Rushing things is no way to make premium products. It doesn’t work for wine or spirits, it doesn’t work for cheese, and it sure as heck doesn’t work for cigars. In fact, the more patient you are, the better product you can create. That’s not to say that aging automatically makes things great. There’s plenty of old crap lying around everywhere. But with some knowledge, skill, and the will to wait, you can make something great.
Case in point: the Romeo y Julieta Viejo cigar.
“Viejo” means “old” in Spanish, and that should tell you the approach to the blend here – a fine mixture of aged tobaccos. It starts with the dark brown Mexican San Andrés wrapper, which provides a nice hit of spice in each puff, as well as come complex earthy flavor. This leaf isn’t alone, of course. There’s a plentiful filler blend of Dominican, Honduran, and Nicaraguan tobaccos that give this cigar its satisfying character.
Light it up for medium-bodied smoke, which starts with the flavor of spice as a front note. This then mellows a bit as the smoke becomes smoother and brushes of caramel sweetness hit your tongue. As you go along, you’ll notice your old friend cedar walking along with you. In general, however, the blend stays stable and smooth right to the end.
This is thanks in part to the box-pressing applied to these cigars. The effect of a box press can sometimes be to create a longer-burning cigar with a more even flavor profile. There’s also the change it makes in mouth shape, which sometimes allows for more air to enter through the sides of the mouth along with each draw, cooling and aerating the smoke. Think it’s a bunch of overthought nonsense? Try it for yourself. We think this is a nice reliable smoke with quality flavor.
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