Room 101 Namakubi
For those of you that don't know...
Introduced at the IPCPR Show last month, the Room 101 Namakubi made a splash, not just for it's interesting name origins (below), but also for it's box design. Room 101 also released a new Connecticut blend, which uses a wrapper sourced from Davidoff...
The Namakubi actually has an interesting origin:
"Although in many ways long gone, Samurai culture is believed to live on in spirit within certain groups. In ancient times when two Samurai clans would gather for competition there was a great deal at stake. Normally, the losing party would die as a result of wounds sustained in battle or be executed upon defeat. The Namakubi, or freshly severed head of the losing party would be prepared on a wooden tray then tagged in a regimented manner and presented to the leader of the winning clan as a gift."
There will be 100,000 total cigars released among 6 different vitolas with MSRPs starting at $6.00 and ending around $10.00....
They are:
- Papi Chulo- 42×4 (MSRP: $6.00): 400 boxes (50ct cabinetta style)
- Roxxo- 48×4 (MSRP: $7.00): 1000 boxes
- Tiburon- 44×6 (MSRP: $8.00): 1000 boxes
- Sucio- 48×7 ($9.00): 1000 boxes
- Monstro- 60×5 ($10.00): 1000 boxes
The boxes the Room 101 Namakubi come in look like this:
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But enough of that, let's get down to business, shall we?
- Cigar Reviewed: Room 101 Namakubi Papi Chulo
- Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 3
- Country of Origin: Honduras
- Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
- Binder: Proprietary “Generoso” (Honduras) seed
- Filler: Dominican and Honduran “Vuelta Abajo"
- Size: 4 inches
- Ring Gauge: 42
- Vitola: Petite Coronaish
- Price: $6.00
- Number of Cigars to be Released: 100,000 Cigars (among 6 different vitolas)
- Release Date: August 2011
The cigar is a nice looking cigar, with a lightish brown wrapper that has a nice amount of oil on it..There are some veins present, but nothing overly distracting...It is fairly hard when squeezed, but does have a bit of give...the wrapper smells faintly of wood and chocolate...Predraw notes include cedar, pepper and a hint of sweetness...
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The First Third starts with an interesting combination of flavors...wood, leather and espresso, but also a nice sweetish floral note that really set everything else off...there is a bit of spice on the tongue, just enough to notice and comment on...
The Second Third starts much the same as the first, but I can feel the strength increasing by leaps and bounds...The profile does not change much, but there is a bit more (dark, bitter) chocolate flavor, and the floral note is still around...
The Last Third REALLY ramps up the body, getting noticably stronger at the end (ending at about "Full Minus", in my estimation)...The flavors don't really change much in the final third, but the cigar never got hot, and I was able to nub it easily...
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Final Notes:
- I smoked three different vitolas for this review (the Papi Chulo, Tiburon and Sucio) and found the Papi Chulo easily topped the other vitolas, both in flavor and strength...This is a blend you want to smoke in small sizes...
- I LOVE the packaging of these cigars, easily one of the Top 10 of the Year so far (I wish I had taken better photos of the boxes in Vegas, but did not have a bunch of time, and the light was not overly pleasant)...Great looking logo (black box with red logo) and I love how the Papi Chulo vitola is presented in boxes of 50 sitting vertically foot down...
- I smoked this cigar before breakfast, and that was not the best I idea I have ever had...I was feeling it by the end of the cigar...
- The Draw was perfect on the sample I smoked, but the burn was a bit wavy (nothing horrible, but noticeable)...
- The Final Smoking Time (for the Papi Chulo) was about 45 minutes...
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The Bottom Line: Although I was not impressed with the first Room 101 release back in 2009, I enjoyed the Conjura line (especially in smaller vitolas)...The Namakubi is in the same vein, enjoyment wise...The Papi Chulo vitola, while not overly complex, was surprisingly (and impressively) strong for such a small cigar, easily a "Full Minus" in body by the end of the cigar...The Papi Chulo was also the best in the line, in my opinion...Easy to smoke, nice flavors, great construction and a great size = a winner in my book...
Final Score: 90
4 Comments
Reader Comments (4)
Nice! Can't wait to try these.
Apparently, while we were all looking the other way, the Vuelta Abajo was secreted away to Honduras!
< 50 > count boxes of Namakubi are beautiful.... I think I'm going to have to snag one b4 they are gone.
Any word on where to find these?