CROMAGNON FEMUR: The Biggest Cigar in the World?

Realistically, the biggest cigar in the world is lying in the Pipe and Tobacco Museum in the city of Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, with a length of 6.43 meters, a diameter of 47 centimeters, and a weight of 400 kilograms. Nevertheless, the CroMagnon Femur remains a strong contender in this category as it is one extremely large cigar.

There’s a bit of history to the origins of this massive cigar. Towards the end of March 2013, Roma Craft Tubac brand owner, Skip Martin, posted a photograph of a new project the brand was working on—a 10 x 500 ring gauge cigar that they called the Femur. The full name, “CroMagnon Femur”, is a reference to one of the few intact fossils discovered at the CroMagnon archeological site in Aquitaine, France.

Following a series of experiments, the size of the Femur was eventually lowered first to a 235 ring gauge, then to a 215 ring gauge, before the final 133 1/3 ring gauge—which was the most feasible—was settled on.

The cigar was then set to make its debut at the next International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers (IPCPR) show at the time. Months before the show, Skip Martin showed off multiple photos of the process of producing the cigar, including the molds, samples without a wrapper, and side-by-side comparisons with other cigars.

Skip Martin subsequently explained the idea behind producing such a large cigar. He admitted that while the whole craze around bigger cigars might’ve been confusing, and even he personally preferred smaller ring gauges and shorter cigars, the actual idea behind the CroMagnon Femur was to make something for the IPCPR show as well as give something special to the brand’s loyal retailers who had placed orders at the show.

Interestingly, the brand’s CroMagnon Mandible and the Femur share the same proportions, so the CroMagnon Femur is practically a super-sized enlarged version of the Femur. RoMa Craft Tobac sold the CroMagnon Femur for the first time at the 2013 IPCPR trade show and convention priced at $50 apiece. Subsequently, the Femur cigars were produced in retail but were limited in availability.

Composition of the CroMagnon Femur.

The CroMagnon Femur is Nicaraguan by origin, produced in the Fabrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño, a factory in Estelí, Nicaragua owned in partnership by Skip Martin and Esteban Disla. The cigar has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, a Cameroon binder, and Nicaraguan filler. In dimensions, the stick is 10 inches long with a 133 1/3 ring gauge. The approximate weight of the cigar is 190 grams.

Fun fact: Each Femur is crafted using only one wrapper leaf—granted, they’re the largest wrapper leaves that could be found.

Review: It’s been said countless times already in this post, but trust me, it needs to be said again. The CroMagnon Femur is one massive cigar! Still, it is a cigar that is crafted to perfection.

The first thing you notice about this stick is its gorgeous, silky smooth, deep mocha brown wrapper. It has a very obvious triple cap that is excellently applied, and the wrapper gives off a strong spicy, leathery, cedary aroma even before it is lit.

Because it’s a huge cigar, it takes some time to light. But once it is lit—to many people’s surprise because of its size—the cigar maintains a consistent burn for a good number of inches. The flavor profile consists of earthy, dark chocolate, cedar, and leather notes, along with a very slight nuttiness that comes and goes.

There is also a very strong bitterness that recedes after about 10 puffs but stays pretty noticeable throughout the smoke. Still, even with its robust profile, the smoke carries a strength that is between mild to medium but leans mostly toward mild.

Generally, for a cigar this massive, the CroMagnon has extremely good construction and a pretty impressive burn. The bitterness in its flavor may make it a cigar that only a select few smokers will be able to stand, but most people might go for it regardless just to have the experience of smoking such a large stick. Just know that it can take you almost 6 hours to finish smoking this cigar!

The CroMagnon Femur is an enormous cigar. However, even larger cigars are being rolled and sold on the market, so if you think you can go bigger than this stick, why not?!

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