Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro Review
Filed under: Box-Pressed · Burn Issues · Criollo · Fermentation & Aging · Figurados · Flavor Vocabulary · Ligero / Seco / Viso · Nicaragua · The Ash · Retrohale · Strength vs Body · What Cigars Cost · Puro
Verdict: The Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro is a Not Even Free (1/4) at $13.50 to $14.40 street... a bitey leather and minerality up front, a decent peanut, coffee and leather middle, then a final third that turned into a mouthful of biting earth on a burn that took four touch-ups, and I laid it down. The middle was okay. It wasn't good enough to carry the rest.
- Brand
- Aging Room
- Line
- Quattro Nicaragua
- Vitola
- Maestro
- Size
- 6 x 52
- Wrapper
- Nicaraguan Criollo '98 hybrid
- Binder
- Nicaraguan
- Filler
- Nicaraguan
- Made in
- Nicaragua
- Factory
- Tabacalera A.J. Fernandez, Estelí
- Strength
- Medium to medium-plus
- Street price
- $13.50 to $14.40
The Quattro Nicaragua is Aging Room's all-Nicaraguan blend, made by A.J. Fernandez at his factory in Estelí. The retailer listings describe a hybrid Criollo '98 wrapper over binder and filler that are all Nicaraguan, and the line is box-pressed. The Maestro is the 6 x 52 torpedo, and it's the size Cigar Aficionado named its #1 Cigar of the Year for 2019.
The Setup
- Cigar: Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua, Maestro, 6 x 52 box-pressed torpedo. Nicaraguan Criollo '98 hybrid wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and filler, a Nicaraguan puro made at Tabacalera A.J. Fernandez in Estelí.
- Street price: $13.50 to $14.40 a single online. Neptune lists the single at $13.50, and Cigars International sells it by the five-pack at $71.99, which is $14.40 a stick, against a $14.95 MSRP.
- What I paid: $11.20. One single, ordered online September 22, $13.50 less a 17% coupon. My own money, nobody sent me this.
- Storage: the Herf-a-Dor at 69% RH since it arrived September 25, so about three weeks of rest.
- When/where: lit around 7:19 PM on the upper deck. 78°, feels like 78, 71% humidity.
- Smoke time: about an hour and ten minutes. I laid it down with about half an inch of smokable cigar left.
- Food beforehand: a bowl of raisin bran with raw milk about an hour and a half before.
- First cigar of the day, paired with water. Cut with the Xikar XO, very clean cut, lit with the Jetline single torch.
Light Up and First Third
It's a good-looking cigar. A nice dark chocolate brown wrapper, a very clean wrap, slightly veiny but I wouldn't call it rustic, a very well-packed foot, and a very nice torpedo cap. The cold draw had a nice sweetness, the draw was basically perfect, and there was just a little bit of spice on my lips when I licked them.
The toast gave some dark chocolate and pepper. Once it was lit, a single draw gave dark chocolate, not sweet chocolate, very dark chocolate, with some leather and espresso, and a bit of spice that just sat on my palate. A double draw was the same flavors, slightly more intense, with a little bit of minerality in the background. The retrohale had a good amount of what I'd call white pepper, a little bit of leather, and just a touch of cream on the finish. Smoke production was very good.
A few minutes in, I was trying to place a flavor. It was kind of like leather, but it had a bite to it. Not bitter. And the smoke texture itself was creamy. I didn't love that leather bite. I don't mind leather, I like leather, but I don't know what the bite was, unless it just needs to rest longer. I don't buy cigars to rest them, though. Several of mine have a couple of years on them, but I don't buy them for that.
By about half an inch in, the retrohale had that bitey leather, a good amount of white pepper, and a decent amount of minerality. I wasn't loving the minerality or the bite. To be fair to it, there was also a nice chocolate undertone that I did enjoy.
By the end of the first third the burn was pretty good, except one of the smaller pressed sides had a bit of a finger. Not horribly long, just a finger. The minerality had moved back to only the long finish, and the retrohale was nice: slightly less pepper, still white pepper, with a little chocolate, some nuttiness, cream, and leather. A single draw gave more of that nuttiness, almost a peanut nuttiness, some leather, and a bit of coffee. That bite from the beginning was gone, which I really enjoyed. On a double draw the leather came forward, then the peanut nuttiness, then a medium roast black coffee.
The ash was decently tight, a little flaky by the slow section of the burn but otherwise it held together. It came off clean, mostly in one piece, mostly straight across with a tiny point in the middle. I touched it up so it would burn evenly going into the second third. That was the first touch-up.
Second Third
A single draw gave some nice nuttiness, less peanut now and more just general nuttiness, with leather and some coffee. A double draw had stronger nuttiness, definitely peanut, leather, and a stronger, darker roast black coffee. The retrohale was slightly roasted peanut, then black coffee, then leather. It was decent.
The bite stayed gone through here, which was nice, but that leather really likes to hold on. The burn line went wavy, with a couple of small fingers.
