19. Aging Room Small Batch Pura Cepa Rondo
Aging Room
- Country of Origin: Nicaragua
- Factory: Plasencia Cigars S.A.
- Wrapper: Nicaragua
- Binder: Nicaragua
- Filler: Nicaragua
- Length: 5 Inches
- Ring Gauge: 50
- Vitola: Robusto
- MSRP: $12.50 (Box of 20, $250)
- Release Date: July 2018
- Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
- Original Score: 92
For about as long as the Aging Room brand has been on the radar, it has seemingly been tightly connected to the Dominican Republic: the line was made at Tabacalera Palma and the blends often featured tobacco from the country. Yet this year, Rafael Nodal turned to Nicaragua for a new cigar called the Aging Room Small Batch Pura Cepa.
Pura Cepa, which means pure bred in Spanish and is made at Plasencia Cigars S.A., refers to the tobaccos used in the blend, Nicaraguan leaves that come from a quartet of the country’s growing regions: Condega, Estelí, Jalapa and Ometepe.
The Rondo size, a 5 x 50 robusto, is both the smallest and thinnest of the three sizes in the line, but that doesn’t hinder its ability to deliver plenty of flavor, complexity and some strength while staying balanced, smooth, elegant and refined. Even with an all-Nicaraguan blend, the cigar doesn’t overpower the palate or senses, and as noted in the original review, finds that sweet spot of leaving the palate wanting that next puff as soon as the current one is complete. — Patrick Lagreid.
