In the modern cigar industry, well-chosen collaborators and partners can help a company make a new blend that really takes smokers by storm. Romeo y Julieta is no stranger to this type of approach to making new cigars, and the Romeo San Andrés is their second stick created with the help of Abdel “AJ” Fernandez.
AJ has a strong resume, having worked in the Cuban cigar industry for years when he was young. Eventually, he struck out on his own as a master blender, creating cigars for a number of top companies as well as launching his own brands, which include Enclave, Last Call, New World, Ramon Allones, and San Lotano, as well as the muscular Man O’ War and Diesel cigars. His blends have secured 90+ ratings and a number of Top-25 awards from Cigar Aficionado, and so his work with Romeo y Julieta is just another chapter in an already successful career.
We’ll give you one guess as to what the wrapper leaf is on the Romeo San Andrés. If you guessed “Connecticut Shade,” you may need to put down the Churchills and get a little fresh air. This one is wrapped in sultry dark Mexican San Andrés tobacco, of course! Inside, there’s an AJ special: a Nicaraguan binder around a Nicaraguan and Dominican filler blend. Toast the foot and you’ll get exactly the flavor profile you’d expect from a cigar like this. It’s a doozy, led by a nice stable dark chocolate note, but also features some more serious tastes like charred oak and that signature Nicaraguan black pepper. It’s a strong smoke in most dimensions, and not one for those seeking a mild and easygoing stick.
In the Shakespearean tragedy, Romeo could not be denied, and neither can this cigar. Sit down before lighting it up!
