Cigar Review: Aging Room Bin No. 1 B Minor

There aren’t many cigars I’d purchase by the box without having even tasted one. Aging Room’s blends are an exception to the rule.

I’ve been a big Aging Room fan since the first one I smoked a couple of years ago, the M356 Presto. Lately, I’d been tremendously impressed by the exquisite M20 Fortissimo.

So, when I went to a recent even featuring Boutique Blends co-owner Rafael Nodal, I was intending to buy a 10-count box of those limited edition M20s. Rafael’s enthusiasm for the Bin No. 1 quickly convinced me to pick up a box of those as well. Good decision.

I’m smoking my way through the B Minor (6.125 x 52), a beauty with a dark, toffee-colored Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over well-aged Dominican binder and filler tobaccos. The cigar retails for about $12.50 and comes in boxes of 20. The other two sizes available are even bigger: C Major (6.25 x 54) and G Major (6.25 x 63).

Bin No. 1 makes quite a first impression with a large parchment-style outer band that covers nearly half the cigar. It comes off easily and reveals a more traditional band beneath.

Prelight, there’s little aroma. But the cigar makes a statement from the first puff with a combination of spice and sweetness that’s shortly joined by a dark, rich fruitiness. A little farther on, the spice shifts more to pepper and the sweetness backs off. At about the halfway point, the strength downshifts a bit, and then picks up in the final third.

Overall, Bin No. 1 is a complex, strong, and highly satisfying cigar with excellent construction, draw, and burn. With tobacco already years old, I’m guessing these may not be the best candidates for long-term aging because it would be a shame for them to lose the zesty qualities that stand out.

As with other Aging Room cigars, I recommend the Bin No. 1. It earns four stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys