It’s all about the blend, and the Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua is a cigar to recommend

Every couple of days, I walk into the same humidor to pick up cigars to cover me for the next two to three days. I have a small humidor and I found that when I kept more cigars at home, I smoked more, which is why I am happy to visit every couple of days. What this also means is that I know the layout so well that I could probably select my cigars blindfolded especially since I generally gravitate towards the same cigars on a weekly basis.

There’s an ebb and flow with my selection with some being added and others dropping off.

In the last couple of months, the selection has primarily consisted of it the Oliva Master Blend 3, the AJ Fernandez Bellas Artes Maduro Robusto, Plasencia’s Cosecha 149 Gordito and the Alma del Fuego Concepcion and the Rocky Patel Decade Robusto. Plus, every fortnight or so, I have to have a Leaf by Oscar Maduro Robusto and a Rocky Patel LB1 Robusto.

While the Oliva Serie V Double Robusto has been a mainstay in the selection the longest, I had taken a short month break. It’s always wonderful to pick one up after a break because it always delivers, consistently.

And then there are the cigars that creep up on me, when I am looking for something new-ish or different to smoke, like the Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua. While, for many cigar brands, their history goes back decades and generations, usually starting in Cuba, the story of Boutique Blends and Rafael Nodal is slightly different, although Nodal does come from Cuba.

Finding himself in the cigar world after years in music (as a violinist) and in finance in the health sector, Nodal has built a strong name for himself with his small batch blends, of which the Aging Room line is one. And, instead of growing his own tobacco, he teams up with other established growers and cigar manufacturers, like Jose ‘Jochy’ Blanco of Tabacalera La Palma, Nestor Plasencia Jr and AJ Fernandez to create unique blends.

The Quattro line is a “puro” range which means that all the tobacco — wrapper, binder and filler — in the cigar comes from one country. In the case of the Aging Room Nicaragua, it is … yes … a Nicaraguan puro and Nodal teamed up with AJ Fernandez to create this maduro-wrapped box-pressed cigar.

The Aging Room Quattro Maestro, a 152mm torpedo with a ring gauge of 52, was Cigar Aficionado’s 2019 Cigar of the Year with a rating of 96. To put this into perspective, as of end of 2022, before the Top 25 of 2022 were announced, only 16 cigars had ever been rated 96 in 30 years.

Having smoked the Maestro as well as the Expressivo — a robusto with a 50-ring gauge and length of 127mm — and the Vibrato — a Toro with 54-ring gauge and 152mm in length, I would be hard-pressed to say which is my favourite. All medium to full bodied, each has an easy draw and burns well and evenly with subtle variations between the thirds, all with hints of chocolate, spice and earth. There is also a gentle cocoa aftertaste that lingers towards the end of the second third into the last, particularly in the Vibrato, which was the last Quattro I smoked.

Overall, a lovely cigar and one I definitely recommend trying.