Smoked: Romeo y Julieta 1875 Nicaragua Toro

Smoked at: West Chester, Ohio

Romeo y Julieta 1875 Nicaragua Toro features a slightly oily Habano wrapper with some visible veins. It’s medium strength and mild-medium bodied.

Flavors: cedar, cream, hay, leather, herbal, honey/graham crackers, spice/pepper. It starts out smooth and mild. The flavors are pleasant, although there is no transition to additional notes. The retrohale is peppery, earthy and has a touch of citrus.

At first. the draw was fine and the burn line fairly even – for a while. Around the beginning of the second third the burn went askew and wrapper issues ensued. I haven’t smoked many Romeos, but it does seem to happen too often when I do. I couldn’t do a touchup without probably destroying the cigar. Somehow it evened out on its own and by the final third that issue was resolved. The smoke output was decent. Credit where credit is due – the draw was good. Maybe a bit loose for my liking, but not enough to dock it points for that part of the construction.

It was an enjoyable smoke – except for the second third, although it never gained any complexity. The flavors were too minimal for me – mostly wood, pepper and just a dash of sweetness. I’m not knocking the cigar. It was better than average. Not much more than that.