Room101 17th Anniversary

While most companies tend to release anniversary cigars on major anniversaries, ending in either -0 or -5, Room101 seems committed to doing it every year.

Well, almost every year.

Last year, there was not a Room101 16th Anniversary cigar; instead, there was a special humidor that contained both toro and culebra versions of the first six anniversary cigars, i.e. 10th-15th.

With the special humidor out of the way, the Scandinavian Tobacco Group-owned cigar brand is back to the normal approach of a new, limited edition toro to celebrate the milestone. Once again, the company has turned to AJ Fernandez to produce the release, which is a blend made entirely of Nicaraguan tobaccos.

“Every Anniversary cigar is a snapshot of where we are at that moment,” said Matt Booth, Room101’s founder, in a press release. “They aren’t meant to repeat themselves because neither do we. That’s the whole point. Seventeen years in, we’re still finding new places to go.”

• Cigar Reviewed: Room101 17th Anniversary
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicaragua
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $15.98 (Box of 20, $317.80)
• Release Date: August 2026
• Number of Cigars Released: 2,500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (50,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

While these cigars have very dark, somewhat rough-looking wrappers, they are nothing compared to the cigars in our most recent Room101 review. My eyes are first drawn to the band and the accent on the sakura logo, a small speck of orange that contrasts with the purple, reminding me of my faded love for the Phoenix Suns, which use the same color scheme. As with many darker wrappers, the veins and visual imperfections are hidden more than most, but staring at the wrappers for just a few seconds shows average vein structure, though an above-average amount of discoloration, mostly due to dark spots. The wrappers smell quite similar: medium-full with sweet leather and berries over barnyard and a buttermilk-like creaminess. The feet are even more identical-smelling: full with sweet tomato over earth, berries and citrus.  I’m not surprised to find the cold draws to be quite sweet, though the first two have way more fruitiness than the third cigar, which has a chocolate and peanut combination that reminds me of a sundae. Unfortunately, the second cigar has a chemical taste that reminds me of paint or some sort of sealant, though it’s not present on the other two cold draws, and I can’t smell anything quite like paint. Intensity-wise, they are medium-full and each cigar has a great draw resistance.

Only the first Room101 17th Anniversary starts with flavors similar to the cold draw. Some sweet ketchup and a chemical taste hit the palate before it moves to a more pedestrian mixture of earth leading woods and barnyard. The other two lean more into the typical cigar notes with nuttiness, charcoal and woodiness, though some sweetness underneath. Each starts medium-full and thick, though the third cigar has an airiness to it. Earth, wood and herbs—all quite dry—serve as a core part of the flavor in the mouth. The first cigar has some raw dough elements, while the other two lean more into a relatively non-descript cracker flavor. During the finish, there’s little development on the first cigar—more peanuts and the chemical flavor—while the other two have a flour tortilla flavor with some of the dry herbs. Retrohaling awakens the palate with a burst of red pepper, followed by grilled bread flavors and the smokiness of a wood-fired barbecue. The finish of the first cigar gets much sharper thanks to minerals, though the other two flavors lack that and generally move more into the bread notes, with some mild white pepper. Flavor is full or close to it, body is medium-plus or medium-full, and strength is medium or medium-plus. While the burn gets slightly uneven on two cigars, neither requires any touch-up.

For most of the second third, the three cigars have pretty similar flavors in the mouth, earthiness and creaminess with accents that include nuttiness, plain Cheerios, and a latte-like sensation. While the flavors are more refined, there aren’t as many flavors as I would expect. In the second third, the cigars finish differently: the first is drier with grass and toastiness, the second really leans into woodiness, while the third has rice cakes and some isolated saltiness. Retrohaling produces a much softer profile with the bread notes atop creaminess, wood, white pepper and some toastiness. Just as with the flavors in the mouth, the retrohales finishes are quite different, with the first cigar offering some malt whisky flavors, while the third cigar reminds me of some plain grain cereal. Flavor is full, body is medium or medium-plus, and strength is, at most, medium. Construction continues to be quite good, though there is one time when the burn line gets uneven and doesn’t correct itself.

I find the final third of the Room101 17th Anniversary to be the most homogenous of the bunch. The first two cigars have sourdough bread and white pepper, with accents of leather and dry herbs. The third cigar lacks the bread, but gets a drier profile and a much more vibrant pepper. During the finish, all three get a lot toastier with some complementary black pepper, green pepper and pencil lead, though the third cigar also has some saltiness. Retrohaling the first cigar delivers a dose of red pepper and some woodiness, while the second cigar seems to replicate the core mouth flavor with added cinnamon, and the third cigar is quite a bit milder, delivering a mixture of bread, green pepper, saltiness and some lime. Oddly, I find the finish of the retrohale of the first two cigars to be the best part of this section. It’s both more detailed and slightly fuller. There’s lots of sourdough bread with creaminess, a sharp white pepper and some mild sweetness underneath. The third cigar has none of those flavors, and the finish tastes the same as if I wasn’t retrohaling. Flavor is full, body is between medium-plus and medium-full, while strength is medium or medium-plus. Once again, construction is pretty good, close to great. Just one cigar needs one touch-up in this section.

Final Notes

• There is a possibility that this is the first 17th anniversary cigar release; however, Viaje once celebrated its 17 1/2th anniversary with a release called Fifteen Plus Two and a Half.
• The purple that is used for this packaging reminds me of an oversized porcelain ashtray that the company released more than a decade ago. We have one on display in the halfwheel office, so I see it quite a bit.
• While there were times when the sourdough bread note was decently strong, I didn’t find the puffs to be dominated bread, it just had a habit of regularly edging out the other flavors.

• Room101, no stranger to putting phrases on bands, has included this on the back of the band.
• Scandinavian Tobacco Group advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.

• STG lists these cigars as 6 x 52 toros. Above are the dimensions I found for the three cigars I smoked for this review.
• Final smoking time ranged from two hours and 15 minutes to two and a half hours.
• Site sponsors Cigars Daily and Small Batch Cigar carry the Room101 17th Anniversary.

Nicaragua
Room101
Room101 17th Anniversary
Room101 Anniversary Series
Scandinavian Tobacco Group
Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.
Toro