Romeo y Julieta Petit Churchill (RyJRW)

[ayedfy]

Romeo y Julieta Petit Churchill. Petit robusto 50x4”. Year unknown, acquired 2018 in a pack of three tubos.

Opening third: initial burst of sour/tart fruits. Lime zest, dried apricot, slightly overripe kiwi fruit. Medium-full body, construction is faultless - perfect draw, even burn.

Middle third: beginning to get some of that cherry character people always talk about, although the dominant flavour is still apricot for me. Pleasant creaminess developing; vanilla malt. Wood varnish and a gentle leatheriness. Still holding above medium bodied.

Final third: drop in body, quite light now. Still creamy at first but losing much of the sweetness that was laid on thick until now. Really quite muted, cream drops out and it finished dry and woody, not really giving me much else to write about.

Alongside Trinidad, RyJ has been one of my least favourite marcas. I’ve never really had one that I enjoyed, and I only had this in the humidor because it came as a freebie when I bought a box of Upmanns once. This was the best I’ve had from them, and I’m feeling a little more warmly about RyJ now.In the first two thirds, this was a low-90s cigar for me. Loved the flavour, body, smoked a dream. Unfortunate how suddenly it dropped off a cliff as it wound down. Still a good cigar, not as great as it began.

87/100