Romeo y Julieta Exhibicion No. 4 OER MAR 20 (RyJRW)

[saltbox]

Smoked this one while my wife tried a Rafael Gonzalez Perla LGB MAR 20. It's been a while since I had one of these. Outside of the Churchill, I've been less than impressed by the marca but have been dipping in over time to see how they evolve as they age.

First third: opens with a nice cream, cloves, and other Turkish spices. There's a strong undercurrent of rich tobacco, which I seem to only really get from Romeo y Julieta.

Middle third: the tobacco, which previously was a bit more subtle, becomes much more prominent on the palate. The spices take on a more floral characteristic, the oft-cited rose water note.

Last third: more of the same creamy rich tobacco and spices, but with a hint of cherry/red berry fruitiness underneath.

Overall: of all the marcas, Romeo y Julieta is the one that really makes me wonder how much my perceived tasting notes are influenced by reviews and comments from others. They definitely are, but I wonder where it is on the spectrum from [helping put into words the often hard to describe flavors] to [pure placebo effect tricking me into finding what I expect to find]. After typing this up, I've decided to try a somewhat blind tasting to see if I can actually identify what's what. I participated in the last blind tasting challenge and did horribly, but also felt like I might've been able to do better if the cigars had more time to rest. 87/100