Roxxo (Short Robusto), 4" x 48 ring gauge / approx. $6.50, Burns Tobacconist
Last December I spent the week after Christmas in California with my wife's family. One day of the time there I spent with my old Tiki Bar herfing grouping and we hung out at Maxamar Fine Cigars in Orange. Matt Booth had told me to touch base with him when he was in town and so I did...and he came down to Orange and hung out with us for a few hours, smoked a few cigars, and told a few stories...one of which was about his upcoming LTD line, named after a Samurai term for "severed head." He uttered the word "Namakubi" at the time, but because I had never heard it before, I didn't remember that specific detail, but the "severed head" part stuck with me. A few months later, Matt Allen, the manager of Burns Tobacconist (my home shop), was one of the friends Booth invited down to Honduras to help finalize his new blend. The result showed up first to Burns for the Chattanooga Tweet Up in August and I was one of the first to snap up a box, opting for the Roxxo size because I thought it would be a shorter smoke very suitable for the cold winter months ahead. I was a bit wrong about that, but more on that later.
The Namakubi is made for Booth by Camacho Cigars in Honduras. It features a Habano wrapper (country not specified anywhere that I could find), a proprietary Honduran seed binder, and fillers from Honduras and the Dominican Republic. Although "limited" there were 100,000 cigars made so they should be fairly easy to find. On another note, the LTD Conjura from last year was recently added as a "regular, but limited" item, so it would not surprise me to see these turn out the same way. As noted before, I bought a box of these; my review stick was the fourth cigar taken from that box and I had smoked one of the Tiburon vitola previously, too.
The packaging of the Namakubi is typical 101 flashy, using black backgrounds with blood red type and accents. The cigar itself is slightly rustic with some lumps and bumps as well as a few larger veins. There was plenty of oiliness on the leaf, though and the construction appeared to be too-notch. I got a rich earthy aroma from the wrapper--a mix really of manure and damp forest; the foot was not quite as aromatic, giving off subtle notes of oak and earth. Clipping the head of the cigar (I guess that qualifies as a Namakubi of the Namakubi), I got an open, easy draw with a flavor of rich, natural tobacco and wood, along with hints of grassiness and pepper spice.
On the first puffs, I got cedar and oak flavors up front, along with some spice underneath. There was also a touch of minerally, metallic flavor on the finish, something I got in large amounts in the 101 Connecticut, but I hadn't noticed so much on these previously. The rest of the first third featured a rich mix of earthy and woody flavors along with some floral and grassy notes that were subdued and just lent to the interest-level. The retrohale started off fairly spicy, but had settled down to more of a floral note by the end of the third. The metallic flavor was there, too, but very subtle, so it was not off-putting. A friend found that the metallic flavor was very prevalent on a different vitola, though, so if that does not appeal to you, I would stick with the smaller ring gauge sticks.
Before the first third was over I noticed two minor construction problems: the burn was quite uneven and the ash was fairly flaky. Both would bear watching as the cigar went on, but at this point, neither was worrisome enough to make points off for. Flavors in the second third were still excellent...plenty of herbal/floral flavors had come to the front, but there was still an oaky base that was very nice as well as a bit of spice on the back of the tongue. The burn continued to require touchups and the ash was still as flaky as it was when it started off, but I do have to point out that I had noticed neither of these being an issue on other samples I had burned.
In the last third the flavors of wood came on strong again, along with some sharper pepper spice on the tongue. The construction seemed to sort itself out, with no more touchups needed and an ash that held strong at last. As I noted earlier, I thought these would be a good "shorter" smoke, but they tend to burn slowly and I have yet to smoke one of these that lasted less than an hour. I really enjoyed the Namakubi and find it the best of all the 101 sticks produced so far. While I still think the Tiburon might be the best size, I have no regrets in buying the box of Roxxo and expect that I'll be enjoying them the rest of this year and into next. As for body and strength, this never got beyond the medium to full range and the nicotine hit was never all that strong. I could easily recommend these, in this size at least, to anyone but the newest of smokers.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 7/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
Last December I spent the week after Christmas in California with my wife's family. One day of the time there I spent with my old Tiki Bar herfing grouping and we hung out at Maxamar Fine Cigars in Orange. Matt Booth had told me to touch base with him when he was in town and so I did...and he came down to Orange and hung out with us for a few hours, smoked a few cigars, and told a few stories...one of which was about his upcoming LTD line, named after a Samurai term for "severed head." He uttered the word "Namakubi" at the time, but because I had never heard it before, I didn't remember that specific detail, but the "severed head" part stuck with me. A few months later, Matt Allen, the manager of Burns Tobacconist (my home shop), was one of the friends Booth invited down to Honduras to help finalize his new blend. The result showed up first to Burns for the Chattanooga Tweet Up in August and I was one of the first to snap up a box, opting for the Roxxo size because I thought it would be a shorter smoke very suitable for the cold winter months ahead. I was a bit wrong about that, but more on that later.
