Length: 6"
Ring Gauge: 52
Strength: Medium to Full
Packaging: 1 Single
Vitola: Torpedo
Smoking Time: 55 Minutes
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Cigar Aficionado’s 2019 Cigar of the Year!
AGING ROOM
The story of Aging Room revolves around a central character who had no idea he was headed for the cigar business: Rafael Nodal. It’s a timeline of transitions, partnerships and collaborations that ultimately lead to the creation of the Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro.
In 1980 Nodal came to the U.S from Cuba as a refugee, with no background in cigars he sought a career in music and that brought to New York City, then to Miami where he embarked on a more practical career in healthcare. There in Miami he met his future business partners Hank Bischoff and Dr. Alina Cordoves (His now wife).
Nodal’s foray into the cigar world was slow. In 1998, he and his partners began selling cigars online, and in 2002 they took over the Cuba Cigar Co., a struggling company with a mediocre portfolio of forgettable cigars. For a while, the business situation was looking quite grim.
Not one to be discouraged, Nodal explored the concept of producing cigars in small batches. In 2011 he came out with a new brand called Aging Room Small Batch M356. He also changed the name of his company from Habana Cuba Cigar Co. to Boutique Blends.
The first Aging Rooms were made by José Blanco in the Dominican Republic. (Blanco is also a partner in the brand.) The cigars scored well in Cigar Aficionado, and the Presto size was named to the 2011 Top 25. Nodal got his first taste of critical success—and he kept going.
QUATTRO NICARAGUA MAESTRO
The Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua is the first Quattro cigar to be made outside of the Dominican Republic and uses only Nicaraguan tobacco to form the distinctive taste of this cigar.
The cigar is essentially Nodal’s vision, crafted by Fernandez with his distinct tobacco and signature factory style. In musical terms, the word for this box-pressed torpedo would be dynamic. Nodal is still an artist at heart and cigars continue to be his creative outlet. If the birth of Aging Room was his breakthrough, consider the Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro to be his masterpiece.
Every last leaf in this blend is Nicaraguan and every puff is an overture of flavours that’s at times heavy and rich with notes of dark chocolate and wood, and other times, subtle and understated with hints of fine caramel and toasted almonds.
A box pressed torpedo, the flavour is complex and develops throughout the smoke, turning from rich and heavy with notes of wood and dark chocolate, to subtle and sweet hints of caramel and almonds. This complex blend of Nicaraguan tobacco has created a wonderful full-bodied cigar, with an excellent draw and burn as a delicious taste and aroma.
89 / 100
"This box-pressed torpedo has an open, even draw. A bit waxy-tasting at first, it develops a leathery, peppery character with notes of black licorice, leather and a lemony finish..."