Cigar industry wildman Matt Booth is known for his creativity. He brings a modern and cool vibe to the Room 101 brand through his jewelry, apparel designs, and of course cigars. So when STG was looking to revive a brand and bolster the portfolio of the Forged Cigar Company, they opted to go with space traveler Matt Booth. He waved his diamond encrusted lightsaber and cut out a new look for the brand. Los Statos Deluxe was reborn. Cosmetically the cigar looks pretty dope, but let's rip off sheath and see how it fizzles.
The Deets
Cigar: Los Statos Deluxe Churchill
Origin: Danlí, Honduras
Factory: Honduran American Tobacco S.A. (HATSA)
Size: 7 x 49
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaraguan and Dominican
Appearance 8/10
I do love the full wrap presentation on this. Booth has utilized that on some Room 101 cigars and they always look awesome. I do take issue with how much of a pain in the arse it was to remove though. It was like trying to remove a shipping label from a box and it comes off in 1,000 pieces. Easy on the paper cement. The Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper looks gorgeous with only remnants of veins and a satin feel. It was wrapped well, but the overall profile is like Sloth's face from The Goonies, deformed and bumpy. Let's put down the BabyRuth and move on.
Draw 7/10
The first light starts with a draw that is near perfect. Once I get halfway in though it began to clench up, requiring some gentle pokes. That helped for a while. During the full 7" I did had to poke a few times to keep things pumping, but no material removal was needed.
Burn/Construction 9/10
The only fuel used was during light up. No touchups were needed, even after a lengthy pause between puffs. The first inch or two had a couple spots that would flower out, but it self-corrected and was fine for the rest of the session. No sass from the ash.
Taste 9/10
1/3 - A basket of various veggies play door greeter. Stepping in further I get cedar, fresh leather, and misted hay. The finish has a mineral taste that is subtle enough to not be off putting. Inching in and sugar-free sugar cookie appears (I don't know, is that even a thing?). A spiciness is present but it's very mild and gentle. Sour dough bread helps finish the 1st third. Some of those bites had notes of honey that buzzed in & out.
2/3 - The honey sour dough marches though the 2nd third nicely with a ramp up, while at the same time still not being over sweet. Oatmeal is very upfront, although it seems to go back and forth between dry oatmeal and a warm bowl of it. Midway and towards the end of the 2nd third the finish becomes very dry. I found myself lip smackin' often. The previous veggie/cedar/leather notes still remain in a quieter fashion.
3/3 - The finale brings a warm bag of nuts, crumbs of milk chocolate, and a citrus leather. The finish transitions to dry cocoa and mild black pepper.
Overall 8.3/10
I really enjoyed this cigar, especially being under $10 MSRP. This would have scored a 9 or higher if the draw was more consistent, the paper wrappers weren't trying to punk me, and I didn't have to look at Sloth's face. The important thing to remember is the flavors were great, it burned effortlessly, and the overall session was pleasant. I only had 1 to test, so maybe others are better dressed. Skip the single and go right to the fiver. Find yourself a deal and it's box worthy.
**Number of cigars smoked for the review: 1