Room101 Johnny Tobacconaut Perfecto

General Cigar Co.

• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Connecticut-Seed Shade-Grown)
• Binder: Mexico
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 56
• Vitola: Perfecto
• MSRP: $15.99 (Box of 20, $319.80)
• Release Date: August 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Original Score: 91

Since relaunching his cigar brand in 2017, Matt Booth’s Room101 has worked a lot with AJ Fernandez.  Scandinavian Tobacco Group family—which includes General Cigar Co., Cigars International and others—is also one of the larger clients for AJ Fernandez. Given that Room101 is now part of the larger it’s not surprising that Room101 is continuing to use AJ Fernandez to make Room101’s cigars.

Yet, after smoking it, I was surprised to learn that the Room101 Johnny Tobacconaut Perfecto was made by AJ Fernandez.

I remember when Johnny Tobacconaut launched in 2015. I loved the gold-on-black branding and the playful drawing of the astronaut with his tiny shovel ready to go explore the universe. Even the press release was fun. In 2023, Johnny Tobacconaut returned with a completely new blend, made at a different factory, but Johnny—the tobacconaut—appears the same, ready to share the discoveries he found on the seventh planet, Uranus.

Back to the cigar. Quite simply, this is a Connecticut shade profile done very well. There are bold yet refined flavors, contrasts between sweetness and spiciness, and top-notch construction. Its progression is rather linear, starting calmer and smoother while gaining richness and strength as it gets to the final third. It’s at that point that the halfwheel team both diverges in opinion and has its only bit of criticism for this cigar.

While I didn’t find the profile to change all that much, the rest of halfwheel found that some of the signature AJ Fernandez aggressiveness can show up in the final third. Perhaps it’s a feature, not a bug; it certainly wasn’t an issue for me and whatever nitpicking my colleagues did, it didn’t stop this cigar from landing in our top three. — Charlie Minato.