Once upon a time in Cuba, there was a cigar company called Romeo y Julieta. The company got its name from the occasional Shakespearean play that would be read out by the lector as the torcedores rolled up one cigar after the other in the factory’s main floor. The decades rolled by, and Romeo y Julieta earned a reputation for quality, as evidenced by the gold medallions that still grace the band. Eventually, when Castro’s revolution led to the nationalization of many leading cigar companies, Romeo y Julieta became a state property, and some of the former team left for the Dominican Republic. There, they kept to the company’s Cuban roots in many ways.
Here, in the Romeo y Julieta Reserve cigar, we can see that Cuba is still a big part of what gives an RyJ smoke its character. Right from the start, the cigar meets you with a sturdy Nicaraguan Habano-seed wrapper. This Cuban-born tobacco varietal is a time honored way to bring the signature flavors of the island into any blend, to the extent possible using tobacco cultivated elsewhere. From there, the cigar then includes a Nicaraguan binder and a Honduran and Nicaraguan filler blend. The result is that the Reserve is a bit stronger than many of the other cigars in the RyJ portfolio.
The flavor profile is a treat: toasted coffee bean, hickory, and array of herbs and spices. The soil of Nicaragua is famous for producing tobacco that offers up an enjoyable spice kick, and the Romeo y Julieta Reserve cigar puts this note to good use in a smoke that also delivers a good dose of strength to go alone with it. Reserve some time to puff on this one – you’ll probably need it.
