Romeo y Julieta Wide Churchill

[bunburyist]

bonjour. From the H&F website:

Commercial Name:

Wide Churchill

Factory Name:

Montesco

Dimensions:

5 ¼” (130mm) x 55 ring gauge

Flavour category:

Medium

Presentations:

25-cigar labelled box

10-cigar labelled box

Aluminium tubes in 3-cigar pack to follow

Smoked my first of the new RyJ Wide Churchills today, bought from a 'doff store in town as a single - HK$180 (US$23), pretty steep. Assume its fairly young as they've only just been released.

Cigar felt and looked good, with a decent amount of sheen on the wrapper. If you were going to put a cigar out on someone a la Terminator, this'd be the one to use. It's pretty weighty for a medium length cigar.

I used a punch to open it up, as cigars this big I tend to slobber all over. I also prefer them to have a slighty looser draw, as anything 48 or bigger can give a bit of jaw ache if they're a bit tight. Fortunately this beast was a bit underfilled so nice and easy draw.

It threw out a decent amount of smoke, mild-medium body, with no outstanding flavours for the first 3rd, just smooth toasted tobacco.

As it got going it developed into a fairly pleasant smoke, giving vegetal notes to go with the tobacco. Also picked up what tasted at the time like flour, which is a first for me.

Through the nose there was a little spice, but what I'd call smoothed spice, not prickly like I get with my P2s.

Burn was all over the shop, but then humidity was in the 90s and I was on the terrace. Interesting rather than enjoyable start.

Into the second 3rd, and it developed a fairly pronounced marzipan finish, and the burn evened out and I started to enjoy it, as the flavours came and went, so it certainly wasn't monotone as some people find RyJ.

Towards the final 3rd, the marzipan continued and I got the faintest hint of cream, before the cigar started burning too hot so I canned it with about a 1/4 left.

Enjoyable. I don't have such a problem with wide gauge cigars that some guys on here do, but it was on the limits of being comfortable to smoke. Definitely an image cigar, as I don't see what this brings over the RyJ short churchill. There's no extra dimension that the additonal width brings as far as I can tell. Having said that, a tubos version with a bit of age on it would be an interesting prospect.

Still, overall I'm reasonable happy with it. Add this to the Churchill, Short Churchill and Duke and RyJ have a pretty decent big smoke line up. As soon as someone figures out how to bring the belicoso up a league it'll give plenty of options for those who like the RyJ profile.

At a push, I'd give it an 88, just.

[samb]

I think itll be interesting to see how this smoke evolves in time and in the market.

[thechenman]

Very nice review. I think I'm going to give this a try...it intrigues me.

[egross]

Just sampled my 2nd one of those.

Initially you have to acknowledge these are really nice crafted. Perfect look, nice and tidy roll, great draw - simply a real good looking cigar. So the anticipation build up, how do they taste?

In Europe it is still somewhat cooler. Despite some sunny days, not perfect cigar climate. A little to dry even when the sun comes out for a decent tasting.

On the other hand, that didn´t bother some of my other favorites. I prefer the thicker sizes with my cigars. The Montechristo Edmundo is a staple in this household. With this in mind I use the opportunity of a nice spring day for a J&R Wide Churchill.

As with many first editions of a new Cuban brand, they are look neat, nearly perfect craftsmanship and burn nearly perfectly. Once you lightened one up, it builds up a great expectation of the first taste. The first taste is very mild. Surprisingly mild for a Cuban puro longfiller. The taste has a light sweet aroma, followed by a thick cloud of smoke. Normally the good way to start. Although here I am missing some sort of character I would remember. I didn´t get the marzipan, which is mentioned before, maybe a hint of sugarish caramel. The first third just burns down with nothing to complain.. but the lack of taste. That is disappointing. Since the cigar is not that long I expected a distinctive taste in the beginning... but still have a hard time to recognize.

And it is only downhill from there. An appealing taste doesn´t build up.

The first I had with a fruity, very balanced red whine. that didn´t work.

The second I tried with a rich white wine, a great German Riesling - still not working.

The switch to a fine cognac made it somewhat better, but I still search for "the" taste to describe...

So in the end, I am unsure what good to say about his cigar. Although it made a great impression it lacks in taste - significantly.

I cannot come up with an occasion I would like to have one again. Maybe accompanied by a great cognac on the porch it get´s more justice. But then, in this setting I would prefer a somewhat stronger Edmundo or Saint Luis Ray Double Corona.

Maybe I should try this in comparison to an equally mild Hoyo Epicure No.2. I am not sure about that. But right now it is not clear to me, what the intentions of their maker where. I should have another one or two in SE Asia next week, to complete the picture. But right now, I am not impressed at all. If the quality of the craft is decreasing, like most of the Cuban brands do with the second and third batches, the truth will be told. Until then I cannot really recommend this cigar.

So far, my first and second impression it is a cigar with a great body, nearly perfectly made, really good looking... but with a distinctive lack in taste.

Not really worth the money in comparison to other comparable formats of Cuban brands. Sorry for that.