Initial Thoughts
I had been seeing the Aging Room M356 at the front of my shop’s humidor for at least three months and I kept walking by it. I would stop look at it and then go on. I just wasn’t ready to try it. Finally last week I gave in after a couple months of badgering by my buddy Jeremy. He kept saying “Man you’ve gotta try this and review it , it’s one of my favorite cigars!”. So here ya go J-man this review is for you.
Looks
As I’m sure most of you know by now I’m a bit of a packaging snob and that’s another reason that led to the delay of trying out the Aging Room M356. I genuinely dislike the font on the band. There it is I said it, and once it’s published online it’s like being written in stone! I don’t think I would have a problem with this font if wasn’t used by every up and coming (read:wanna be) country artist in Nashville. I know you all don’t live here so you don’t see it that often, but seriously every band uses this font on their CDs and their posters and I’m tired of seeing it. Not to mention the latest Ortega line of cigars is using the same font as well. I’m not sure who created their cigars first, but all I know is that I’m not a fan of the font.
However, the rest of the band on the Aging Room M356 is pretty sweet. There are tiny golden brass knuckles scattered throughout the background. This is pretty cool. I love everything else about this band, the gold trim with the dark chocolate background with a strip of white on the bottom to really show off the M356. It all looks great, if it wasn’t for that font… Ok its the last I’ll mention it I promise! There seemed to be a bit of problem with my band, it looked like it was cut longer than it should have been. When it closed at the end it didn’t line up very well and there was some glue that had seeped out on to the wrapper.
The cigar looks absolutely stunning. The wrapper has a very rustic look to it. It has a nice rich brown color with dustings of darker brown and the veins are accented very strongly. It honestly looks like someone photoshopped this wrapper. I was so impressed with the wrapper I didn’t try to Hipstagram (read:Instram) it up on these photos. Speaking of which, how much does a hipster weigh??? AN INSTAGRAM!!! ZING. Ok back on track now.
Function
At first I thought the Aging Room M356 had a triple cap on the head. After closer examination it looks like a single or a double cap and what I thought was the lowest cap is actually the seam of the wrapper. Again the edges and veins are accented so much it made it look like the edge of the cap.
I’ve been trying to perform the pinch test when I pick my cigars out at my B&M to make sure I get a good one. I did the same with this one, but I still always test it before I smoke it to make sure there aren’t any soft spots. I actually found one small soft spot up around the band. I think it’ll be fine though the band of fairly close to the head so when I get to that point I might be finished with the cigar anyway.
The foot of the Aging Room M356 seemed a little odd to me. There was a slight indention with the filler tobacco. I doubt this was on purpose, but it’s hard to say without looking at other sticks from the same box. I was a little taken aback by it and I was hoping that it wouldn’t affect the lighting of the cigar.
When I picked up this stick at my B&M I also wanted to pick up a cheap V cutter and start using that to see how I liked it. So instead of completing chopping the cap off I took a nice little wedge out of the head to test the draw on this cigar. The cold draw was a little snug, or at least it felt a little snug but maybe I’m just not used to a V cut yet. Anyway lets put some fire to this thing and see it tastes!
Smoking
I don’t know if you’ve been following in chronological order of my posts, but I started using some new NUB matches and they are the shizzle! Yeah I still say that word wanna fight about it? Ok me either. It takes me about 4 matches to really get the Aging Room M356 lit and puffing. I’m a little disappointed that it took so many. It is a little more windy today than usual and plus it makes me sad to use all these matches up. Oh well they were meant to burn anyway right?
This cigar puts out quite a bit of smoke, which is something I love. It’s got that beautiful blue smoke that just peels off of it and rolls down the barrel like it’s laying on top of it and then it just disappears. As a result of having some issues with the lighting of this cigar I of course had uneven burn issues as well. This is one of my biggest pet peeves of cigars. When it doesn’t burn even and it starts to canoe, its just a nuisance and takes all pleasure away from smoking for me. This Aging Room M356 started burning unevenly in the first third and I just let it go hoping it would correct itself soon, but sadly it never did.
It was a constant battle smoking this cigar. I had to touch it up at least 3 times during the course of the hour and a half it took me to smoke it. The ash looked great, but it only held on for about 1/2 of a inch at time. It was also hard to get an accurate measurement of it though because how unevenly it was burning. So needless to say I wasn’t enjoying this cigar very much.
Flavor
On the cold draw the Aging Room M356 gave off some pre draw spice that made my tongue tingle. I could smell some sweet molasses on the foot of the cigar before lighting it up. This cigar stayed very consistent with the spice profile all the way through. It was difficult to pick up on certain aromas, but the spice was there in my mouth. It wasn’t overpowering, but it was definitely noticeable.
To me there wasn’t a whole lot going on with the Aging Room M356 other than some spice. I would classify this is a medium-full bodied cigar. It gave me a solid nicotine buzz while smoking it, but the flavors just weren’t really there for me. I don’t know if my palette was off that day or what, but I just couldn’t really pull anything special out of the cigar.
Would I Buy It Again?
I would have to say no. I hate saying that about cigars especially after I’ve read some great reviews on it. I just don’t know if I’d spend another $8 on it… Sorry J-man.
Is It an Every Day Smoke?
If you like it enough then it could be an everyday smoke. I had too much trouble with the burn to put up with it everyday, but it could have just been my cigar. If you’re into a more spicy cigar then this would be right your alley!
Would I Buy a Box?
Personally I would not, but I wasn’t a big fan of the cigar so I wouldn’t spend the money on a box. However if you feel like buying a box after reading this review the price isn’t too bad at $140 for a box of 20!
Conclusion
Although I wasn’t impressed with the Aging Room M356 it doesn’t mean its not a good cigar. I just didn’t have a good experience with it. If I were given another one to review then I’d smoke it and comeback and update this post. The second time could be completely different, but I always like to take my first impression on a cigar. If you like a spicy cigar I think you should give this one a try, hopefully you won’t have burn issues with yours though!
