Romeo y Julieta Belicoso MSA DIC 17 (FRCSW4)

[saltbox]

Got this in a trade, have been looking forward to trying out some RyJ with more age than the rest of my stock to compare. It's not a lot of age, but aside from a SUE JUN 15 box of Wide Churchills everything else is 19 or later.

My wife has been curious about cigars, so I've been helping her sample a little bit of everything. She was working on a TEO JUN 19 Petit Royal while I smoked this. So far, her preferences have been Partagas Short > RyJ Petit Royal > Montecristo No. 5.

First third: opens with cream, nuttiness, spices, nutmeg, and cherry. The Mediterranean spices and spiced cherries come through quite heavily.

Middle third: nuttiness takes on a strong almond character with heavy sweet and savory spices. There's a rich, dark tobacco spine to the flavor profile now. It's a much darker profile than the Churchills, which are my favorite of the RyJ lineup so far.

Last third: more of the same but richer. The rich tobacco notes form the foundation of the profile with sweet savory spices and crushed almonds sprinkled over top.

Overall: not bad, a more tobacco-forward version of the Romeo y Julieta flavors I've experienced so far. 88/100