Romeo y Julieta Vintage Review

8/20/2014

Cigar: Romeo y Julieta Vintage
Size: Corona, 5.5”x44
MSRP: $10.70
Strength: Mild-Medium
Wrapper: Ecuador Connecticut
Origin: Dominican Republic

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Prelight: This cigar comes in a glass tube and within that tube is a cigar band that covers nearly the entire cigar. This band is held in place with a modest gold foot band, and a regular band near the head. These three bands (foot, body, and regular) hide yet another band. That’s right, a tube, a foot band, a body band, and two regular bands. Is the MSRP so high due to packaging? Perhaps. The wrapper is velvety smooth to the touch, although there are numerous bumps beneath it. The wrapper smells faintly floral and woody, while the dense foot smells more of a combination of wood and chocolate, albeit faint as well. After punching the well-made cap, the taste in the cold draw is floral and woody.

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1/3: There is lots of pepper initially. Straight up black pepper. I feel it on my tongue and in the retrohale. There seems to be some slight wood and herbs hiding somewhere beneath the pepper, but it’s hard to tell. The ash is dark grey and the burn really reminds me of a CC. (Let the flaming begin!) By the end of the first third, the pepper wanes and some wood, cream and baking spices make an appearance.

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2/3: Some chocolate is added to the wood, cream, baking spice combo. There is also a hint of mint and some herbal (like tea) tastes. The second third is absolutely delicious. The flavors (de)evolve to a simple cedar and baking spice mixture.

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3/3: There is some tar coming to the head, so I clip just above the shoulders and remove the tar ball. The final third doesn’t change much; it is cedar and baking spices. It gets a little bitter towards the nub, so it’s not a finger-burner, but it isn’t too bad either.

Overall: This is a cigar I would buy again. The MSRP is a little much though. I think this has to do with the packaging. It’s easily a $5 cigar in my opinion. I should probably right copy for cigar websites with this next statement: there is something Cuban-esque about the wrapper, burn and ash. And at one point in the delicious second third, there was a hint of a shadow of a memory of twang. I expect I will be bombarded with those who disagree a NC RyJ is anything close to its embargoed brethren, and I agree. It’s not close, but there is a similarity in construction, and the flavors (although different) are good.

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