Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the RoMa Craft Quinquagenario is a marbled medium brown and carries some lightly raised veins. The seams are smooth and the caps are very well applied. There are two bands, with a navy blue band with the line name in silver over the top of a lightly wider white band with silver trim. The aroma from the wrapper is a faint mix of wood and earth while the foot brings cedar and stone fruit sweetness. The pre-light draw consists of cedar with some spice and a decent level of spice on my lips.
Seth: The RoMa Craft Quinquagenario is not a great looking cigar. Rough in texture with veins throughout. Small to large in size. Colorado Maduro coloring. Marbling throughout. Aromas of rich and sharp spices, earth, leather and wood. Intense.
John: The RoMa Craft Quinquagenario comes in cellophane and does not have a UPC sticker. The band is a standard RoMa Craft band design with a Quinguagenario band on top of a wider white band. I weighed the cigar at 13.9 grams, and the humidity as measured by a HumidiMeter Pro was 62.6%. Aromas from the wrapper were sweet tobacco, and mild earth. From the foot, I was smelling dusty wood, earth and sweet tobacco.
Jiunn: The RoMa Craft Quinquagenario has a shiny and oily Colorado wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Aromas from the wrapper tell of deep cedar. Aromas from the foot provide a mixture of cedar and black pepper spice. Cold draws reveal hay, stale nuts and bread.

RoMa Craft Quinquagenario

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted oak and bold black pepper. At a third of an inch in, the black pepper mellows a bit and some earth joins the profile. The retrohale is toasted oak, lightly zingy black pepper and mild earth. At an inch in, a light creaminess joins the profile. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak is up front, black pepper is in the middle with earth and creaminess in the background. The strength was slightly above medium.
Seth: The first third opens up with a nice peppery spice and herbal combo. There is some meaty qualities present, and it has some wood, tobacco and earth. Long finish. Filling. Medium in strength and body.
John: My initial flavor impressions are vegetal mixed with wood and earth, spices in the middle and then combining with wood into the finish. Creamy tobacco, wood, spices and earth are all present in the retrohale with earth and leather finishing. The spices on the retrohale rapidly build to medium-full through the post draw. As the first third settled in, chocolate joins the retrohale. As it continues, sweet tobacco notes intensify through the retrohale. By the halfway point of the first third, the spices have receded to light-plus.
Jiunn: The first third provides a nice array of flavors. Roasted coffee beans, sharper tannin filled vegetal notes, minerals and non-sweet creamed roasted nuttiness. Retrohaling awakens the nostrils with dry red pepper spice and cedar. The finish is long with soft layered cedar. Strength is near medium-full and body is medium.

RoMa Craft Quinquagenario

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the black pepper mellows a bit more. At a quarter inch in, the creaminess picks up a bit. At three quarters of an inch in, the earth picks up a bit and is again even with the creaminess. The retrohale is now just toasted oak and earth. At an inch in, the black pepper is now pretty mellow. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak is up front, with the earth in the middle and the creaminess and black pepper a bit behind. The strength dropped down to medium.
Seth: The second third delivers a flavor profile that is fairly in line with that of the first. Very filling. Meaty spices with some pepper and herbal qualities. Earth, tobacco and leather as well. Medium to medium-full in strength and body.
John: Creamy chocolate leads off the second third followed by sweet tobacco as sweet wood finishes. Mild baking spices come through the post draw after a short delay. Bread joins the retrohale as the second third settles in. Spices return to the profile at light-plus by the halfway point, and all the various components are balanced. Those spices eventually linger into the post draw at the same strength level. An earth and tobacco combination joins the finish in the bottom half.
Jiunn: There’s a slight decrease in flavor complexities within the second third. Less coffee influence, replaced by more minerals and vegetal notes. Strength moves to medium-full, while body remains medium.

RoMa Craft Quinquagenario

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, some mustiness joins the profile. At a quarter inch in, the earth is now right behind the toasted oak. The retrohale is now toasted oak, earth and mustiness. At three quarters of an inch in, the black pepper has departed and the toast level increases a bit. At an inch and a quarter, a vegetal mintiness becomes present. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted oak is just ahead of the earth, with mustiness and the vegetal mintiness a bit further behind. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: Final third was a little bit more peppery spice and mineral forward. Medium-full in strength and body on the finish. Long finish.
John: The last third gets started with creamy earth then tobacco, and earth and wood joining up on the finish. As the last third continues, earth and tannic wood are present on the end of the draw, along with some delayed citrus sourness on the post draw. Spices return and are at the front of the profile. Creamy tobacco and spices lead by the halfway point, with wood on the finish.
Jiunn: The final third shows no changes from the second third. Still a less complex formula with primarily minerals and sharper vegetal notes. Strength and body finishes the same medium-full and medium, respectively.

RoMa Craft Quinquagenario

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy throughout and required one touch-up to keep everything burning in unison. The ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.
Seth: Riding the waves.
John: The burn had some unevenness in the first third, eventually requiring a touch-up. The cigar went out in the second third, requiring a re-light. No burn issues through the last third.
Jiunn: Burn performance was perfect. Even burn, ample smoke production, tight ashes and cool burning temperature.

RoMa Craft Quinquagenario

Draw

Aaron: The draw was a bit tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.
Seth: It was a good time.
John: The draw was at most one notch towards the resistant spectrum, putting it still in the ideal range for an amazing score on the draw.
Jiunn: Draw performance was on point, providing the ideal balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted oak and bold black pepper. Some earth joined in fairly quickly and some creaminess a bit later. The black pepper waned through the second third. The final third saw the black pepper depart and some mustiness and vegetal mintiness join in. The RoMa Craft Quinquagenario had a nice start, with a bold flavor profile and nice combination of flavors. The second third saw the profile start to fall off a bit as the black pepper mellowed and maintained that level the rest of the way. Overall, the cigar was OK, but past the first third wasn’t all that exciting. Probably not a cigar I’d see myself returning to.
Seth: I’m not gonna pull a Jiunn and be like, looking back on the Volstead. … This RoMa Craft Quinquagenario was not a bad Ecuadorian Sumatra release, but definitely not Skip’s best. Not Ernie’s best either. Seemed too rough and unrefined. Very little balance. In your face Sumatra blend with DR tobacco. Funky. Not sold.
John: The RoMa Craft Quinquagenario does a good job of showcasing flavor profiles that you would recognize as RoMa Craft, while blending something unique and engaging that isn’t currently in the portfolio. The first and second thirds were the most engaging for me, with the second third rising to the top as my overall favorite. The draw was perfect, while the burn required a touch-up and a re-light to correct. I’m a big fan of the cigars that RoMa Craft produces, and given the amount of work that went into this cigar, and that it comes out of another factory, the price point is quite reasonable for what it is. I will happily smoke more Quinquagenarios at the earliest opportunity. Total smoking time was a leisurely 2 hours and 28 minutes.
Jiunn: I know this has nothing to do with the smoking experience, but I love simple and clean bands like this. Clean colors, nice contrast, classy but modern. Ok, the flavor portion. The best part of the RoMa Craft Quinquagenario was the first third, where the flavors popped the most. I loved the roasted coffee notes paired with minerals and sharper vegetal tones. It was unique and almost felt like a good single origin coffee. But past that, the profile died down, becoming less flavorful and melded. All in all, I recommend grabbing a couple to just try.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$2.61

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.50

Cost/Point

$2.73

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.62

Cost/Point

$2.27

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$2.46

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: RoMa Craft Quinquagenario