Well here it is my first review on my shiny, new blog, Yay!
As this is kind of a momentous event, well it is for me anyway, I have decided to do something a little different.
I am not reviewing one cigar, or two or even three. No, for this inaugural review I am actually reviewing a mighty five cigars!
There is however a catch, all five sticks in question are 2008 Romeo Y Julieta Romeo No.1
Now don’t be too hasty to decry me as a mad man and stop reading. There is a method to my madness…
Allow me to explain.
For nearly eight years now I have been living in a rural area of West Cork in Ireland. Whilst this is a very picturesque and quaint spot with much to recommend it, there are certain downsides.
Rush Hour
The inability to purchase a decent cigar without a Herculean amount of effort is one of these.
Unless you are happy to grab a packet of overpriced floor sweepings from your local newsagent then your options are sorely limited.
The nearest dedicated cigar/tobacco merchant is located in Dublin, a mere 600 KM round trip.
If you don’t fancy a 6 hour road trip there is always my option of choice, the internet. I order all of my smokes direct from a number of LCDH retailers throughout Europe and have always been very happy with the quality and speed of service I receive.
But what if you are for some reason stuck without a single smoke to call your own and just physically can’t wait the two or three days it will take for a package to wing it’s way to your door?
Well in that case you have one final option left to you. Poorly kept, over priced tubos from the off license.
My I can feel my taste buds zinging at the very thought of a 15 euro Monte Tubo that has been kept on a shelf for goodness knows how long, mmm!
I have long heard some of my more snobbish cigar smoking friends complain about the retail of these tubos. Claims that they are of poor quality and construction and that due to their incorrect storage, often for long periods of time, that they are effectively unsmokable are commonplace.
Being the adventurous soul that I am I decided to carry out a little experiment. I wanted to risk life, limb and sense of taste in order to find out just how good or bad these off license cigars really are.
A quick tour of establishments in the local town soon provided me with a rather small selection to choose from:
3 x Monte Tubo complete with dented tubes and 1 missing end cap – €16
2 x Romeo Y Julieta No 2. – The shopkeeper wanted a mighty €18 each for these!?!
5 x Romeo Y Julieta No.1 – no dents or missing caps and a relatively reasonable €11.90
In light of the many contributing factors it had to be the good old Romeo No.1. With a look of shocked glee on his face the shopkeeper proceeded to sell all five sticks to me and even threw in a 99 cent Bic lighter and the dress box they were “humidified” in, oh the generosity!
On arrival home I couldn’t wait to have a closer look at my new purchases,
Assuming all 5 sticks were from the same box they dated from Feb 08, at the time of my purchase this would have made the sticks a mere 6 months old.
The individual cigars were all packaged in the now “old style” silver and red tubes with the little cedar lining.
I was a little surprised to see that the cigars were actually a little soft,spongy and over humidified as opposed to overly dry as I had expected them to be.
Seeing as I had five examples to hand I decided the best thing to do under the circumstances would be to smoke one straight away, throw the other four into my humidor and then have one a year for the next four years.
1st cigar, no ageing:
Spongy and over humidified.
This cigar had a tight draw and had to be re-lit numerous times, definitely would have benefited from a few days of dry boxing but that is outside the scope of my experiment.
The main flavour that was in evidence throughout the entirety of the cigar was an unpleasant woodiness. Under this was a slight note of herbs and a damp aroma.
Due to the draw being so tight and the numerous relights which were needed the smoke was quite harsh and there was more than a hint of a burnt taste in evidence.
I left the final 3rd unsmoked.
Very poor indeed
2nd cigar,aged 1 year:
After the poor results with the first cigar I was not expecting much from this even after a year in the humidor and I can safely say I wasn’t surprised.
Due to being stored at the correct humidity the cigar was no longer as soft and spongy to touch and did not have as many issues regarding lighting and draw. This said it was still a little on the tight side and unfortunately did not burn evenly.
I had to touch up with the lighter several times during the 1st third to try and keep a semblance of an even burn.
The damp aroma has diminished but is still present and I can now make out a slight smell of wood and spice which is not unpleasant.
The woody taste is still very strong and the tobacco still tastes a bit green. There is a slight touch of leather present in the background but only just.
Tastes are very muted, way beyond subtle.
I wouldn’t choose to smoke this but it is a huge improvement over the first stick.
3rd cigar, aged for 2 years:
Less of a noticeable difference this year than there was last.
The burn issues are still present and if anything are more pronounced on this stick. Not sure if the tubos just have worse standards in general or if I lucked out and got a bad batch.
Burn was so poor I abandoned this stick with a good bit of smoking still to go.
On a plus point that damp smell is pretty much gone!
4th cigar, aged for 3 years:
Finally got a stick which managed to burn properly without dozens of touch ups.
Lit well off just 2 matches and kept going for just over an hour without having to relight.
As with the previous year that damp smell is gone and there is now spice, leather and a slight earthiness present. The woody note is still present but is more mellow than in prior years. Flavours are still mild bordering on bland.
5th cigar, aged for 5 years
Due to an oversight last year I ended up not smoking the 5th cigar of my test batch until yesterday evening.
As you have probably gathered by now I haven’t been a massive fan of these No.1 tubos. For the most part the construction has been poor, the burn uneven and the flavours have been a let down even by the uninspiring standards of most Romeo Y Julieta.
I would really love to say that this 5th stick proved me wrong and completely changed my mind. Except it didn’t.
As with stick number 4 the burn was fine, draw was a little on the tight side but nothing really worth complaining about.
Flavours are muted and flat. The leather, wood and herbs have been joined by what might possibly be soil but to be honest I am having to be inventive at this point.
If I try to cut to the chase I think this is actually my biggest issue with this particular cigar. After 5 years of ageing there is nothing offensive about it. But there is also nothing enjoyable, it is just very, very forgettable and bland.
Tales from the humidor 