CroMagnon Knuckle Dragger (2024)

Originally released in early 2011, CroMagnon was RoMa Craft Tobac’s first line and featured a blend made up of a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper covering and Cameroon binder and filler tobaccos grown in Nicaragua. Over the years, that inaugural line grew to encompass more than 20 different vitolas, including regular production releases, a number of limited editions and even a 10 x 133 behemoth dubbed the Femur.

However, as RoMa Craft Tobac grew and the CroMagnon line became increasingly popular, the company ran into a significant issue, specifically, trying to source the amount of quality Connecticut broadleaf wrapper that the blend depended on. In mid-2022, the Fábrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño S.A. factory stopped rolling CroMagnon due to those wrapper supply issues and the company removed CroMagnon from its price list in 2023.

RoMa Craft Tobac then decided to completely rework the CroMagnon line, a process that started by replacing that Connecticut broadleaf leaf with a Pennsylvania broadleaf wrapper. In addition, the company changed the internal blend to include a Sumatra hybrid binder from Ecuador and filler tobaccos grown in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.

On March 7, the company began shipping the first vitola of the new CroMagnon to around 20 stores ahead of the line’s formal debut at the at the 2024 PCA Convention & Trade Show. The 6 1/4 x 50 toro viola with a 109-style cap was named Timeline, and it was packaged in 10-count bundles and included a prerelease band. If the Timeline name sounds familiar, it might be because the same vitola debuted as a limited edition in 2016 for the company’s fifth anniversary.

 

Less than two weeks later, RoMa Craft Tobac shipped seven additional vitolas of the new CroMagnon blend to retailers; in fact, they were the same seven vitolas released when the original line debuted back in 2011.

In total, eight different vitolas have been released so far:

• CroMagnon Timeline (6 1/4 x 50) — $13.50 (Bundle of 10, $134.99)
• CroMagnon Pestera Muierilor (4 x 46) — $8.70 (Box of 30, $261)
• CroMagnon Knuckle Dragger (4 x 52) — $9.75 (Box of 24, $234)
• CroMagnon Mandible (4 1/2 x 60) — $10.25 (Box of 24, $246)
• CroMagnon Mode 5 (5 x 50) — $9.95 (Box of 24, $238.80)
• CroMagnon EMH (5 x 56) — $11.05 (Box of 24, $265.20)
• CroMagnon Anthropology (5 3/4 x 46) — $11.60 (Box of 24, $278.40)
• CroMagnon Cranium (6 x 54) — $12.40 (Box 24, $297.60)

The next new CroMagnon vitola to be released will be Clovis—a new version of the CroMagnon Black Irish—which is scheduled to begin shipping to retailers sometime this month.

• Cigar Reviewed: CroMagnon Knuckle Dragger (2024)
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Fábrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño S.A.
• Wrapper: U.S.A. (Pennsylvania Broadleaf)
• Binder: Ecuador (Sumatra Hybrid)
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua
• Length: 4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Petite Robusto
• MSRP: $9.75 (Box of 24, $234)
• Release Date: March 18, 2024
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

“Rustic” is a great way to describe the slightly rough-to-the-touch dark brown wrappers covering the three CroMagnon Knuckle Draggers I am smoking for this review. A touch of oil is present on each, and two of the three cigars have caps that seem somewhat hastily applied. One of the cigars has a large soft spot exactly halfway between the band and the foot, and all three cigars are quite firm when squeezed. Aromas from the wrappers are somewhat restrained, but I do find some light barnyard and earthiness as well as a small amount of generic wood and slight nuttiness. Scents from the feet of all three cigars are quite a bit more obvious, with sweet cloves leading nuts, woodiness, sourdough bread, leather tack and dark fruity sweetness. Finally, after punch cuts, the cold draws bring flavors of unsalted pretzels, gritty earth, cedar, paper, cinnamon and slightly sweet graham crackers.

I expected a massive blast of black pepper and spice in the first few puffs; while both are present, neither is nearly as strong as I thought it would be. Initial flavors of leather tack and anise quickly give way to a main combination of creamy cedar and charred meat, followed by secondary flavors of gritty earth, cocoa nibs, bitter espresso and light cinnamon. There is some black pepper on the retrohale—again, not nearly as much as I expected—which is playing nicely with a distinct sweet clove note. Flavor ends the first third at full, but the body only hits a point just under medium and the strength barely passes into medium territory. Construction-wise, there is a copious amount of smoke emanating from all three cigars and draws are excellent after punch cuts, and while the burn lines are not quite razor sharp, only one of the cigars ends up needing a minor correction.

During the second third, the creamy cedar flavor easily remains one of the top flavors in the profile of the cigars, but the charred meat flavor that was so prevalent in the first third has receded to the background, replaced by a much more obvious dark chocolate note. Additional flavors of coffee beans, almonds, sawdust, toasted bread, gritty earth and barnyard all show up at various points, and while two of the cigars now feature a cinnamon note on the finish, my last cigar does not. The retrohales continue to be quite smooth, with slight black pepper and the same clove sweetness from the first third, although the latter note does seem to be getting slightly stronger as the second third burns down. The flavor remains at full, but both the body and strength increase to land at a solid medium and medium-plus, respectively. There continue to be absolutely no issues with construction, as the burns, draws and smoke production all work in harmony through the second third.

As the final third of the new Knuckle Dragger begins, there is a bit more spice on my lips but the main flavors of dark chocolate and creamy cedar retain their places at the top of the profile. Secondary notes of dry hay, gritty earth, bitter espresso, almonds and plain popcorn flit in and out, while the retrohale features the same amount of black pepper combined with slightly more sweet cloves compared to the second third. The flavor stays at full until the end of the cigar, but the strength remains at medium-plus, and the body increases to land at medium-plus. Finally, all three aspects of the construction continue along their excellent paths, with straight burn lines, great draws and copious amounts of smoke.

Final Notes

• Skip Martin—co-founder of RoMa Craft Tobac—has told halfwheel that he is open to making the Connecticut broadleaf version of the CroMagnon line again, even going so far as to say he’d be open to having it made at another factory.
• There are a number of CroMagnon vitolas that were released in the old CroMagnon blend as limited items—like Atlatl and Slobberknocker—that are listed on the RoMa Craft Tobac price list. According to the company, the plan is for those cigars to return at some point down the road.
• I loved the fact that the RoMa Craft Tobac cigars were sold sans bands of any sort when they were originally released in 2011, but I totally understood when the company switched to using bands. In the cigar industry, unbanded cigars are usually thought of as one of two things: a bundle cigar or a custom/farm roll.
• Speaking of the bands, the company made a change to help differentiate between the original CroMagnon and the updated blend. The original version featured dark gray text on a dark gray brand, while the new release has white text.

• As mentioned above, the caps on two of the three cigars looked to be applied in a surprisingly sloppy manner. Having said that, both of those caps had no issues staying in place throughout the entire time I was smoking the cigars they were attached to.

• All three cigars came very close to the official size of 4 x 52. These three cigars were about as consistent as any three review cigars we’ve measured during the last 17 months or so.
• In addition to the above, the construction was excellent on all three cigars—I only need to correct the burn on one cigar in the first third, and the draws and smoke production were excellent—but all three cigars did get a bit hot at the end, so you will have no issues knowing when to put them down.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Although I was taking my time, this is not a very fast smoking vitola, and the final smoking time for all three cigars averaged out to one hour and six minutes.
• If you would like to purchase any of the CroMagnon Knuckle Dragger (2024) cigars, site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Cigars Direct, Famous Smoke Shop and Smokingpipes have them in stock.