 |
| #10 Room 101 Connecticut |
The 2011 Cigar of the Year Countdown has now reached the Top Ten. As we begin the top ten, this cigar brings us to what I consider to be one of the standout Ecuadorian Connecticut Cigars of 2011. It also is what I would consider a break-thru cigar for Matt Booth and his Room 101 Cigars line.
Coming in at #10 is the Room 101 Connecticut. This cigar is one of two cigars released at IPCPR 2011 by Room 101 Cigars. This is the first Room 101 cigar to make my Cigar of the Year countdown. In what was an ultra-competitive year for Ecuadorian Connecticut cigars, this one has really been overlooked. It provided a flavorful and very enjoyable smoking experience.
If there is a distinguishing ingredient that made this cigar such a great smoke, it had to be the Connecticut Shade wrapper that was used. For the Room 101 Connecticut, Booth was able to leverage being a part of the Davidoff family and use Davidoff Connecticut Shade wrapper for this cigar. The result is a very interesting flavor profile of butter, citrus, and cedar/pepper spices. The butter notes were really special. When I mentioned how interesting the butter notes were to Booth.. Booth responded by asking me if it had a taste like buttered popcorn – and I concurred with this. The smoke itself is mild to medium in strength. As for the depth of the flavor notes, the majority of the smoke is medium-bodied, but at times these flavor notes moved into the medium to full-bodied range. Burn and draw are outstanding.
Click here for the pre-release assessment done on this cigar. A final assessment rating was given later in the year.
Blend Profile
On a side note, while this leverages Davidoff Connecticut Shade, it is worth noting that Honduran tobacco is used for binder and filler. This is another example of the Honduran tobacco renaissance that has been a theme in my top thirty list.
Wrapper: Connecticut Shade (Ecuador)
Binder: Honduras Corojo
Filler: Honduras, Dominican Republic
Vitolas Available
213 (Corona): 5 1/2 x 44
315 (Robusto): 5 x 50
404 (Torpedo): 6 x 54
808 (Double Toro): 6 x 60
615 (Churchill): 7 x 48
Recommended Vitola: Robusto
