The first of three limited edition sizes from RoMaCraft for 2018 have come and gone in the blink of an eye. The Black Irish features the Cromagnon blend with some candela. In the upcoming months there will be the Sabertooth (Aquitaine version of Black Irish) and Mastodon (a box pressed version of Mandible). The cigars are limited to the top RoMac Craft accounts, and today at 2GuysCigars.com we sold out of them in 18 minutes.
Usually I let the limited edition cigars go to the masses, and I wind up not getting any for myself. However, quite a few people asked me to review the cigar, so I grabbed a couple for myself.
Cigar Review: Black Irish
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf & Candela (Barber Pole)
Binder: Cameroon
Filler: Nicaragua
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 56
Vitola: 6 x 56 (EMH / Toro Gordo)
The Look: The packaging for the Black Irish looks almost the same as the regular CroMagnon, the difference is a green Celtic symbol on the box. The cigars are laid in 4 rows of 6 cigars and feature the simple black on black CroMagnon band with a white on white band underneath featuring hieroglyphics. The Connecticut Broadleaf features some significant oils and the candela has a nice olive hue to it. In the hand the cigar is firm with no soft spots.
The Notes: The cold draw of the cigar reminds me a bit of lemongrass with touches of cedar and unsalted, non-buttered popcorn. The aroma off the foot of the cigar is sweet in the form of mocha. After we toast and light the foot, the first couple of draws from the Black Irish are loaded with cedar.
Moving on to the first third, the cedar notes remain the only note for about the first half-inch of the cigar before it begins to open up and offer some subtle salty notes, coffee and mocha. Cedar remains strong on the aroma of the cigar, and the finish has a slightly vegetal component that is obviously from the candela. Through the nose, the cigar offers a lot of black pepper with some cedar on the aroma.
The second third sees the coffee notes become dominant as the cigar takes on a strong espresso profile. There is some lingering mocha as well, but those become more of an afterthought. On the retrohale of the cigar, some black pepper notes remains but there is also some components that are synomous with candela present too.
The last third of the cigar sees the vegetal profile associated with candela become dominant, but there is a cocoa sweetness present as well. The finish of the cigar bounces back and forth between coffee and vegetal creating a very enjoyable yin-yang effect. The retrohale of the cigar sees some black pepper added to the mix that also carries over on the aroma as the cigar gets closer to the nub.
The Finish: The Black Irish is one of the most sought after limited release from RoMa Craft and rightfully so. It’s like smoking the regular Cromagnon line and the limited production Fomorian at the same time. It’s an interesting smoke, but I also wonder how the demand would be if this was more a regular production. I would say it was box worthy, but finding one will be impossible.
Score: 92
Price: $10.19 / $219.99
Black Irish
Black Irish Foot
Black Irish Burn
