(Description taken from Cigar-Coop.com website)
Altadis U.S.A. has announced they are officially launching the latest installment of the Romeo by Romeo y Julieta line. As the name indicates, the new Romeo San Andrés by Romeo y Julieta will introduce a San Andrés wrapper. It’s also a collaboration of two partners who have been playing a key role at Altadis U.S.A. – Rafael Nodal and AJ Fernandez.
For Nodal, this is the second major project he has been involved with since joining Altadis U.S.A. as part of a strategic alliance between his company, Boutique Blends, and Altadis U.S.A. Late last year, Nodal was involved with launching the Trinidad Santiago. For Fernandez, this is the latest in a long line of projects for which he has been involved with Altadis. This includes such brands such as Montecristo, H. Upmann, Gispert, and Romeo y Julieta. Nodal and Fernandez are no strangers to each other – the duo collaborated on the Aging Room Pelo de Oro back in 2016.
In addition to the San Andrés wrapper, the Romeo San Andrés features a Nicaraguan binder and a combination of Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. It is available in four sizes – each packaged in 20-count boxes. Pricing ranges from $9.35 to $9.85.
Production is being handled at AJ Fernandez’s Tabacalera Fernandez factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. It also continues a trend of Altadis working with many third-party factories. In the case of the Romeo brand, it’s the third different factory Altadis has worked with, joining Tabacalera Palma (Romeo by Romeo y Julieta Aging Room Small Batch F55) and Plasencia S.A. (Romeo 505 Nicaragua by Romeo y Julieta).
Blend Profile
Wrapper: San Andrés Mexican Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (Tabacalera Fernandez)
Vitolas Available
Robusto: 5 x 50
Pirámides: 6 1/8 x 52
Toro: 6 x 54 REVIEWED TODAY
Magnum: 5 1/2 x 60
The Romeo San Andres is almost jet black. You can see how close to black it is by comparing the wrapper to the back in the band. The cigar is also very well made. It is almost completely smooth. It definitely looks like a large stick of dark chocolate. It also has a very dense feel in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the cap was very good. The initial flavors were a dry cedar, brown sugar, a buttery cream, sweet dark chocolate, and espresso. I rated the initial black pepper at an 8 1/2 and when you retro hale you'd say it was a 10! It is amazing. The sweet notes and dark notes in this cigar are great...at this point. We'll have to see if they hold up.
At 2 inches, or the first third (28 minutes) the flavors changed a bit, but not for the worse. Now they are a fairly dry cedar, brown sugar, caramel, nutmeg, heavy sweet dark chocolate and heavy espresso. In yesterday's cigar we had nutmeg that detracted from the cigar. Today we have an example of nutmeg that enhances a cigar. The cigar is medium to full bodied at this point. The finish is an unsweetened dark chocolate and some nice lingering black pepper. For a heavily dark noted cigar you have plenty of sweetness. This is a very enjoyable cigar. For the first third I rated the cigar a 93.
About 4 inches in (1 hour 10 minutes) the cigar has not missed a beat. At this point you have a dry cedar, caramel, nutmeg, and some brown sugar sprinkled in there. You also have a large amount of sweet dark chocolate and espresso. The sweet notes account for about 40% of the flavors. The other 60% are the dark chocolate and espresso notes. The Romeo San Andres is definitely heavily dark noted but it has plenty of sweetness to counteract the dark notes. The dark chocolate is amazing. You can't miss it. The pepper remains very good. The cigar is very close to full bodied now. The finish is unchanged. The second third maintains a score of 93.
The Romeo San Andres lasted 1 hour 37 minutes. In the final third the cedar notes slightly decreased. The caramel notes slightly increased. You still had the nutmeg notes. The sweet dark chocolate and espresso notes were there in abundance. The cigar reached full bodied. The finish was unchanged with an unsweetened dark chocolate with a nice amount of lingering black pepper. This was a very good dark noted cigar. AJ and Rafael did a fantastic job on this cigar and Altadis has a definite winner. Look for these anywhere that carries Altadis cigars. I was very impressed with this cigar. The final third score maintained an impressive score of 93. You can try these fantastic cigars by shopping HERE.
Overall score: 93
No comments:
Post a Comment