Brand guide
Aging Room cigars
Aging Room is a cigar brand from Miami's Boutique Blends, launched in 2011 and made mostly at Tabacalera La Palma in Tamboril, Dominican Republic, with some lines rolled in Nicaragua.
Aging Room came out of a flavored-cigar company
Boutique Blends, the Miami company behind Aging Room, started in 1996 in Miami Lakes, Florida, as Habana Cuba Cigar Co., the non-Cuban licensee of the old Oliveros brand.
Its first hit was a flavored Oliveros. Unflavored lines followed. In 2002 the founders sold the company to Rafael Nodal, his wife Alina Cordoves Nodal, and Hank Bischoff. In February 2012 it took the name Boutique Blends, to signal a turn toward small-batch, unflavored premium cigars.
The new label arrived in 2011. Wikipedia describes it as premium aged Dominican tobacco made in even smaller batches than the company's earlier Swag line. Cigar Aficionado credits Nodal as its creator.
Who rolls Aging Room?
Most Aging Room cigars are made by José "Jochy" Blanco at Tabacalera La Palma in Tamboril, Dominican Republic, according to Cigar Aficionado.
Blanco's farm and factory also make his own La Galera and La Matilde. Not every cigar under the name is Dominican, though. Nicaraguan lines come from two other houses. Pelo de Oro, released in 2016, was made with AJ Fernandez. The 2018 Quattro Nicaragua came from Tabacalera Fernandez in Estelí. Pura Cepa, also 2018, was the first Aging Room cigar from Plasencia S.A. in Estelí.
Distribution changed in 2017. On May 15 that year Boutique Blends formed a strategic alliance with Altadis U.S.A., which took over sales and distribution. Nodal joined Altadis's executive team for quality and production. Neither Wikipedia nor Cigar Aficionado describes it as a sale of the brand.
Aging Room blends by origin
Aging Room's Dominican lines rest on Dominican-grown tobacco, and its Nicaraguan lines are puros, with wrapper, binder and filler all from Nicaragua.
Bin No. 1, from 2014, used Cuban-seed tobacco grown in the Dominican Republic between 1999 and 2001, per Cigar Aficionado. Its follow-up, Bin No. 2, used tobacco from Ometepe, the volcanic island in Lake Nicaragua. Pura Cepa, Spanish for "pure strain," blends leaf from Condega, Estelí, Jalapa and Ometepe, Nodal said. Quattro Nicaragua is also all Nicaraguan, but a different blend from Pelo de Oro. Read about those regions in cigar tobacco regions.
Aging Room lines and where each is made
Full Aging Room blend sheets were not available in our sources, so the table lists the stated wrapper origin and factory where a source gives one.
| Line | Wrapper (stated) | Factory | Notable sizes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quattro Original (formerly F55) | Not published in our sources | Tabacalera La Palma, Dominican Republic | Box-pressed; sizes not published in our sources |
| Quattro Nicaragua | Nicaraguan | Tabacalera Fernandez, Estelí | Espressivo (5 x 50), Maestro (6 x 52), Vibrato (6 x 54), Concerto (7 x 50) |
| Small Batch Pura Cepa | Nicaraguan | Plasencia S.A., Estelí | Rondo (5 x 50), Mezzo (6 x 54), Grande (6 1/2 x 56) |
| Small Batch M356 | Not published in our sources | Dominican Republic | Not published in our sources |
Strength is not stated by the maker in our sources. Other Aging Room names include Quattro F59, Quattro Maduro, Quattro Connecticut, Bin No. 1, Pelo de Oro and Solera Dominican Sun Grown. Aging Room names many of its sizes after musical terms: Espressivo, Vibrato, Concerto, Rondo.
Aging Room, year by year
Aging Room's timeline starts with its parent company in 1996, fifteen years before the brand itself.
- 1996: Habana Cuba Cigar Co. founded in Miami Lakes.
- 2002: the Nodals and Hank Bischoff buy the company.
- 2011: Aging Room launches.
- 2012: the company renames itself Boutique Blends.
- 2014: Bin No. 1 released.
- 2015: Quattro F59 released.
- 2016: Pelo de Oro, made with AJ Fernandez.
- 2017: Altadis U.S.A. takes over distribution.
- 2018: portfolio restructured; F55 becomes Quattro Original; Quattro Nicaragua and Pura Cepa added; F59 put on hiatus.
Before you buy an Aging Room
Aging Room renamed several lines in 2018, so older boxes and newer ones can carry different names for the same cigar.
The F55 became the Quattro Original. The F55M Maduro became the Quattro Maduro. If you see F59, that line was put on hiatus that year. Check the country on the box too: the brand is made in both the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, and the Quattro family alone spans both. Quattro cigars are box-pressed, and if that shape is new to you, see what a box-pressed cigar is.
What people ask about Aging Room
Who makes Aging Room cigars?
Aging Room is a Boutique Blends brand created by Rafael Nodal. Most lines are made by Jochy Blanco's Tabacalera La Palma in the Dominican Republic; some come from AJ Fernandez and Plasencia in Nicaragua.
Is Aging Room owned by Altadis?
Altadis U.S.A. took over sales and distribution in 2017 under a strategic alliance with Boutique Blends, and Nodal joined its executive team. Our sources do not describe a sale of the brand.
Are Aging Room Quattro cigars box-pressed?
Yes. Cigar Coop describes the Quattro F55 as box-pressed, and the Quattro Nicaragua Vibrato is a box-pressed 6 x 54.
Where is Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua made?
At Tabacalera Fernandez in Estelí, Nicaragua, with Nicaraguan wrapper, binder and filler. It was the first Quattro made outside the Dominican Republic.
Where the Aging Room facts come from
- Boutique Blends Cigars, Wikipedia
- Aging Room brand highlight, Cigar Aficionado
- Boutique Blends to Release Aging Room Small Batch Pura Cepa, Cigar Coop
- Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Vibrato, Cigar Coop