Matt Booth’s retirement from the cigar was short-lived. Less than six months after a press release was sent out referencing his “retirement,” Booth was back.

His Room101 brand was also  back, at least sort of. The first two cigars Booth released were done in collaboration with Caldwell Cigar Co. While there were references to his Room101 brand, the cigars—Hit & Run and The T.—were not specifically branded as Room101 products.

The first official new Room101 release landed last month: Farce. It’s a five-size line being produced at Tabacalera William Ventura, a frequent producer of Caldwell cigars, and distributed by Down and Back, LLC, Caldwell’s distribution company.

As for the blend, Farce uses an Ecuadorian wrapper over an Indonesian binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Pennsylvania.

It’s offered in five sizes:

  • Room101 Farce Robusto (5 x 52)
  • Room101 Farce Toro (6 1/4 x 54)
  • Room101 Farce Gordo (6 1/2 x 60)
  • Room101 Farce Lonsdale (6 1/2 x 42)
  • Room101 Farce Papi Chulo (4 x 42) — not pictured

The Papi Chulo size is limited to events, while the other four are sold in boxes of 20.

  • Cigar Reviewed: Room101 Farce Toro
  • Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
  • Factory: Tabacalera William Ventura
  • Wrapper: Ecuador
  • Binder: Indonesia
  • Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua & Pennsylvania
  • Length: 6 1/4 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 54
  • Vitola: Toro Extra
  • MSRP: $10.35 (Bundles of 20, $207)
  • Release Date: February 2018
  • Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
  • Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The Farce looks good, though I’m admittedly curious to see what the updated packaging will look like for this release. Aroma off the wrapper is acidic with some saw dust, lots of leather and sunflower seeds. The foot has some cedar, milk chocolate and something that reminds me of Kiwi shoe polish. The cold draw is a lot of chocolate and pepper, somewhat reminiscent of Hanoi Fudge, a chocolate from a Dallas-area chocolatier. There’s some added white pepper as I take more and more dry puffs.

It begins earthy with some hay and raspberry, smooth and medium, but that changes quite quickly. There’s a lot of green pepper overtop some earthiness and an underlying creaminess. The nose is far more interesting: cornbread, minerals and faint hints of creaminess before a red pepper emerges on the finish and takes over. Flavor is medium-full, body is full and strength is medium-plus.

One sample takes a dramatic increase in nicotine strength and starts to go off the rails, something I’ll describe in the final notes. What follows will be an account of two of the three cigars I smoked for the review. The other two cigars increase a bit in strength, but I’d characterize them as medium-full, which is also where flavor and body end up. Flavor turns to a cedar flavor with more creaminess, a slight black pepper and a lingering cinnamon. Retrohales are muddy with creaminess, lots of minerals, green pepper and cedar—all mixed up to a point where nothing really stands out. Construction is stellar in all three cigars in the second third.

All three cigars see the strength ramp up in the final third, though the starting points are key. The latter two cigars I smoke for the review start at medium-full and finish at full. Flavor-wise, there’s walnuts, damp woods and a bit of red pepper that increases towards the end. The retrohale has some orange peel, earthiness, a biscuit-like bread flavor and a bit of cedar, while the finish has red pepper and sunflower seeds.

Final Notes

  • For those keeping score at home, this is the first Room101 made in the Dominican Republic.
  • The first sample I smoked was super strong, or at least had the illusion of being super strong. It was uncomfortable to smoke and challenging to finish, thankfully the next two samples weren’t like that.
  • Turns out the Farce packaging looks like a combination of the Room101 sakura logo and a very-Supreme like font.
  • While the bands might say “pre-release,” we don’t consider this cigar a pre-release, as it was sold to customers at several events throughout the Phoenix, Ariz. area.
  • For those wondering, it’s pretty rare for a cigar, or even multiple cigars in a day, to get me nicotine sick. I can smoke just about anything on an empty stomach without issue, but even at the end of the night, the first Farce was simply way too much.
  • Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
  • Final smoking time was lengthy two hours and 15 minutes.
  • Site sponsor Atlantic Cigar Co. has the Room101 Farce Toro in stock.
86 Overall Score

The first example of the Farce I smoked gave me a lot of cause for concern. It was too strong and as such, not particularly enjoyable. That being said, the other two samples were much better, but I’m not sure it’s enough. I struggle to find much cohesiveness in the flavors and there are signs of younger tobaccos, particularly in the final third, that make it hard to recommend Farce in its current form.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.