It was about a year ago when we first broke news of a new line of cigars by Matt Booth’s Room 101 Cigars brand called the Master Collection. The plan was to release two blends of what would be considered a limited edition, premium cigar line within the brand. Late last year, the first of the two blends, the Master Collection One was released. Now the second line – appropriately titled Master Collection Two was released. Master Collection Two has become the twelfth blend released in the Room 101 portfolio. Recently, I’ve had an opportunity to smoke this cigar. While Master Collection One was a solid cigar, it is Master Collection Two that is even a better blend. Overall I have found this to be another excellent edition to the Room 101 portfolio.
The Master Collection Two has a similar packaging design than Master Collection One. It features the cherry blossom design, but instead of black and gold, the packaging uses a gold colored theme. The Master Collection Two comes in the same five sizes as the Master Collection One, however this cigar is a very different blend – and a very different cigar experience.
Each box features half of a cherry blossom. There are boxes marked “left” and “right” and putting the boxes together make a complete cherry blossom.
Without further ado, let’s break down the Master Collection Two and see what this cigar brings to the table.
Blend Profile
The Room 101 Master Collection Two features a Criollo wrapper over a mix of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos.
As mentioned, the Master Collection Two comes in the same sizes as the Master Collection One.
Papi Chulo: 4 x 42 (Boxes of 50) Roxxo: 4 x 48 (Boxes of 20) Mutante: 7 x 38 (Boxes of 20) Sucio: 7 x 48 (Boxes of 20) Monstro: 5 x 60 (Boxes of 20)
Appearance
For this cigar experience, I smoked the Sucio (Churchill) vitola of the Room 101 Master Collection Two. This cigar features a medium brown wrapper with a slight cinnamon tint to it. There is a slight oily sheen to the wrapper. The wrapper seams are decently hidden, but there are several visible veins.
The banding is all gold. There is gold cherry blossom embossed on a gold circular field. A shinier gold border surrounds the gold circular field. There is also shinier gold striping going horizontally across the band. On the far left side of the band is the text “ROOM 101” in landscape mode. On the far right side of the band is the text “TWO” in landscape mode.
When we assessed the Room 101 Master Collection One, we provided the following background information on the significance of the cherry blossom logo:
This Cherry Blossom represents the ever-changing seasons that are experienced throughout one’s lifetime as well as the concept of a short, yet beautiful life. The tattered leaves this blossom bears signify the storms we have weathered together as a family and those we have yet to weather. Finally, the intact and unblemished core of this blossom represents the unfaltering and un-moveale nucleus of our family unit.
The mon (or kamon) is the format in which the japanese present their family crest. Each is simply beautiful yet complex enought to encapsulate the DNA of each particular family unit from inception to present day.te the DNA of each particular family unit from inception to present day.
The Room 101 Brand implements the Sakura Mon to represent our family unit. The products that bear this mark will be nothing short of our finest works to date. Within them we hope that you can experience a small taste of the journey we have endured to bring these pieces of handcrafted art to you. It is our most humble honor to have the opportunity to have our voice heard and our message received.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
For my experience of the Room 101 Master Collection Two Sucio, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut to begin things. After clipping the cap, I moved on to the pre-light draw phase. The dry draw provided a mix of natural tobacco and cedar sweet spice. Overall, I considered the pre-light draw of the Master Collection Two to be satisfactory. At this point, I was ready to light up this cigar and see what the overall smoking experience would have in store.
Flavor Profile
The Master Collection Two Sucio started out with a blast of black pepper. As the pepper subsided, notes of cedar, lemongrass, and earth emerged. As the flavor profile took form int he first third, I noticed the lemongrass notes split into distinct notes of lemon and grass. The grass notes joined the earth and cedar notes in the forefront. The pepper notes subsided into the background and the lemon notes diminished into a subtle sweetness in the background. Meanwhile a sharp pepper spice could be detected on the retro-hale.
At the start of the second half, the lemon notes continued to diminish as the earth, grass, and cedar notes continued to be int he forefront. The pepper notes continued to be a close secondary note.
By the last third, the flavor profile became more of a combination of grass, earth and pepper. The cedar and lemon notes pretty much dissipated. This is the way the flavor profile held until the end. While there was spice at the end, the flavor profile never became harsh. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.
Burn and Draw
The Master Collection Two performs excellent when it comes to both the burn and draw attributes. The burn remained straight from start to finish – requiring minimal touch-ups along the way. The resulting ash was firm throughout the smoking exprierence with a salt and pepper color. The burn rate and burn temperature were also ideal.
Burn of the Room 101 Master Collection Two – Sucio
The draw to the Master Collection Two Sucio had a slight bit of resistance to it. This is something that I consider ideal when smoking a cigar. This made the Master Collection Two an enjoyable cigar to puff on from start to finish.
Strength and Body
Like the Master Collection One, I did not find the Master Collection Two to be an overpowering cigar. I assessed the cigar as being a medium strength cigar throughout the whole smoking experience. As for the flavors, they provided enough weight on the pallet to remain medium to full-bodied throughout the smoke. When it comes to strength versus body, I gave an edge to the body. The Master Collection Two Sucio is going to be a cigar that emphasizes flavor over strength.
Final Thoughts
A few months ago, I assessed the Room 101 Serie HN (Honduras). That cigar featured a Criollo wrapper and it also was a cigar to deliver some of the lemon flavors. If you liked the profile of that cigar, I believe you will like the flavor profile of the Room 101 Master Collection. I found the Room 101 Master Collection Two Mutante (lancero) to emphasize some of the lemon flavors a little more. With the case of the Master Collection Two Sucio, I found the lemon flavors more subtle – and that helped to bring out some of the complexity with this particular cigar. I’ve mentioned this was a different cigar than the Master Collection One. I also found Master Collection Two was a better cigar. This is an ideal cigar for the novice or experienced cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this is a cigar I definitely would smoke again. It’s easily worth a box split – and it could become box worthy in due time.
