Room101 Master Collection One Mutante (Lancero) Review
Size: Mutante (lancero) 7" x 38
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres Rosado
Binder: Honduran Corojo
Filler: Honduras/Mexico/Nicaragua
Price: MSRP ~$10
Initial Impression/Prelight
The wrapper on the Master Collection is called a rosado, but I thought that meant it was supposed to have some reddish (or rosy) undertones at least, and it was dark brown all the way. If anything, I would thought it was a maduro. Either way, the cigar had some moderate and even a couple fairly large veins, very little oil, and a little bit of sloppy glue on a somewhat messy pigtail cap. I couldn't find any soft spots, but there were a few lumps and bumps in the middle of the cigar.
It had a nice aroma of leather and undefined sweetness coming off the wrapper. The prelight draw was a touch firm, and gave a nice taste that took me several minutes and a bunch of cold draws to place. It finally hit me that it reminded me of a hoisin or plum sauce from a Chinese takeout restaurant, and I mean that as a compliment.
I've had this cigar in the humidor for about 5-6 weeks at 65%.
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1st Third
I got some initial harshness despite an easy light from just toasting the foot and not needing to draw while lighting. The was a good bit of spicy black pepper up front too, but that only lasted about an inch. I also got little touches of cocoa in this section, but the dominant flavor was a bright, acidic black coffee. The white ash held steadily for about an inch at a time throughout the smoke. Towards the end I picked up what I'll describe, in keeping with the Chinese food theme, as a sweet-and-sour sauce favor.
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2nd Third
This was the best section. The tangy flavors kept up and made me think back to that plum sauce aroma from the prelight, and I got some leather, dark chocolate and lemony citrus as well. As I passed the halfway point, I got a big and distinct chocolate flavor which stayed around for most of the rest of the smoke. Speaking of, smoke output was good for this vitola. I marked it as med+ flavor and strength to this point.
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Final Third
The first bit of this section was still enjoyable, with the cocoa remaining dominant along with some dried almond flavors and a touch of that earlier coffee. Unfortunately, the wheels completely came off with about an inch and a half to go. I got a strong medicinal flavor at that point which was quite unpleasant. I'll even say it made me think of menthol due to a cooling feeling on my tongue and lips. I gave it a purge or two and another few minutes, but it was bad enough that I decided to call it a day well short of nubbing the cigar.
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Overall Impressions
This was an interesting and good smoke, up until that last part. Like the Daruma, I really had to concentrate and think about the flavors. Several times I got that, "Man, I know that flavor...what is it?" feeling.
• I just went back and glanced at my notes from the Daruma as I was typing up this last section, and it's funny to see a lot of the same descriptors - tangy, citrusy, acidic - as I've used in this review. They are honestly not that similar of a cigar in the details, but definitely share some broad characteristics.
• The super-shiny silver parts of the band were the absolute devil to photograph, and it was cloudy out this morning when I smoked. It is a nice looking design, but I would have preferred a more matte silver.
• The burnline wavered by maybe as much as 1/8" a time or two, but never needed a touch-up or relight. That's especially nice for a lancero.
• The only cigar I've smoked with such a distinct cocoa or chocolate flavor is the Papas Fritas, so if you love that then this is a good one for you, especially from about the halfway point on.
• I still have it down as med+ flavor and strength, but my wife did ask me if I'd smoked a stronger cigar than normal when I came inside.
• That menthol taste was pretty nasty, and otherwise I'd have nubbed this one. Definitely that'll affect the overall score. I will note the smoke never got harsh or hot at the end, though.
• Final smoking time was about 1 hour 20 minutes.
I have to say I'm batting 1.5 for 3 on Room101 so far. The Daruma lancero was good enough that I bought a (rare-for-me) box, but the Namakubi and this Master Collection are probably not cigars I'll rush out to buy again. Still, the Master Collection was pretty nice until it really fell down in that last bit, so I may pick up another one sometime to try again.
That said, at $10 per there's a lot of competition, and I can think of a lot of others I'd pick up ahead of this one for the price.
Try a single, or a 5-er at most.
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