Room101
LaLa Land’s Matt Booth is on a short list of cigar industry innovators. Since 2003, Booth, a musician and Marine, has been creatively combining his life experiences, cultural influences, and favorite hobbies into products in his Room101 jewelry collection, a successful line of funky, chunky rings, bracelets, and other accessories in the finest sterling silver, gold, and precious stones. In 2009, Booth added a premium cigar to the Room101 portfolio, and the launch was anything but conventional. Thanks to an aggressive ad campaign cocktail that was one part social, one part viral, and one part print with a splash of “WTF,” cigar enthusiasts were drawn to the new cigars before they even existed. Fortunately, under the close supervision of Camacho’s president Christian Eiroa and marketing guru Dylan Austin, the gap was bridged from anticipation to arrival, and a complete line of premium cigars finally were made available.
The Room101 cigars are made up entirely of Honduran tobaccos, including “Semilla 101,” a unique seed developed specifically for this project. To add a splash of color and individuality, Booth often throws a little gem into Room101’s jewelry; for the cigars, the “gem” is a little bit of Dominican tobacco used in the filler to add complexity and balance to these medium-bodied smokes. The line currently includes six sizes, which are packaged in a silver-on-black box of 25 cigars, ranging in price from $7.50 to $10.50 per stick.
Booth also introduced cigar accessories to his line, including Zippo-style lighters featuring torch flames with the Room101 silver motifs (around $800), and breathtaking custom humidors sporting lavish croc exteriors, cedar-lined interiors, and Asian-themed, silk-lined drawers to house accessories (around $40,000).
Booth says his products are “designs that will stand the test of time” and assures that there is “something for everyone” within his product range. The “everyone”—those who enjoy the Room101 collection as well as those who share their interest via Booth’s incredible social network—are affectionately known as “The Conspiracy.” Like it or not, you just became a part of it.
