Aging Room

Aging Room came out of the meeting of two men: Rafael Nodal, who blends, and José "Jochy" Blanco, who makes. The brand appeared in 2011.

Nodal is Cuban, born in 1964, and reached the United States as an asylum seeker. In 2002, with his wife Alina Cordoves Nodal and Hank Bischoff, he bought Miami's Habana Cuba Cigar Company and renamed it Boutique Blends. Jochy Blanco is also a partner in the house — maker and commissioner are partners, which is not the rule in this trade.

Tabacalera Palma, at Tamboril, still rolls Dominican lines, such as the Core Habano (says Cigars Direct, a retailer, in October 2026); but the Quattro Nicaragua, the Pelo de Oro of 2016 and, since January 2025, La Bohème are rolled in Nicaragua, at A.J. Fernandez, say Cigar Coop and the press of January 2025. The brand's name states the stance: the ageing room. Bin No. 1 is built on tobaccos from 1999 and 2001 held back from the Cibao Valley, which presupposes the space, the patience and the cash to hold them.

The portfolio was entirely reworked in 2018. Nodal himself also moved to Tabacalera USA: it is in that capacity that he reblended Altadis's Trinidad Santiago — made, once again, by Jochy Blanco.

Range Depth

• Quattro

  Wrapper Habano · Strength Medium-Full

  The widest range, its vitolas named in musical vocabulary — Nodal trained as a musician. Box-pressed at the base, which is uncommon.

  Maestro · Concerto · Espressivo

• Small Batch

  Wrapper Habano · Strength Full

  The house's short runs, designated by a code rather than a name. This is the range that made the brand known.

  M356 · F55

• Bin No. 1

  Wrapper Dominican · Strength Medium-Full

  Built on tobaccos from 1999 and 2001 held back from the Cibao Valley. The name is the ageing bin — the whole brand is in that idea.

  Bin No. 1

• Pelo de Oro

  Wrapper Cuban seed from Nicaragua · Strength Medium

  Named for an old Cuban variety, hard to grow and long abandoned for that reason. Launched in 2016, rolled at A.J. Fernandez, in Nicaragua: wrapper of Cuban seed from Nicaragua, Nicaraguan binder, Nicaraguan Pelo de Oro filler.

  Rondo · Mezzo

• La Bohème

  Wrapper Hybrid Connecticut · Strength Medium-Full

  Launched in 2014 at Boutique Blends and rolled at the time at Tabacalera Palma, it returns in January 2025 under the name Aging Room La Bohème, with a new blend made by A.J. Fernandez in Nicaragua, presented in December 2024 as medium to full. A hybrid wrapper of Broadleaf and Habano seeds grown in the Connecticut Valley, with Nicaraguan binder and filler: four formats named after Puccini's opera, Mimi (3 1/2 x 46), Pittore (5 1/8 x 52), Poeta (5 3/4 x 54) and Musico (6 1/4 x 60).