Pre-light Experience

A very smooth, medium brown wrapper covers this rectangle press cigar. There are a couple of slightly raised veins on the backside and the seams are slightly visible but smooth. The head is finished off with what appears to be a well applied double cap. There are two bands, the first being the traditional aging room style but in red along with gold and white while the foot band is also in red and sports the overall line name. One thing to note is that the cigar feels a bit light for its size. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of wood and cocoa while the foot brings wood and natural sweet tobacco. The pre-light draw brings some prune-like sweetness along with some baking spice and a decent spicy tingle on my lips.

Pre-light Experience

The Aging Room Quattro F55M Vibrato is a large sized cigar providing a finely toothed, semi-oily, chocolate brown wrapper. Construction looks good as veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll providing an even feel and head finished off with a well done triple cap. Nosing the wrapper gives oak, hay and dry barnyard. Nosing the foot tells rich white pepper spice and cedar. Cold draw gives saw dust, cedar and hay.

First Third

Initial draws bring an airy wood and a mild baking spice. At a quarter inch in, a slight bitterness pairs up with the airy wood while the baking spice remains. At a half inch in, the bitterness leaves as a dull cream enters. The wood note has also become a bit darker. The retrohale consists of just the slightly dark wood note. At an inch in, I get hints of some unique spice flavors, but they are only present on a single draw every 5 or 6 draws or so. At an inch and a half, the profile is now an aged dark airy wood note with some mild baking spice and a bit of cream in the background. As the third comes to a close, a slight bit of cocoa joins the profile. The strength in this third was mild-medium.

First Third

The first third begins with a mixture of cardboard, subtle baking spices and creamed coffee. Past the inch mark, there is greater baking spices as well as a black pepper spice mixed in. Retrohaling further accentuates both the baking spices and black pepper spice. The finish consists of bread, faint baking spices and lingering nuts. Strength and body is medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, some bitterness rejoins the profile. The retrohale gains a bit of baking spice to go along with the wood. At a half inch in, the profile consists of slightly dark wood, some cocoa, baking spice, mild cream and a bit of bitterness. At an inch in, the cocoa and cream have left while the dark wood, baking spice and slight bitterness remain with the addition of a slight mineral note. As the third comes to a close, the baking spice has left as the dark wood is up front and the slight bitterness and mineral note are in the background. The strength in this third has bumped up to medium.

Second Third

The second third transitions into a cardboard, baking spice and black pepper formula. The baking spices and black pepper is carried throughout the entire smoking experience (mouth draw, retrohale and finish). The first third’s notes of creamed coffee is especially lost being a bit too spice and paper forward. Strength and body is still for the most part medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the mineral note drops out as some cream rejoins the profile of dark wood and slight bitterness. At three quarters of an inch in, the bitterness picks up a bit, becoming even with the wood. As the third continues, the bitterness continues to increase. As the cigar wraps up, the bitterness is up front followed by the dark wood with a slight bit of cream in the background. The strength in this third bumped up to slightly above medium.

Final Third

The last third doesn’t change much at all from the second third. The profile is still full of cardboard, baking spices and black pepper. Some subtle notes of dried nuts can be tasted but not nearly enough to compensate for the paper and spice forward notes. Strength is moving towards the medium-full mark, while body stays medium.

Burn

The burn started out great, but by the second third, the burn line was getting wavy and the ash was flaky. In the final third, the cigar went out on me once and required a re-light. The ash held on in inch and a half increments.

Burn

Burn performance was very good. Just a quick touch-up within the first third. Other than that, rock solid ashes averaging 1.5 inch increments and a cool and steady burn.

Draw

Similar to the burn, the draw started out great and then became looser as the cigar progressed. By the final third, the draw was quite open.

Overall

The cigar started out with a pretty typical profile before bitterness joined in and then in the final third took over. Pre-light, I had an inkling that the cigar was under filled due to the weight and based on the burn and draw, it turns out I was correct. I’ve been a fan of previous Aging Room offerings, but my experience with this cigar was quite underwhelming. I’m hoping it’s just attributed to the construction flaws and that other samples would provide a better experience. I’m interested in revisiting this to see if I have a better experience, but at this point, I can’t recommend this cigar.

Draw

The draw was perfect. Great mouthfeel on the box press and just the right amount of air flow.

Overall

This was an average tasting experience for me. Reviewing my flavor notes, I basically just wrote about cardboard and variations of spice (baking spices and black pepper spice). These notes were too boring, especially for such a large sized cigar. If the cigar had more complexities working off the bread, coffee and nuts, this would have greatly enhanced the flavor profile. But as it stands, just an average tasting cigar.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

4.53

Cost/Point

$2.47

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.65

Cost/Point

$1.98

Scoring System