Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The box pressed RoMa Craft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Noble Experiment has a wrapper that is medium brown with a hint of red. It stops short of the foot by about an eighth of an inch. There are some lightly raised veins, smooth seams and the caps are pretty well applied. There are two bands, with the primary being the traditional design for the line and the secondary band denoting the sub-line in a creamy reddish brown and white color combination. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of oak and earth, while the foot brings cedar, earth and mild crushed red pepper. The pre-light draw brings cedar and a floral/cardboard combination along with a mild spiciness on my lips and the tip of my tongue.
Seth: The RoMa Craft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Noble Experiment is a beautiful cigar. Skip always does a great job of having the bands really not take way from the wrapper, and this particular wrapper has this beautiful rustic look. Natural beauty. Coarse in texture, the cigar sports minor veins throughout. Nice firmness. Aromas of tobacco, dry earth, hay, spices, wood and leather.
John: The RoMa Craft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Noble Experiment comes in cellophane, has a UPC sticker and has an integrated tear space so it remains intact when opened. There is an aggressive box press artisanal complication. Additionally, a quarter inch of binder is exposed at the foot, which is a common complication for RoMa cigars. The cigar has two bands, for a lot of RoMa cigars they’re laid on top of each other but the Intemperance Volstead has the primary Intemperance band and the 1920 Volstead band underneath. I weighed the cigar at 13.9 grams, and the humidity as measured by the HumidiMeter Pro was 60.1%. Aromas from the wrapper included sweet tobacco, barnyard and wood. From the foot, I was getting the same plus an additional bread aroma.
Jiunn: The RoMa Craft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Noble Experiment has a Colorado Red wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and head is well wrapped and capped. Aromas from the wrapper tell of black tea and cedar. Aromas from the foot give nuts and cedar. Cold draws reveal hay and cedar.

RoMa Craft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Noble Experiment

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar, potent baking spice and light earth. As the burn reaches the wrapper, the baking spice tones down a bit. At a half inch in, the earth is now right behind the toasted cedar. At three quarters of an inch in, some dark roast coffee joins the middle of the profile. The retrohale is toasted cedar, earth, zingy black pepper and a light amount of dark roast coffee. At an inch in, the baking spice transitions to black pepper. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar and earth are now even up front, with black pepper and dark roast coffee a bit behind. The strength is right at medium.
Seth: The first third starts out with this dry hay and wood quality that has some tobacco, spices and earth. Some pepper present, but not over the top. Balanced cigar. Bits of soft mocha on the finish. Medium in strength and body.
John: My initial flavor impressions are mild spices, creaminess, sweet tobacco, mild wood and spices that carry into the post draw. The spices on the main profile stay the same strength, but on the post draw they rapidly move up to medium-minus intensity. Shortly after, the spices become medium-full on the retrohale and the post draw. Some light hay starts to break through on the post draw. As the first third settles, citrus sweetness enters into the mix with mild sourness both at the end of the draw. By the one inch mark, the spices have backed off to medium and everything is coming into balance around the same level. By the bottom half, creamy spices are leading with some wood joining as it finishes into the post draw.
Jiunn: The most prominent note within the first third is a slick and oily fresh red pepper spice. The spice is combined with metallic notes and black coffee. Retrohaling provides an intense red pepper experience. The finish is long and lingering with the slick and oily red pepper spice and cedar. Strength is medium-full and body is medium.

RoMa Craft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Noble Experiment

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the dark roast coffee mellows a bit. At a half inch in, the earth takes a slight lead in the profile and is very detailed. The retrohale is now toasted cedar and earth with a lightly zingy black pepper. At an inch in, the black pepper mellows a bit and the black pepper is now in the background, but exhibits a very long finish. As the third comes to a close, the earth is slightly ahead of the toasted cedar, with black pepper a fair distance behind and dark roast coffee in the background. The strength bumped up to slightly above medium.
Seth: The second third is similar to the first. Bits of mocha present with some tobacco, earth and spices. Dry hay and wood present as well. Soft pepper on the finish. Medium in strength and body.
John: Creamy tobacco combines with spices to lead off the second third, wood comes through in the middle. On the retrohale, chocolate and bread are present. As it continues, the profile settles into creamy spices, sweet wood, with a mildly dry wood on the post draw.
Jiunn: The second third’s flavor profile holds strong to the powerhouse of a blend. Still a vibrant slick and oily red pepper spice, metallic notes and black coffee. The mouth feel is unique and rare, as the slick oiliness is never ending. Strength and body remains medium-full and medium, respectively.

