A Brief Cigar Review - Cuban Romeo Y Julieta No.1
A cigar typically on the mild side, the Romeo Y Julieta is one of the world's most well known and loved brands. I have enjoyed many, but I figure it is time to review one.
Prelight
Wrapper: Cuba
Binder: Cuba
Filler: Cuba
Vitola: 5.5 x 40 (No. 1 in Tubo)
Price: $6.50
The RyJ No.1 comes in a tube, always a nice touch on presentation. As well, the tubes help keep the cigar protected, this makes it a good choice to grab while on the way out to the golf course, or a buddies house.
The light brown wrapper on most Romeo’s are silky-smooth with almost no visible veins, this cigar is no exception. Pre-light scent is that of a funky barnyard, typical of Cuban sticks.
The draw is a bit snug after punch cutting. No surprise, Cubans tend to have a tight roll. A few pokes with a tool opened it up, not loose as I prefer, but good enough.
Flavor and Smoke
Immediately after toasting, I notice typical Cuban flavor notes of dark caramel and black licorice. My palette finds these notes in almost all Cuban cigars. This is probably the “Cuban funk” people often describe when smoking tobacco from Cuba.
I am about to find out how pizza pairs with a cigar, lol. This wasn’t intentional, dinner was done sooner than I thought it would be.
The smoke output is medium, while the smoke itself has a touch of creaminess, and the retro-hale passes easily enough through the nasal passages.
A roasted cashew note, with a sweet cedar undertone brings a meatiness to an otherwise light smoke. A small amount of mild spice, perhaps like paprika, hangs shortly on the finish, a finish mostly of woodsy tones.
At the beginning of my Cuban cigar journey, I wasn’t much of a RyJ fan, I found them somewhat bland. This is not at all true for the smaller ring gauge RyJ’s, and especially the ones I have smoked the past few years.
Past the halfway point, a deep floral note arrives while the previous notes darken slightly.., espresso on the finish.
My tasting notes above are throughout the length of my RyJ, and for the most part remained from beginning to end. This isn’t a very complex cigar in terms of ever-changing flavor notes. The flavors really only darken, mostly towards the end, yet without getting too dark and bitter.
Final Thoughts
The Romeo Y Julieta is a winner, especially considering the price. I highly recommend the No. 1 size. The only potential downfall I can imagine is a plugged draw, and/or a stick not yet aged long enough, both of which happen all too often with Cubans.
When I am craving a light strength yet medium flavored cigar, I always enjoy the RyJ No.1. If you haven’t had the chance to light one up, I would recommend putting it on your too-puff list.
My emoji rating: 😋
(🤢😖☹️😕😐🙂😀😋🤗😍)
Smoke time: 45 minutes
Strength/Body: Mild/medium
Cigar paired with: Cola, and pizza ;P
Price opinion: 👍🏻
Recommend/buy again? Indeed
Do you think pairing it with cola and pizza made it better or worse?
I usually pair mine with coconut water, but last night I paired one with port which was really interesting since it was my first time pairing it with alcohol.
Yo @gonzo!
I would say it made it more interesting... not better or worse. I was only pairing for 10 minutes or so.
Coconut water, I can see how that would be good.
Port is nice with cigars, there are so many good pairings. Food is the least paired with cigars I have noticed, not counting things like nuts and chocolate which is common. Food while smoking used to be a lot more common, I am going to get into it more.
Alcohol is probably the #1 pairing I see, with bourbon, scotch, and rum being the top choices. Coffee would be 2nd.
The most interesting pairing that has been going around, and I was very skeptical about was orange juice, lol. I tried it and oddly it does work pretty well. My theory on that one is the citrus gets the saliva flowing more and makes tasting easier.
Take care Gonzo!
Thanks for all the info, I just paired a Cuba Guantanamera Habana with some port, but ended up switching back to coconut water, for some reason that coconut water just makes it taste so good lol
I'll pick up some orange juice next time I at the store to try that :)
OK, I need to try coconut water.. just wrote it down on my shopping list. Hopefully on the next cigar I review. If you are a alcohol drinker, try rum, I find it the most versatile, it basically goes with any cigar I think.
Cheers!
That looks Nice one thanks for sharing : )
Thanks @blazing!