Matt Booth walked away from the cigar industry in 2016 after his Room101 brand was acquired by General Cigar. Three years later, he walked back in — and when he returned, he brought the FARCE. Not as a continuation of what came before, but as the first installment of a new creative sub-brand that would define what a returned, unrestrained Matt Booth could build when given complete creative freedom. The name itself is the declaration: a farce is something that mocks convention, that refuses to be taken seriously on anyone else’s terms. Cigar Aficionado took it seriously anyway — 92 points and a Top 25 Cigar of the Year placement in 2019, praising its “dense, chewy smoke” with sweet and spicy notes of molasses cookie, oaky vanilla, and maple-cured bacon.

Crafted in the Dominican Republic, the FARCE assembles tobacco from five distinct countries into a single, cohesive medium-to-full-bodied blend — an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, an Indonesian binder, and long-fillers from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Broadleaf component is the FARCE’s most unconventional construction choice — an American tobacco tradition that contributes earthy rusticity alongside the Dominican smoothness and Nicaraguan complexity, all framed by the Indonesian binder’s structural character and the Ecuadorian Habano’s natural spice and depth. Pepper, caramel, cinnamon, vanilla, and a touch of smoky maple develop from first draw through a complex, engaging finish that earns the 92-point recognition by delivering exactly what the Doomsayer-level construction ambition promises.

Why You’ll Love It

Matt Booth’s Return Statement: The FARCE is not just a cigar — it is Matt Booth’s announcement that he was back, uncompromised, and building something genuinely new. A five-country blend that earned Top 25 of the Year in its debut is the most emphatic possible declaration that the time away made him a better blender rather than a less relevant one.

Five Countries, One Vision: Ecuador, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Pennsylvania — five distinct tobacco traditions assembled into a single blend that reflects Booth’s refusal to work within the geographic constraints that most premium cigar blenders accept as given. The FARCE’s complexity is the direct result of that unconventional sourcing philosophy.

Molasses Cookie, Vanilla, and Maple Bacon: Cigar Aficionado’s most memorable tasting note for any Room101 release — the “molasses cookie, oaky vanilla, and maple-cured bacon” flavor profile — captures the FARCE’s most distinctive quality: a finish so unexpected and so memorable that it made Booth’s return impossible to ignore.