Romeo y Julieta RyJ

Well this Romeo y Julieta RyJ is a Nica Puro that I can take off the to-smoke-list for this year. I picked this up at Cigar Train a couple of weeks ago and boy I'm glad I did.

Quick Details

• Wrapper:  Nicaraguan Corojo Jalapa
• Double Binder: Nicaraguan Jalapa & Esteli
• Vintage 2010 Aged Fillers: Nicaraguan Jalapa, Nicaraguan Esteli, Nicaraguan La Mia
• Cutting Method: Xikar guillotine
• Purchased at Cigar Train

In the beginning I had a bit of trouble with the RyJ, not with the cigar itself but with the flavors. The cold aroma baffled me for quite a while. The best I can do is say it had notes of fruit and tea, maybe even muted orange spice tea. What ever it was, the aroma from the foot was nice. Once the end was clipped, the firm, but free, cold draw had strong notes of sweet tree fruit.

Construction wise this cigar was just what you would expect from Romeo y Julieta. The oily Corojo Jalapa wrapper was rolled on with a tight seam and was virtually vein free. Feeling down the body there were no soft or hard spots present.

Once a match was put to the foot, the mild bodied cigar produced a large volume of smoke and the initial flavors again were sweet fruit and tea. As the burn progressed it left behind a soft light gray ash and a nice oil line developed on the wrapper. For the first half the burn line took off up one side but by the mid point it self-corrected. Sadly I dropped the RyJ in the ashtray while putting my gloves on and bumped the ash about an inch into the burn.

Around the 1/3 mark more flavors entered into the mix. I could taste, oak, earth, brown sugar, toast, nuts and molasses as the cigar turned to ash. Testing the retro hale I found it to be a nice mild dose of molasses.  In the final third the strength bumped up into the medium range and a bit of barnyard took over as the main flavor.

This was another cigar that actually paired better with coffee and I think it's a great around breakfast cigar. The flavor mix wasn't complex, but the all flavors present were great. I don't call many non-maduro cigars a flavor bomb, but this was pretty darn close! Like I said in the opening paragraph, I wish I had picked up more the other day.

Rated: 94