The RoMa Craft Maquette El Marinero is a prototype blend released in small 10-pack runs through the CRAFT Maquette series, and it pulls no punches. A dark Mexican San Andrés wrapper covers a Nicaraguan binder grown on the island of Ometepe and a filler of Nicaraguan and Dominican leaf, all rolled at the Nica Sueño factory in Estelí. The 4 3/4 x 54 box-pressed gran robusto is short, thick, and built to deliver a medium-full, strongly flavored smoke.
Dark chocolate and damp earth set the foundation, cut by a sharp black pepper spice that stays present throughout. The middle turns grittier and earthier with spicy undertones, and the smoke itself is dense and coating, ending on a long, savory finish.
Marinero means mariner — a nod to co-founder and Navy veteran Skip Martin — and this blend proved good enough that RoMa Craft carried the same San Andrés, Ometepe and Dominican-Nicaraguan recipe forward into its Marinero bundle line. Save it for a cold evening with a dark beer or a neat rum. Maquette runs are small and short-lived by design, so if you want to smoke a RoMa Craft blend before the rest of the world catches on, this is your chance.