Right after that photo I took the secondary band off. It was attached to the wrapper a little underneath, but it had warmed up enough that it released with no problem. Then the ash came off while I was tapping a small flyer off the side, not so much on purpose, and it fell basically straight across. Because of those fingers, I touched it up again. Second touch-up.
Smoke production was about average there, maybe a smidge less. A single draw was leather and black coffee. A double draw was roasted nuttiness, black coffee, leather, and a touch of earthiness. The retrohale had some medium black pepper, cream and leather mixed in with some minerality, and some coffee on the finish, with a little bit of light cream on the long finish. Smoke was a whisper above average on the double draws.
Final Third
Starting the final third, the flavor really hadn't changed at all. A little bit of that bite was back, if anything the flavors were more muted, and the burn was getting more wonky. It wasn't bad. There was just nothing standout about it.
It was turning into more leather and black coffee with a little earthiness, and the minerality was back. It was more noticeable on a single draw than a double, but on a double draw it showed up on the long finish, and it's just not pleasant on your palate. The burn line wasn't getting any better, so I ashed it. The ash came off very, very easily, with a slight point from the ligero in the center. The ligero was off center just a smidge, but not enough that it should have been burning this wavy. Third touch-up.
Strength started out around medium and stayed about the same the whole way, maybe medium-plus by this point. Smoke was about average on a single or a double draw.
Then the burn went past wavy. One finger was burning and the rest of it wasn't really burning at all. The flavor was all leather and earth, and the earth was becoming the more prominent of the two. Even right after a touch-up I had a good quarter inch of difference from one side to the other, so I touched it up again, the fourth one. It was back to that bitey leather thing, but more earth now, a biting earth, and that is not pleasant. The cigar also felt noticeably soft, spongy, at this point.
It became just a mouthful of earth. I gave it a little longer, but nothing but earth on a single or double draw. I did one more retrohale just to see what it was, and it was strong black pepper, earth, and a touch of leather. I laid it down with about half an inch of smokable cigar left.
Construction
- Wrapper: dark chocolate brown, a very clean wrap, slightly veiny but not rustic. Box-pressed, very well-packed foot, very nice torpedo cap. Clean cut with the Xikar XO. The cigar felt noticeably soft, spongy, near the end.
- Draw: basically perfect on the cold draw.
- Burn: a finger on one of the smaller pressed sides by the end of the first third, wavy with small fingers in the second third, wonky in the final third, and late in the final third one finger burning while the rest wasn't. Four touch-ups (end of the first third, middle of the second, start of the final third, and late in the final third), no relights. The ligero sat a smidge off center, not enough to explain it.
- Ash: decently tight, a little flaky by the slow section. Came off clean and mostly straight across each time, with a small ligero point in the center.
- Smoke output: very good early, about average or a smidge less through part of the second third, a whisper above average on double draws later, about average in the final third.
- Band: both came off clean. The secondary band was stuck to the wrapper a little, but it had warmed up enough to release with no problem.
Bottom Line
There's a stretch in the middle of this cigar that's decent. The end of the first third into the second had peanut nuttiness, leather, cream, and a black coffee that went from a medium roast to a darker one, with the bite gone and the minerality pushed back to the finish. But it bookends that with a bitey leather and minerality in the first third and a final third that went muted, then earth, then a biting earth I didn't want in my mouth. The leather never let go, the minerality kept coming back, and the burn needed four touch-ups and was getting worse when I put it down.
The second third wasn't good enough to make up for the first third or the final third. At $14 a stick, that's the whole story.
Would I smoke it again? Not Even Free (1/4). I don't think I'd even want to smoke another one. If someone handed me one, it wasn't enjoyable enough to smoke even for free. It was okay in the middle, but even then the flavors weren't good enough to overcome the first and final thirds.
Best for: someone whose palate runs to leather, black coffee, earth and pepper with some minerality, who doesn't mind keeping a lighter close. That isn't me.
My scale, one question only... would I spend my own money on this again? 4 Box Buy (box on hand, always) / 3 Five-Pack (yes, a few live in the humidor) / 2 Hand-Me-One (wouldn't buy it, wouldn't turn one down) / 1 Not Even Free (I'd rather smoke nothing).
More reviews
Perdomo 30th Anniversary Maduro Epicure Review
The Perdomo 30th Anniversary Maduro Epicure is a Hand-Me-One (2/4) at $12.60 to $13 street... good but subtle chocolate, cream, coffee and leather with...
Diesel Uncaged Toro Review
The Diesel Uncaged Toro is a Five-Pack (3/4) at about $6.89 street... a near-perfect draw, big creamy smoke, and a sweet cream retrohale that kept...
Ashton VSG Torpedo Review
The Ashton VSG Torpedo is a Five-Pack (3/4) at about $18.75 street... sweet cream, leather, and coffee from the light to the nub with a creamy smoke...