Romeo y Julieta Hermosos No. 2 EL (JUL04)

[shrink]

I last sampled this cigar early this year, and at that time found it to have somewhat muted flavors, with a harsh and bitter second half. Just not ready for prime time. My, how a little time can change things!

I have always thought this to be a beautiful cigar. I actually like the Hermosos vitola more than a Robusto, and the extra length is just icing on the cake. The dark wrapper makes for a dramatic presentation, but past examples of the "fire-proof wrapper" have made me skeptical of its burn qualities.

In this case, the big Romeo drew and burned wonderfully well, filling my mouth (and the entire porch) with an exceptionally dense, sweet and aromatic smoke. Frankly, this has ripened into one of the most flavorful cigars in my current collection. And with some age, it has developed more of the characteristic "fruit and spice" profile that I associate with RyJ. It has a lingering, strong bittersweet finish.

In fact, this cigar was so good that it invited comparison with the RyJ 2001 Robusto EL. The Hermosos was every bit as flavorful, but with somewhat less spice and "kick" than its famous predecessor. Still, it has matured into a real contender, and joins my list of favorite EL's, including the PSD3 and the Hoyo Piramide.

So, if you have some of these beauties resting somewhere in your stash, you might want to take one out and give it a go. I hope that you are as pleased as I was. It's gonna be hard to keep my mitts off of 'em now.

[Mel]

Thanks a lot Shrink! I've had some resting away and almost forgot about them until you wrote this nice piece. I might dig one out for the holiday weekend. I like the Herm. #1 from the 03 yr also.:-P

[Ginseng]

Thanks for the excellent account. I'm going to have to seriously consider adding this to the cart.

Wilkey

[El Presidente]

Great review.

Either sweet and succulent or boring and non descript. Thankfully tending more towards the former as time casts its spell.

[Colt45]

Sounds outstanding! Are there any regular productiion RyJ that this might compare to?

[habanohal]

» Sounds outstanding! Are there any regular productiion RyJ that this might

» compare to?

For me it is the RYJ CAzadore

[shrink]

» » Sounds outstanding! Are there any regular productiion RyJ that this

» might

» » compare to?

» For me it is the RYJ CAzadore

Before I ready this, I would have replied NO, the EL's are really unlike the production RyJ's. But this is an interesting observation. I have smoked a few Cazadores, and there is a flavor similarity, although the Cazadore is a "rougher cut".

[Guest km13]

Thanks for the review. That's a strong statement comparing to the PSD3. I'll have to pull one of these out now.

[Bartolomeo]

RyJ Hermosos #2 EL 2004

Feels very light in the hand

Dry, Maduro wrapper, coarse feeling

Pre draw was kind of airy

Initial is spicy leather with hint of cocoa

Tiny bit underfilled

Mild Chocolate, Cardboard, leather, some black pepper

Muted flavors in 1/3, like smoking air with a hint of tobacco, blah

Most beautiful White ash I have had in while

Picks up the pace in the 2/3 as far as flavors, think Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats for about 5-8 mins then back to blah

Finish was more of the same, boring and non-descript……..swore it had the potential to be a NC

8.3/10

Bart

[aavkk]

Sorry you got a dud Bart, my box is just phenomenal and couldn't be consistently farther from your experience.

[Mr Peales]

RyJ Hermosos #2 EL 2004

Feels very light in the hand

Dry, Maduro wrapper, coarse feeling

Pre draw was kind of airy

Initial is spicy leather with hint of cocoa

Tiny bit underfilled

Mild Chocolate, Cardboard, leather, some black pepper

Muted flavors in 1/3, like smoking air with a hint of tobacco, blah

Most beautiful White ash I have had in while

Picks up the pace in the 2/3 as far as flavors, think Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats for about 5-8 mins then back to blah

Finish was more of the same, boring and non-descript……..swore it had the potential to be a NC

8.3/10

I haven't had one of these in a couple of years. The plan was to smoke one last Thursday night at a weekly herf. When I got there a friend of mine gave me a Lusitania which I smoked. I ended up giving the Hermosos EL to him. As he smoked it I could clearly see he was trying to like the cigar, key word here... trying. So I light one up the following Sunday... dear God. My friend gave me a brilliant Lusitania and I gave him what might be one of the worst cigars in my collection. It was exactly as Bart described above. I would rate it as a 73/100.

The Luci was a January 08 I believe, lasted for 2 hours and 45 minutes, and would rate around 93/100.

[thechenman]

I have one of these that has been sitting in my humi for going on a year soon. I think I will still give it a try. At the time I purchased it, I heard a few favorable reviews. I worry though...as I've ntoice Bart and I have fairly similar tastes in cigars.

[roughrider]

Thanks for the review.