Initial Thoughts:
Every once in a while a cigar blend that is surrounded by hype comes across my desk. This time, that cigar is the Room 101 Prototipo101 Toro from Matt Booth. Sent to me in May's Platinum box from Luxury Cigar Club, this Prototipo101 has been all over my Instagram feed. So, let's see what the hype is all about.
After taking the Prototipo101 out of the cellophane, I noticed that the cigar looked really good. There was a slight toothiness to the medium-brown wrapper, and everything looked really nice. Visually, the only flaw I noticed was that the cap looked like it was placed on the end as an afterthought.
Slicing through the lopsided cap with my deep v-cutter, the draw was about perfect and the cold draw flavors were a little woody.
On the first puff, I liked the flavors. However, on the second and third puffs, I thought the Room 101 Prototipo101 Toro tasted a little green and underaged and, perhaps, a little bit sour.
CigarScore:
Brand: Room 101
Line: Prototipo101
Size: 6 x 52 BP
Cut: V-Cut
Light: Torch
Price: $11.00 – Luxury Cigar Club
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Smoke Time: 66 minutes
Through the middle of the cigar, the draw was perfect (as you should expect from a box-pressed cigar). However, the flavors are interesting.
On one hand those flavors pretty good with hints of sweetness and molasses. On the other, they have a hoppy, musty, dank flavor that's like an IPA, or a Caldwell Cigar.
Final Thoughts
In the first third of the Room 101 Prototipo101 Toro, I experienced a fairly uneven burn. The short sides of the box press seemed to burn faster than the wider sides. However, those burn issues self-corrected. There was also a kind of reverse canoe, but that also fixed itself.
While the draw was pretty good, I felt like this cigar was packed a little loose. As evidenced by the short smoke time, the Prototipo101 could benefit from another leaf in the filler to give this cigar more substance.
Regarding the flavors, some were good, some were okay. However, I feel like this cigar was not quite ready to be released, and that it would've benefitted from some additional aging.
In the end, I would've liked richer flavors, a little better draw with more filler tobacco, and a more consistent bit of construction. For these reasons, the Room 101 Prototipo101 Toro earns a CigarScore 4.
