Romeo Y Julieta 1875

I've been smoking a little more often than I should lately. Sometimes it's just too hard to resist opening the humidor when you know there are still a few cigars in there waiting for you. My girlfriend seems to have been looking the other way lately. I can only take this to mean that I'm going to pay dearly for something in the near future. It's the calm before the storm if you will. Needless to say, my only option is to milk it as long as possible.

I had to light one up tonight because when I got home, the heat wave we had this week was finally passing making it comfortable enough to sit outside. I took out the last cigar I had, a Romeo Y Julieta 1875 Churchill.

This was the first cigar that I ever smoked. The guy who sold it me back then, recognizing I was inexperienced, took the Camacho Triple Maduro out of my hand (thank God! It might have killed me) and explained that it would be best to try a mellow tasting smoke. It's nothing too fancy, some mild Dominican tobaccos rolled into an oily Indonesian wrapper. It's the traditional Churchill size at 7 inches with a ring of 50.

I have yet to see a Romeo Y Juliet in a flawed wrapper. The cigar is a medium brown, perfectly uniform all the way down with no visible imperfections anywhere. The stick cuts pretty lousy as it's actually a challenge to slice the blade through. However, afterwards the cigar still seems nice and pliable. I've never figured this out but I do see it on occasion with different cigars.

It takes a little longer than normal to get the cigar fully lit but once it does get going, its burns very well. Ash stays on for a good 2 inches before falling off. I've always found the burn to be the most important quality of a mild cigar. With the flavors only coming out just enough to detect, there isn't much room for error. A slightly uneven burn can ruin the whole smoke leaving it completely tasteless. No problems like that here.

The draw is slightly on the tight side. Fullness is average but it is a mild cigar so I wouldn't expect too much smoke in the mouth anyway.

The taste to start with is very creamy and buttery, my favorite aspect of Romeo and Juliet. The longer you smoke, the more your mouth ends up feeling oily and sweet tasting. (sweet as in creamy not sugary). Unfortunately, this great texture and taste starts to fade after the halfway point and I definitely miss it.

Toward the middle of the cigar, some wood tastes start to come out. Again, nothing really strong here, just enough so that I know it's there.

As I get into the last couple inches of the smoke, a little spiciness emerges that mixes pretty well with the oily wrapper. In fact, at this point it brings itself almost up to the medium style. The flavors are still pretty delicate and I even opt to put my drink down as I'm worried about it overpowering the flavors.

I'm a little annoyed to find that the draw gets even tighter at the end of the smoke. The creaminess seems to reemerge but I need to puff on the thing a little too hard to taste it. It does however continue to burn well and even with the spicy notes, the cigar finishes off pretty mellow.

This cigar is a must try for anyone looking to start out smoking cigars as it will ease you into it. From there, you can work your way up into bolder tastes until you figure out what style you most like. I don't often reach for the mild cigars but I still enjoy one on occasion. Romeo Y Juliet is certainly a well crafted one.

Overall Rating: 84