RoMa Craft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Noble Experiment

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the black pepper has now moved to the background. At a half inch in, the earth now has a long finish and is caking my palate. The retrohale is now earth, toasted cedar and light black pepper. At an inch in, the toasted cedar and earth are now back to even at the front of the profile as a light vegetal note joins the profile. As the cigar comes to a close, the toasted cedar and earth are even up front, with black pepper, dark roast coffee and vegetal note in the background. The strength remained at slightly above medium.
Seth: The final third is right in line with second. Profile is nearly identical. Lovely finish. Nice mocha and pepper quality with tobacco. Medium in strength and body.
John: Sweet wood and tobacco pair up in the last third. Bread and spices define the retrohale with spices and mild, dry wood on the finish. Wood moves to the front of the profile as the last third continues. An earthy finish joins the medley in the bottom half.
Jiunn: The final third shows no changes from the second third. The profile is still bold with the great slick and oily red pepper spice, metallic notes and black coffee. The mouthfeel continues to impress (no pause). Strength and body is still medium-full and medium, respectively.

RoMa Craft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Noble Experiment

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight throughout, but the cigar did go out once in the first third, requiring a re-light. The ash held on in inch and a half increments.
Seth: The burn was very good throughout. Thick burn line, but firm ash.
John: The burn had some minor unevenness in the first third but self corrected. The burn was straight until the last third where it exhibited some minor unevenness.
Jiunn: The cigar went out twice within the first third and second third. Aside from that, the burn was good.

RoMa Craft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Noble Experiment

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: Perfect draw. Cigar smoked cool to the end.
John: The draw was perfect, right in the ideal zone between open and resistant.
Jiunn: Draw performance was on point, providing the ideal balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar, potent baking spice and light earth. Some dark roast coffee joined in a bit later and the baking spice transitioned to black pepper. The second third saw the earth take the lead in the profile. The final third saw a vegetal note join in. Aside from a single re-light, the construction was great. The RoMa Craft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Noble Experiment started off well, with a nice combination of flavors and fullness. The second third walked the line of good and average, with the final third being solidly in the average category. This was an interesting cigar and I was hoping the second third would have been a bit better. The price point is attractive, and I’ll try some other vitolas to see if I can find one that steps it up a bit. I’d really like to try the Lonsdale vitola once it’s released.
Seth: I was caught off guard by the flavor profile with this RoMa Craft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Noble Experiment, and I will be honest in saying that I did not think Skip had a blend of this nature in him. I’m a dick, but I will admit I was wrong. This was a balanced cigar, and a solid medium in strength and body. Not closer to mild, or medium-full. Solid medium. I loved the diversity of the tobacco in the blend, and it all came together to produce a uniform profile. There was a lot going on, but something was delivered. There wasn’t this hot mess from start to finish. I’m just going to stick to this vitola though, so I don’t rock the boat.
John: After finishing my review of the RoMa Craft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Noble Experiment, there’s no question about it that the Volstead is now my favorite Intemperance expression. The first and second thirds I found the flavors the most engaging. Draw and burn were both perfect. The price point on these makes it a no brainer, coupled with the flavor delivery. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 59 minutes.
Jiunn: There was a lot of manbacco in this RoMa Craft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Noble Experiment and I liked it. The interplay of oily red pepper spice mixed with black coffee and metallic notes worked cohesively. Delivering these bold flavors with just enough of a head spin in strength was complimentary as well. As my daughter loves to say “more, more.”

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.00

Cost/Point

$1.62

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

7.07

Cost/Point

$1.38

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.82

Cost/Point

$1.43

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.97

Cost/Point

$1.40

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: RoMa Craft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 Noble Experiment