JC Newman

June 06, 2015

Roma Craft Neanderthal HN (5 x 52/56)






Video review HERE.


This is the newest edition from Roma Craft Cigars. The HN stands for Homo Neanderthalis. The cigar is a perfecto shape thus giving it the transition from 52 ring gauge to 56. The cap is perfectly flat making it an easy target to cut with your guillotine cutter or perhaps you may use a punch. I chose the guillotine cutter. 

Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf
Filler: Pennsylvania Double Ligero
           Nicaraguan (Condega, Jalapa, Esteli, Pueblo Nuevo)
           Dominican Republic Olor


The Pennsylvania tobacco used has about 9-13% nicotine content as compared to Esteli ligero which has around 5-6%.

The only other size of this cigar that is being released is a 4 1/4x52 parejo called the SGP, which stands for Shallow Gene Pool. This size is only available at 2 shops nationwide; Serious Cigars in Houston, Texas and Riverside Cigars in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

I was given 2 cigars to review by Justin Lacy. Thank you Justin for sending these cigars to review.

The cigar is beautiful and perfectly made. Here is a shot of the foot.




The test draw after cutting the flat cap was effortless. The initial flavors were a sweet, creamy nutmeg. There is also some dry wood. There is also a touch of cedar. There is a ton of espresso and black pepper rated at a 9. The cigar tastes full bodied right out of the gate. The taste will quickly change to feel, I'm sure. The cigar tastes powerful. 


3/4 inch in the cigar has a perfect burn. The cedar is coming out much more now. It is sweet and has some buttery notes. The nutmeg is still there but it has flip flopped with the cedar and has taken a secondary role. The dry wood is still prominent at the tail end of the sweet flavors. The espresso and black pepper remain very dominant. The finish is a sweet cream with lots of lingering black pepper. The cigar is full bodied in flavor. The ligero has not hit yet but it's coming!



Close to the midpoint and the ash is still intact. The sweet cedar has a sharp sweetness and is the lead flavor. There are still some underlying buttery notes and dry wood. The nutmeg is subtle. The pepper has backed down to an 8. The espresso has also backed down a bit and is now an earthy espresso. The cigar is still full bodied and I can start to feel the ligero. The finish is about the same.



At the band I lost a lot of sweetness in the cedar. The earth espresso is really the lead flavor at this point.



The cigar ended with the earthy espresso still in domination of flavors. There were still minute amounts of sweet cedar and butter notes. The nutmeg notes have gone. The pepper remained very good. The cigar is still full bodied. The finish is about the same with some toasted notes on the cream. I found this to be a very good full bodied edition from Roma Craft. It is loaded with espresso and black pepper notes. The sweeter notes of nutmeg and cedar were very good. I was impressed with this cigar. Thanks to Justin Lacy for sending them to me to review.


Score: 94

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