The Particulars

The Review

This review for the Room101 Johnny Tobacconaut 10th Anniversary - Toro (6 x 52) is based on the journal entry dated 2026-08-14

Appearance & Construction (0-3):  Good (3)

Details on the actual blend are pretty light other than it being a Nicaraguan puro. It’s not officially listed as a Maduro, but it is undeniably dark. This is exactly where the “Maduro” term gets bastardized in the industry, IMO. It should always mean that a cigar has undergone extra fermentation—hence the literal translation of the word as “ripe” or “mature.” But we often just use Maduro as a blanket term for dark cigars, even if it hasn’t necessarily been given that additional fermentation time.

So, it’s dark—a rich, dark chocolate brown—sporting a little bit of tooth and a nice, rich sheen. The wrapper looks a little thicker with some light edge lift, but this specific example is surprisingly devoid of thick or numerous veins, showing just a couple of thinner ones. As always, the strutting Tobacconaut is present, but this time he’s decked out in full gold with colored accents. If nothing else, the JT line always presents exceptionally well.

Draw (0-3) & Burn (0-4):  Good (3) / Great (4)

The draw is spot-on and the burn starts very well. The ash is a super bright gray that’s about as close to white as I’ve ever seen, featuring narrow cracks with wide spacing between them. The burn line is razor-sharp, remarkably even, and nearly dead-nuts flat. It’s a beautiful burn that occasionally gets just a little uneven before perfectly settling back in. The ash holds strong to nearly the midpoint, where I gracefully rolled it off into the tray just before it reached the JT10 band.

Flavor Profile (0-5):  Great (4)

Immediate charred oak, gritty earth, and a bit of black pepper on light-up. Given the backstory, I immediately had to wonder: since half the supply was lost in the fire, were any of these survivors affected by the smoke? But no, things immediately start to settle down. Baking cocoa, dark breadiness, espresso, earth, bits of black pepper, cinnamon, and other earthy spices join the fray, and the blend quickly finds its groove. There’s a moderate, slightly toasted marshmallow creaminess that thickens up, but it leans a bit more powdery as it mixes in with the baking cocoa notes. Red pepper starts to mix with the black as it increases in strength, and a mild-to-medium raisin-like sweetness cuts right through.

Then, at the beginning of the second third, it starts to transition back to the initial profile. The molasses breadiness turns back to charred oak, a dry mustiness mixes with the gritty earth, and the black pepper increases, starting to really burn the soft palate. There’s a building harshness that feels like it’s in a constant battle with the underlying refinement of the blend. But just as I start to worry that the profile is going to fully cross over into a gritty, charred mess, it pulls back with more breadiness, raisin sweetness, cocoa, and refinement.

This back-and-forth continues deep into the final third, but the charred and gritty aspects reduce in intensity every time it switches over. While it can be occasionally harsh, this cigar is excellent more often than not—it’s just harsh just often enough to keep it from getting top marks. But if you love a robust, unapologetic Nicaraguan puro, this blend is definitely for you.

Overall Experience (0-5):  Excellent (5)

The JT10 has a very Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde struggle going on. As Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, “I learned to recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both.” As such, the two primitive aspects of a Nicaraguan puro are in full effect here. One part is dark, harsh, and gritty, while the other is refined, nuanced, and elevated. Fortunately, the second personality wins that battle more often than not, elevating the cigar. The JT10 is a cigar that reflects the complexity of man, serving as a vessel to give us the time for deep introspection.

Or I’m just full of shit. 😂 Remember, Matt Booth always gives extra credit when you DM him your feet pics. Not because he likes it, but he likes it because you don’t. So, send him those hooves! Oh right, the JT10… it’s a very good smoke, though flawed at times. It’s kind of like a beautifully pedicured set of feet but toe has got that fungus thing going on… 🤮 S0 between the two highly coveted unobtainables—the Room101 15th Anniversary and the Johnny Tobacconaut 10th—I’ll definitely lean towards the 15th, but it’s a damn shame that half the production of the JT10s were lost in the fire.

Postscript

The second cigar had a ton of tooth to it—far more and better defined than the first. As a result, the ash was beautifully littered with oil crystals. The sweetness was immediate and stronger, bringing bits of black licorice and slightly more natural bitterness in the dark chocolate cocoa and creamier espresso notes. There was still a good amount of pepper, but the sweetness pulled it more to the front of the mouth, driving the pepper to be red more than the black. Occasional harshness and grittiness still existed, but far less than the first time around. While it’s obviously all still the same blend, the experience changed just enough. So if you’re looking at multiple JT10s to choose from at the lounge, say “allo guv’nah” and grab the one with all the tooth! 🦷

Overall Score and Individual Journal Entries

While the review is based off one instance of journaling this cigar; there’s a number of reasons you can have different experiences smoking the same cigar multiple times. A blend can evolve with age (for better or worse), palates evolves, preferences change, and sometimes you just get a bad example!  This section captures the ratings from each journal entry and the related journal photo.  Below you’ll find an aggregate score based on every time the cigar has been journaled. Unless it was a gift or on-off smoke, this section will be updated every time I journal this cigar!

The Flavor Wheel

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.