Matt Booth’s Room 101 Uncle Lee, a controversial project that was launched last year will be heading to a national launch. Booth has told Cigar Insider that the limited production cigar will now head to retailers in May.
The Uncle Lee was originally designed to be a tribute to Booth’s uncle, who helped introduce him to “cigar smoking, Bob Marley’s music, and all dimensions of the funk”. The cigar was originally going to be packaged in a cartoon-style cereal box. There were original plans for a November, 2014 release, but as word got out about the packaging, many expressed concern for this style of packaging given the battles the cigar industry has with the FDA. While it was never officially announced, the project was put on hold by parent company Davidoff.
Once the project was on hold, the cereal box-like packaging was eliminated and a wooden varnish box was used – containing an image of Booth’s uncle. The cigar was then released to select retailers, starting with Stogies World Class Cigars in Houston. While it made its way to a handful of retailers, it was still unclear of the future of this project until Booth confirmed the national release to Cigar Insider.
At a glance, here is a look at the Room 101 Uncle Lee:
Blend Profile
Wrapper: Habano Ecuador
Binder: Corojo Nicaragua
Filler: Corojo Honduras, Dominican Piloto Ligero
Country of Origin: Honduras (Agroindustrias Laepe SA)
Vitolas Available
Uncle Lee is available in one size – a Ranfla, which is a size seen in the Room 101 portfolio before. The Ranfla is a perfecto measuring 6 1/2 x 30 x 50 x 19. The cigars are packaged in ten count boxes with a total production of 5,000 boxes (50,000 cigars). Each cigar has an SRP of $10.00