Romeo y Julieta : Petit Royales
Box of 25 / 47 ring gauge x 95mm length / LAT AGO 19
This is my first review on FOH or on any forum to be frank. Well I posted a power tool set once on craigslist and that turned into a sh&t show. I had people asking to trade everything from a Walmart gift card to a old prosthetic hook. Anyways, enough of my blabbering not like anyone is actually going to read this (Please read this, I want some free cigars and early access).
The box came from Spain with a date of Aug 2019 & a factory code "LAT", placing the box in Sancti Spiritus province and the factory of Taguasco. The cigars all have a nice oily shine and deep red hue, the smell coming from the box is your classic Cuban barnyard hay & tobacco.
I don't have a foot fetish, well depends on the foot or feet more like. But the smell was a coco, hay, spice. Cigar was nicely rolled dense with a firm give. The cigar has a solid 4 years of age.
The cigar opened with a woody cedar, light pepper, and sweet dark chocolate chip. I did toast this cigar and the burn line was great no issues, smoke production was good with a nice body. Good medium draw.
First Third
The end of the first third was filled with cedar, the spice toned completely down, and the sweet dark chocolate turned into a cherry liqueur chocolate. Ash fell off after the first third but that's partly my fault I was rewatching The Shield and the streaming service on my iPad kept freezing up and of course, I was impatient and kept trying to refresh until my iPad, my drink, and the ash all fell. Strength at this point remains Mild.
Second Third
In the second half; the cherry liqueur chocolate remains and turns a bitter dark chocolate with the wood notes turning into a charred oak/cedar. There is an almond/walnut nut note in the second half but it lays behind the wood and chocolate, it usually shows for me during the retro-hale. At this point, the cigar is at Mild-Medium.
Final Third
The burn line needed some touch-ups in the final third, the weather cools down and gets a little dewy, I live on the coast so this happens often while I'm smoking. Also, a mouse decided to make an appearance during this time so I spent a couple minutes throwing rocks to keep it away from my blueberry bushes. Anyhow cigar stayed about the same, notes of oak/cedar, bitter chocolate, and a coffee note are introduced with some pepper coming back into the picture. Cigar in the final third ends at a medium.
Overall this was a good mild-medium cigar, smoke time was just under 1hr. I think this cigar will be prime at 5 years of age, there is still a vegetal green note to it that I think will be gone at 5 years and help the main notes shine. Overall I would rate this cigar a 3.5 out of 5
Thanks for listening to my TED talk.
Cheers and Happy New Year.
-Hobo_Lobo