(Description provided by Forged Cigar Co.)
Room101 originally released Daruma in 2012 as a follow up to Namakubi to reflect the authentic heartbeat of the Room101 cigar collection. Nearly a dozen years later, Daruma is back to begin a new chapter of perseverance and good fortune.
For those of you who aren’t up on Japanese talismans, a Daruma is a small papier mache figure used in Japan and around the world as a goal setting tool. Its egg-like shape is connected to perseverance: if a Daruma is knocked down, it will stand right back up. When setting a goal for the year, one of the eyes of the figure gets penciled in, and when the goal is achieved, the second eye gets penciled in and the Daruma gets lit on fire in celebration of the achievement. It’s not dissimilar to lighting a cigar to mark a special occasion.
Matt Booth said, “The return of Daruma is symbolic of the relationship with STG and Room101 moving forward. It represents the opportunity for Room101 to spread its wings which has always been our goal. And just as goals change and times change, Daruma has evolved. The Daruma of 2011 would not be the Daruma of today. The blend is correct and appropriate for now and begins a new chapter for both Daruma and Room101. This cigar is exactly what it needs to be, and it gives people exactly what it needs to give them. Light up a Daruma and celebrate how far you come and set a course for your next big adventure.”
Daruma is a Nicaraguan puro made proudly in Nicaragua in partnership with international sex symbol Cory Bappert and Room101’s friends at Oliva.
Daruma will be available in one size, 6” x 50 Toro that will sell for an SRP of $12.99 per cigar. The brand will be distributed by Forged Cigar Company.
The cigar is nicely made and has an average feel in the hand. The foot is closed.
The test draw after cutting the cap was very good. The initial flavors at light up were cedar, pear, brown sugar, and a ton of old, worn leather. There was black pepper rated at 7 1/2. There are nice sweet notes which are quickly followed by a massive amount of leather.
At the first third (28 minutes) the ash was still intact and looked very nice and tight. The leather toned down enough to let the sweet notes of primarily pear and brown sugar shine. The cigar is nice and sweet but there is still a lot of leather. The cigar is just about balanced. The finish is leather with average lingering black pepper. The cigar is medium to full bodied. Nice cigar at this point. I rated the first third 93.
Moving through the second third (1 hour 1 minute) the cigar is slowly getting better. There is now a hint of citrus to go with the pear, plenty of brown sugar, and plenty of leather. The cigar is a low grade full bodied. The finish is leather with good lingering black pepper. There's a good mix of sweet to leather. I rated the second third 94.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 30 minutes. There was a lot of brown sugar in the final third. I still had pear with hints of citrus, and a lot of brown sugar attached to those. Of course, there's still plenty of leather. The cigar is full bodied. The finish is unchanged. After the light up the leather settled into a manageable amount. The final third held ground so I maintained the score of 94. Nice comeback for the Daruma after all these years.
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