Romeo y Julieta Reserve Maduro Review

9/3/2014

Cigar: Romeo y Julieta Reserve Maduro
Size: Robusto, 5.0”x50
MSRP: $6.65
Strength: Medium
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Origin: Dominican Republic

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i2...EA0A7D9D8F.jpg

Prelight: The dark chocolate colored wrapper is rugged, lumpy and veiny. There is a lot of tooth and oily sheen and it smells like a cow patty sitting amongst a field of wild flowers. The foot is pure chocolate. The cold draw is chocolaty and earthy with hints of graham crackers, and kind of meaty as well. I am expecting this cigar to be a sweet treat.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i2...FF0E6440CF.jpg

1/3: The cigar kicks off with some nice floral notes and just a hint of pepper. The pepper spice increases quickly. I get some notes of bittersweet chocolate occasionally, but it is very mild when compared to the floral components. As I enter the second third, there is a dustiness added to the floral flavors.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i2...0550195A5C.jpg

2/3: The burn is canoeing a bit on the backside. Still, the flavors are mostly a dusty floral profile, but there is a delicate creaminess as well. Halfway, the smoke gets harsh, so I ash and purge. No use. The flavors have gone from “OK” to “God awful” and the cigar just tastes like burning.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i2...7859F7142B.jpg

3/3: I don’t smoke the final third. It has just been too harsh for too long, so I give up.

Overall: Not a good cigar. Actually, it’s a bad cigar. I’m disappointed, as it smelled so good, but I guess you can’t judge a book by its cover. The Perdomo I reviewed recently smelled bland but had great flavors. I would tend to think that it was a humidity issue, but this cigar had been sitting in my 61% desktop as long as the other RyJs which I liked, and that had no burn issues. Maybe I got a dud, but with so many tried and true cigars out there, I will not be picking up another one of these.