RoMa Craft Intemperance 1794 Whiskey Rebellion Cigar Review – Video
Cigar Advisor Review Panel: RoMa Craft Intemperance Whiskey Rebellion Cigar Review
Intemperance Whiskey Rebellion 1794 cigars by RoMa Craft Tobac takes their name from the historic protest known as “The Whiskey Rebellion,” which began in 1791 under George Washington’s presidency. This tax on all distilled spirits was introduced by then Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton. Roundly and vehemently opposed by many rural American communities, it was the first tax on domestic goods in United States history.
“Our forefathers believed the Whiskey Tax to be illegal, under the idea that there was no local representation,” said RoMa Craft’s Skip Martin, “and they stood their ground. What this cigar represents to me is, that when faced with tyrannous taxes and regulations, we must resist.”
More detail on the original Rebellion can be found in the Whiskey Rebellion 1974 press release.
So what about the cigar? Watch our Whiskey Rebellion cigar review to see if we were in agreement or not on the Rothschild-sized, “Jefferson.” As always, we’ve included our tasting notes below. But if you hate spoilers, click on the video now!
THE STATS: INTEMPERANCE WHISKEY REBELLION 1794 JEFFERSON
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
S ize: 4½” x 52 Rothschild
Strength: Full
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Ligero
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Binder: Indonesian Bezuki
Gary Korb’s Tasting Notes…
Construction and Overall Appearance: Excellent. Dark, semi-oily, and even-hued wrapper that leaves a smidgen of binder exposed at the base. Cap is well-applied. No noticeable soft spots or veins. Cut with a double blade guillotine, the cap separated easily in a complete disc.
Draw (airflow): Very good.
Pre-light flavor (cold draw): Earth and leather.
Toasting & Light: Foot lights even and clean. I like having the sliver of binder at the foot to give it a more even ignition. Very clever.
First few puffs: Earthy and floral with a significant pepper smack.
Aroma: Crisp, floral, and spicy.
Burn / Ash Quality: Excellent burn with a barely visible char line. Ash is mostly grey and somewhat firm.
Base Flavors: Earth, sweet and peppery spices, charred wood, espresso
Balance of flavors: Excellent.
First Third
A big smack of pepper on the palate and right up the nose gets this attractive-looking cigar off to a spicy start with a floral element in both the taste and aroma. The cigar rounds out to a mix of pepper and floral flavors with notes of earth, charred wood, and a hint of sweet spice. The smoke is very consistent and the flavors have settled into their respective layers in the mix.
Second Third
The cigar has settled into a rich, earthy, spicy mix. The spicier pepper notes have settled down to a mere whisper, while some espresso creeps in, and the floral notes continue to linger on the finish. The flavors are so well-balanced that you can either concentrate on them as a whole or individually. By the end of this section I was beginning to feel a little lightheaded, reminding me just how stealthily potent this cigar was.
Final Third
The flavors had fully peaked by this point and remained basically unchanged as the cigar continued along its path, leaving me another inch of smooth, full-bodied flavor with a long, spicy-floral finish.
Summary
Having smoked and reviewed the Belicoso-sized Whiskey Rebellion “Washington,” I had a baseline for the “Jefferson,” and found it to be pretty much in-line with the figurado. Since I tasted more floral notes in this Rothschild and experienced a little less power in the Beli, I’ll split the difference. The Jefferson offers a power-packed smoke that stops short of a nasty left-hook. The flavor leans more to the spicy-peppery side, while revealing notes of charred wood, espresso, and a modest amount of sweet tobacco. It may not be an ideal choice for n00bs, but it most certainly is if you crave high-octane smokes like Liga Privada T52, Joya Antaño 1970, La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero, Camacho Power Band, et al.
Jonathan Detore’s Tasting Notes…
Construction: Very well made. No soft spots to note, and a very interesting short wrapper that exposes the binder at the foot of the cigar. Loads of oil on the wrapper make it shimmer, foreshadowing the incredible smoke production of this cigar.
Draw: I’ve had three of the cigars from this edition; two were slightly tight and the third was perfect. (I’ll chalk-up the tight draw on one of the cigars to a too-shallow cut and blame it on user error.)
Base flavors: There’s a lot going on here, so it’s a little hard to come up with just one solid base flavor. The flavor for me changes with almost every puff, going from charred woodiness to earthiness, leather, spice, sweetness, floral, and more. If I had to pick one base flavor though, I’d probably say a chocolaty-earthy flavor.
Aroma: The aroma doesn’t really match up to all the flavors of this cigar, but it certainly still complements the smoke as a whole with a charred wood note along with some slight pepper.
Burn/Ash: The burn on two of the cigars was dead-on, but the third one burned a bit wavy. Keep in mind the ring gauge on the Jefferson is a little bulky, and with big cigars there is a higher probability the burn will not be straight as a razor. Overall though, the burn was fantastic.
Balance of Flavor: Extremely well balanced. No one flavor was truly dominant or hid another underlying flavor, and if it did hide a flavor, it would eventually come out somewhere along the way, making this a very complex smoke.
Consistency: Very consistent from one cigar to the next.
General Observations
The oily wrapper, the band design, and the history behind the name really speaks to me. It’s a beautiful cigar no matter how you cut it, and the flavor is truly spectacular. This is one of my new favorite cigars, and deserves nothing but straight A’s across the board from every cigar reviewer. I would be extremely disappointed if I saw anything rated lower than a 90.