The Namakubi is made for Booth by Camacho Cigars in Honduras. It features a Habano wrapper (country not specified anywhere that I could find), a proprietary Honduran seed binder, and fillers from Honduras and the Dominican Republic. Although "limited" there were 100,000 cigars made so they should be fairly easy to find. On another note, the LTD Conjura from last year was recently added as a "regular, but limited" item, so it would not surprise me to see these turn out the same way. As noted before, I bought a box of these; my review stick was the fourth cigar taken from that box and I had smoked one of the Tiburon vitola previously, too.
The packaging of the Namakubi is typical 101 flashy, using black backgrounds with blood red type and accents. The cigar itself is slightly rustic with some lumps and bumps as well as a few larger veins. There was plenty of oiliness on the leaf, though and the construction appeared to be too-notch. I got a rich earthy aroma from the wrapper--a mix really of manure and damp forest; the foot was not quite as aromatic, giving off subtle notes of oak and earth. Clipping the head of the cigar (I guess that qualifies as a Namakubi of the Namakubi), I got an open, easy draw with a flavor of rich, natural tobacco and wood, along with hints of grassiness and pepper spice.
On the first puffs, I got cedar and oak flavors up front, along with some spice underneath. There was also a touch of minerally, metallic flavor on the finish, something I got in large amounts in the 101 Connecticut, but I hadn't noticed so much on these previously. The rest of the first third featured a rich mix of earthy and woody flavors along with some floral and grassy notes that were subdued and just lent to the interest-level. The retrohale started off fairly spicy, but had settled down to more of a floral note by the end of the third. The metallic flavor was there, too, but very subtle, so it was not off-putting. A friend found that the metallic flavor was very prevalent on a different vitola, though, so if that does not appeal to you, I would stick with the smaller ring gauge sticks.
Before the first third was over I noticed two minor construction problems: the burn was quite uneven and the ash was fairly flaky. Both would bear watching as the cigar went on, but at this point, neither was worrisome enough to make points off for. Flavors in the second third were still excellent...plenty of herbal/floral flavors had come to the front, but there was still an oaky base that was very nice as well as a bit of spice on the back of the tongue. The burn continued to require touchups and the ash was still as flaky as it was when it started off, but I do have to point out that I had noticed neither of these being an issue on other samples I had burned.In the last third the flavors of wood came on strong again, along with some sharper pepper spice on the tongue. The construction seemed to sort itself out, with no more touchups needed and an ash that held strong at last. As I noted earlier, I thought these would be a good "shorter" smoke, but they tend to burn slowly and I have yet to smoke one of these that lasted less than an hour. I really enjoyed the Namakubi and find it the best of all the 101 sticks produced so far. While I still think the Tiburon might be the best size, I have no regrets in buying the box of Roxxo and expect that I'll be enjoying them the rest of this year and into next. As for body and strength, this never got beyond the medium to full range and the nicotine hit was never all that strong. I could easily recommend these, in this size at least, to anyone but the newest of smokers.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 7/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
I love this cigar. I picked up a box of Tiburons at the Tweet Up. The construction has been flawless on the ones I've smoked.
ReplyDeleteI've been planning on buying these based solely on the name. Can't help myself. I've never tried a single 101 cigar, but based on what I know of Matt and the consistantly good reviews I know ill enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteCan't really go wrong with a Camacho IMHO, great review, box looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteI'll be on the lookout for this. It sounds pretty nice and in a convenient size.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review.