PCA 2022: Room101

Room101 is back this year, but perhaps for its final year, until a time when General Cigar Co. joins the exhibitor list again at the PCA Convention and Trade Show. Last month it was announced that Room101 was acquired by Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG), the parent company of General Cigar Co., which stopped exhibiting at the trade show after IPCPR 2019.

Matt Booth, who is now the creative director for General Cigar Co., is an enigmatic personality. He can be playfully silly, other times serious, but he has always greeted me warmly whenever I come to cover his booth. This time, the warm greeting was preceded by him posing for the booth photos when he noticed I had my camera out.

Booth is a popular figure, having two other media groups who were waiting to interview him, so after a quick initial greeting, I let him get on with those interviews while I got some photographs of the new boxes. I say boxes because the cigars were not on display in most of those boxes for various reasons.

Room101 13th Anniversary

Nicknamed the stinky pinky by Booth, this is the latest in the Room101 Anniversary releases. Mike Szczepankiewicz of Cigar Hustler/Powstanie was smoking one of these during our interview on Monday, so I know they were on the show floor somewhere, but the box in the Room101 booth was empty so that’s all I was able to photograph.

• Wrapper: Nicaragua
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua

• Room101 13th Anniversary (6 x 52) — $11.30 (Boxes of 20, $226)

Production: 1,500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (30,000 Total Cigars)

Release Date: August 2022

Room101 The Big Payback Nicaragua

Like the 13th Anniversary, The Big Payback Nicaragua was just an empty box. In fact, it was just an empty box that arrived the evening before the final day of the trade show, so when I stopped back by the booth, I noticed some new boxes on display.

• Wrapper: Nicaragua
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua

• Room101 The Big Payback Nicaragua Robusto (5 1/4 x 50) — $7 (Boxes of 40, $280)
• Room101 The Big Payback Nicaragua Toro (6 x 54) — $7.50 (Boxes of 40, $300)
• Room101 The Big Payback Nicaragua Gordo (6 x 60) — $8 (Boxes of 40, $320)

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: October 2022

Room101 Farce Nicaragua

Is the theme here Nicaraguan puros? Because I think the theme here is Nicaraguan puros. The Nicaraguan blend for the Farce line also was an empty box that showed up the evening before the final day of the show.

• Wrapper: Nicaragua
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua

• Room101 Farce Robusto (5 1/4 x 50) — $11.70 (Boxes of 20, $234)
• Room101 Farce Toro (6 x 52) — $12.80 (Boxes of 20, $256)
• Room101 Farce Gordo (6 x 60) — $13.90 (Boxes of 20, $278)

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: October 2022

Los Statos Deluxe

Finally, a box that had some cigars in it, albeit with most of them having been taken. This is the first of two existing General Cigar Co. brands that Booth worked on helping revamp.

• Wrapper: Ecuador (Sumatra)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua

• Los Statos Deluxe Churchill (7 x 49) — $9.49 (Box of 20, $189.80)
• Los Statos Deluxe Gigante (6 x 60) — $9.49 (Box of 20, $189.80)
• Los Statos Deluxe Robusto (5 x 50) — $8.49 (Box of 20, $169.80)
• Los Statos Deluxe Toro (6 x 52) — $8.99 (Box of 20, $179.80)

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: July 11, 2022

Sancho Panza

And we’re back to empty boxes. This is the second brand that Booth helped revamp. It will have three blends: Original, Double Maduro and Extra Fuerte, the latter two sharing the same sizes and pricing.

Sancho Panza Original

• Wrapper: Honduras (Connecticut)
• Binder: Mexico (San Andrés)
• Filler: Brazil (Mata Fina), Dominican Republic, Nicaragua

• Sancho Panza Original Gigante (6 x 60) — $7.59 (Box of 20, $151.80)
• Sancho Panza Original Robusto (5 1/2 x 50) — $6.69 (Box of 20, $133.80)
• Sancho Panza Original Toro (6 1/2 x 52) — $7.09 (Box of 20, $141.80)

Sancho Panzo Double Maduro

• Wrapper: Ecuador (Sumatra)
• Binder: Nicaragua (Estelí)
• Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua

• Sancho Panza Double Maduro Gigante (6 x 60) — $9.49 (Box of 20, $189.80)
• Sancho Panza Double Maduro Robusto (5 x 50) — $7.49 (Box of 20, $149.80)
• Sancho Panza Double Maduro Toro (6 x 52) — $8.49 (Box of 20, $169.80)

Sancho Panzo Extra Fuerte

• Wrapper: Ecuador (Sumatra)
• Binder: U.S. (Connecticut Broadleaf)
• Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua

• Sancho Panza Extra Fuerte Gigante (5 7/8 x 60) — $9.49 (Box of 20, $189.80)
• Sancho Panza Extra Fuerte Robusto (5 x 50) — $7.49 (Box of 20, $149.80)
• Sancho Panza Extra Fuerte Toro (6 x 52) — $8.49 (Box of 20, $169.80)

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: July 15, 2022