PCA 2023: RoMa Craft Tobac

For all practical purposes, 2023 was the official return for RoMa Craft Tobac as an exhibitor at the Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show. The last time the company exhibited at PCA was back in 2019. While RoMa Craft Tobac was in attendance in 2022, the company wasn’t displaying new products and used the time to connect with retailers. This year RoMa Craft Tobac was back with both co-owners Skip Martin and Mike Rosales in attendance. The company would be showcasing two new products that would be shipping shortly after PCA. The first would be the latest release to the Intemperance brand, the Intemperance Volstead VO 1920, and the second would be the long-awaited Quinquagenario limited edition release. While both releases were very different, there was one common denominator for both – they were RoMa Craft Tobac’s foray into using a Sumatra wrapper. And Bear Duplisea was finally able to present RoMa Craft Tobac with a special award for its previous Intemperance release, Intemperance Whiskey Rebellion 1794 Hamilton.

Intemperance is RoMa Craft Tobac’s brand themed around the Temperance Movement and Prohibition Era, which centered around the prohibition of alcohol. In the case of the Intemperance Volstead VO 1920, it references the Volstead Act of 1920, which put Prohibition into law. The Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 is the fifth blend to be introduced under the line. The cigar is highlighted hybrid Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. In addition, the Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 features a Mexican San Andres binder and a combination of Dominican Corojo and Nicaraguan fillers. The Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 is offered in five regular and six limited-production offerings.

If you have seen this cigar before the show in stores, there was an “Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Pre-Release” that hit the shelves. This cigar was slightly different than what was being shown at PCA. The “Pre-Release” version had a different wrapper. RoMa Craft Tobac co-owner Skip Martin made the decision to change the wrapper from the pre-release using a different Sumatra varietal.

For the past 18 months, RoMa Craft Tobac fans have been excited about the company’s Quinquagenario release. A quinquagenarian is someone who is between the age of 50 and 59. In this case, the project was created to commemorate the 50th birthdays of the principals involved at RoMa Craft Tobac. In 2022, co-owner Skip Martin celebrated his 50th birthday, and it took a little time, but this year, Quinquagenario is finally hitting the shelves. For this project, Martin took this as a personal challenge to work with Dominican tobaccos. He would team up with Ernesto Perez-Carrillo at Tabacalera La Alianza to produce the first RoMa Craft cigar outside his Nica Sueño factory. Martin has said this is a true collaboration because he spent many hours in the Dominican Republic working hands-on with Perez-Carrillo on the project.

As for the blend, it is highlighted by a dark Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over Dominican binder and filler. It includes a binder, two filler tobaccos from Leo Reyes, and two from Ernesto Perez-Carrillo. The cigar comes in one size -a 5 x 50 Robusto. Martin says the cigars have been aging for over a year. There were 50,000 cigars produced. They are available in 24-count boxes, but some bundles will also be available.

Interview with Skip Martin, RoMa Craft Tobac

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Award Presentation

Bear Duplisea of El Oso Fumar waited a long time, but he wanted to present Skip Martin and RoMa Craft Tobac the award for #2 Cigar of the Year from 2019 for the Intemperance Whiskey Rebellion 1794 Hamilton in person. This year, he would finally get his opportunity. You will need to click on Watch on YouTube to view this content.