Summary
I can’t say enough good things about the Whiskey Rebellion. The complexity for me was off the charts while also proving to be a relatively full-bodied cigar, perfect for an after-dinner treat. The sheer number of flavors I discovered while smoking the Whiskey Rebellion was remarkable as well, with spiciness, sweetness, woodiness, chocolate, espresso, and more all coming through. It’s almost as if RoMa Craft took the cigar flavor wheel and said “let’s hit everything on this list.” I paired the cigar with a cup of dark roast coffee which enhanced the flavors even more. I would 100% recommend this to anyone looking for a full-bodied flavor bomb, but would caution newer or mild-bodied smokers to steer clear. This is one for the vets. But once newer cigar smokers have arrived at that level, go for a Whiskey Rebellion.
Positives: I think I hit on all the positives in my review. Just stellar.
Negatives: The tight draw on one of the cigars was a little disappointing, but such is life. You’re going to get a tight cigar here or there, so I can’t really knock the manufacturer for it. Just the luck of the draw.
John Pullo’s Tasting Notes…
Construction and Overall Appearance: Remarkable construction on this Rothschild – no visible seams on any of the samples I smoked, and that wrapper…whoa. A thick Habano ligero leaf from Ecuador, it has a beautiful reddish hue and is very velvety in its appearance.
Draw: Effortless on every Whiskey Rebellion cigar review sample I smoked in advance of this video. I don’t give numbers; but if I did, this one is 10/10.
Toasting & Light: Unique to RoMa Craft cigars is their propensity to leave a bit of the binder exposed near the foot of the cigar. This makes lighting a breeze, and a chance to take in some of the binder and filler flavors before the ligero wrapper kicks in.
Base flavors: On the pre-light, a very unique chocolate or cocoa type flavor hits during the cold draw. Once lit, the Whiskey Rebellion smacks of pepper right up front, along with earthy undertones and a very tangy element – strong enough that I had the sensation of dried fruit nearby. A serious charred wood flavor came and went, too – like the inside of an oak barrel. Add them all together, and they made for a very meaty, very beefy smoke.
Aroma: Not incredibly intense, but somewhat peppery and kind of dry.
Burn / Ash Quality: Surprisingly good, considering the wrapper is a ligero leaf. The burn line was constantly dead-on throughout, but this is a cigar that demands your attention – if you don’t pace it right, I’m betting the burn might go off because the Whiskey Rebellion’s wrapper is so thick and oily.
Consistency: I’d argue, like I did in our Whiskey Rebellion cigar review video, that this stick is more slightly complex than consistent overall; in terms of the flavors, those 4 or 5 were there throughout.
Summary
You remember that old saying, “slow and steady wins the race”? That’s this Whiskey Rebellion cigar review in a nutshell.
We all agreed throughout the course of our Whiskey Rebellion cigar review that this cigar is heavy – big, thick and dark flavors from hearty Nicaraguan tobaccos, and they get your attention. There is spice, there is pepper (I retrohaled this cigar a day earlier and went into a sneezing fit), and both are joined by a very tangy note on the back of the tongue – a natural sweetness that comes from juicy, nutrient-rich ligero. The full-bodied gang is all there, and even more so in this smaller “Jefferson” size. Pacing yourself while smoking it rewards you with fat, rich flavor and a good amount of creamy smoke…and reward is the key word here, as treating this like the slow, satisfying smoke it is pays dividends in the satisfaction department.
I don’t have a lot of experience with RoMa Craft’s smokes – but if this is typical of Skip Martin & Co.’s offerings and you like full-bodied cigars, put the Intemperance Whiskey Rebellion on your to-do list.
Tommy Zman’s Tasting Notes…
Appearance: Smooth, oily, shiny, dark
Flavors: Pepper, black licorice, dark cherry
Spoiler Alert: Phenomenal cigar, go buy it now, you can stop reading… hey, I said just go get it now.
Okay, since I get paid to write and review stuff, I figure I’ll stretch this out a bit. Over the past few years the cigar world has welcomed bold, full-bodied, wickedly flavorful, stronger cigars. Ligas, LFDs and Camachos have the fans of the dark and delicious begging for more – so enter the good people at RoMa Craft and their sensational new little flavor bomb, the Whiskey Rebellion.
I have to say right off the bat that it’s definitely not a cigar for newbies and that’s for a couple of reasons. Beginner cigar smokers gravitate to light Connecticut Shade sticks because the smooth and creamy profile agrees with their virgin palates. But the more accomplished and experienced cigar smoker will truly appreciate the flavors, complexity and the kick that the Whiskey Rebellion has to offer.
Upon lighting I got notes of black pepper and a nice thick creaminess to the actual smoke. As I traveled down an inch or so on this little beast, I started getting black licorice or a Sambuca thing going on and I really liked it. And as I got two thirds in, a dark cherry state kicked in and I was loving it. But as John Pullo says in the video, you have to go slow and steady with this cigar because smoking it too fast as I did can almost cause a hallucinogenic affect. Okay, while I kid with that, you really do have to go slow with this beauty, not only because of its strength, but because you really want to sit back and enjoy the complexities and range of flavors it has to offer.
If you enjoy cigars like the Camacho American Barrel Aged, the LFD Chisel, the Liga #9, I really think you’re going to love the Whiskey Rebellion. It’s not only full of great flavor and complexity, it also doesn’t let you forget for one second that you’re smoking a kick ash cigar.
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