RoMaCraft Neanderthal SGP

This past week we had Skip Martin as a guest on The Cigar Authority, and prior to going on the show he gifted me with Neanderthal SGP which will be an event cigar as well as a shop exclusive for two stores in Texas.

The SGP which stands for Shallow Gene Pool will join the Neanderthal HN stands for Homo Neanderthalensis in the line.

Cigar: Neanderthal
Size: 4.5 x 52 (SGP)
Wrapper: San Andreas (Mexico)
Binder: Broadleaf (US Connecticut)
Filler: U.S. Pennsylvania Double Ligero, Nicaraguan (Conega, Jalapa, Pueblo Nuevo, Esteli), Dominican Republic (Olor)
Strength: Full
Source: Skip Martin; RoMaCraft

The Look: The one thing that stands out about the cigar once you get past the Texas Longhorns Burnt Orange band, is the flat cap which takes it to the next level. The flawlessly rolled cigar is seamless is heavy in the hand with a gritty feel from the toothy wrapper. The cigar is well packed with no soft spots.

The Notes: The cold draw of the Neanderthal SGP has a sweetness to it with notes of caramel and popcorn. Yes, the cold draw tastes like a Cracker Jack. The foot of the cigar reminds me of velvet, though I am not sure hot to describe that as a flavor. There is an abundance of pepper that caused me to sneeze.

Once the cigar is lit there is a meatiness to the cigar like a slightly charred steak from the barbecue. The note changes over to dark coffee and I wish I had some Twin Engines coffee to pair up with this. Through the nose there is black pepper as well, so retrohale with caution.

Moving into the second third of the cigar the dark coffee notes remain with some meatiness to the cigar as well. There is earth and a dark, heavy wood note that i equate to oak in the mix as well.

The last third of the SGP continues down the road of the previous two-thirds though the strength of the cigar tones down a few notches making the finish almost medium in strength. As a result of the toned down strength the flavors turn it up with the coffee coming across as the perfect dark coffee at the end of a meal with elements of earth and oak especially on the long finish.

The Burn: The Neanderthal SGP has a perfect draw with the right amount of resistance, and a medium gray ash that holds on for half the cigar. If you look closely at the ash you can pick up the magnesium bumps from the wrapper. The cigar had a thin burn line that burned to perfection.

The Finish: Despite the cigar using 8 different tobaccos, the one that stands out the most is the Pennsylvania Broadleaf, perhaps because I have worked on it in the past when blending my cigar; KILO. But I digress, the Neanderthal raises the bar in terms of cigars from RoMaCraft as the cigar is the best I’ve smoked to date from the factory.

Score: 93