Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real (Revisited)

Purchased: 5-Pack Toro (6 X 54)
Store: Cigars International
Price: Normally $46.99, but got them for $25.00 as part of a 5 X 5-pack special.
Buy again? Absolutely!

In my original post of this cigar, I said that I love me a good DR cigar. That hasn’t changed, but perhaps it’s not so much about the origin and more about the Connecticut wrapper. So I need to amend my original statement: I love me a good, full-flavored mild cigar.

From that perspective, not all Connecticut-wrapped cigars qualify as mild. For instance, the Camacho Connecticut while certainly tasty, is listed as a mild/medium smoke. But to me, it’s way more on the medium side of that, especially in the last third.

On the other hand, cigars such as the Montecristo White Label, the Macanudo Inspirado White, and the Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real are solidly mild smokes. But I believe what sets them apart is the amount of smoke they produce per draw – it’s a copious amount – yet they still manage to stay mild in flavor throughout the smoke.

Many boutique cigar smokers probably wouldn’t like these because they’d be considered too mild for their palates, plus they’re production cigars. But production batch size aside, many boutique brands tend to be robust in flavor. And don’t get me wrong, in the forums, they never say mild cigars are bad, they’re just not appealing to their sense of taste.

As for the RyJ Reserva Real I’m smoking as I write this, it has had a couple of months to lay down in my humidor. I probably should’ve laid down all of my original 5-pack for this long because it is a completely different smoke than the three others I’ve had.

The classic Connecticut spice was predominant in my other sticks. But with time in the humidor, that has mellowed – a lot! So too has the cedar component to a small degree. The toast only lasted for the first inch or so and interestingly enough, a slight European black licorice on the finish has presented itself in the second half of smoke. The baking spice is still present, but it’s more of a background element that also lingers on the tongue through the finish. But’s not hot. It’s just there.

What stick! A great thing is that lots of sites are dumping them right now. JR had a 20-pack for a great price. And CI is dumping the Churchills (which is a vitola they often dump of many brands). I’m probably going to pick up a box of 20-25 coronas. They’ll be sticks I’ll smoke often enough to warrant getting that many.