same lines as Tatuaje’s Serie P. Allow me to clear my throat before I say this… WRONG!

At least in this diminutive, Papi Chulo size (4 x 42), Booth has another winner on his hands. It is somewhat reminiscent of the Namakubi Ecuador in that I’ve always felt the linchpin that propels the NE over the top is its dominant cinnamon spice. The Serie HN mimics that flavor through the majority of the cigar. Well played, Mr. Booth. Add to that a wonderful charred meat attribute and I couldn’t have been more impressed. The whole first half of the smoke I kept thinking, “Nice start, but it will flatten out soon”. And I kept puffing and it kept giving. “Transitions?” you ask, “not in such a small cigar”. Um… yup, it transitioned quite nicely. It started with the cinnamon and meat profile. The charred meat died off toward the middle and was replaced briefly with a sweet tea flavor—really supporting the cinnamon well; and finally a cocoa-type chocolate emerged as a stand-alone flavor to bring it all home. A very pleasing experience the whole way through.

Really, there weren’t any issues to speak of at all. The burn was slight and even, the draw was a little tight, but no big deal – plenty of smoke, with a bit of a bite in the retrohale. And the whole four inches (I nubbed the heck out of this treat) lasted every bit of 50 minutes. What more need I say?

The factoids on this cigar

It’s produced in the Agroindustrias Laepe, S.A. factory located in Danli, Honduras. The wrapper is Honduran Criollo ’98, the binder, Brazilian Mata Fina and the filler is comprised of Honduran Criollo Ligero and Dominican Navarette.

Would I smoke this cigar again?

Yes, indeed. I have an hour drive to work and back each day. I think this cigar will be my new go-to cigar for the road. That said, I believe Room101 only released 400 boxes of 50 cigars in this vitola – 20,000 cigars total. Each of the five sizes was released at 20,000 cigars. If it’s a one-time release, the supply will dry up sooner than later. Get them before they’re gone, Dojo!!

One more thing before I forget… Dojo Mojo, Ya’ll!!

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