Romeo y Julieta Churchills

[Adric]

A friend and I decided that for our weekly get together we'd try the R & J Churchills as we'd both never had them and decided to see what the fuss was about.

To start with, right after cutting the cap on my own, I noticed that the cut off shreds of tabacco were rather moist, and a little oily, much more than any cigar I'd had before. Second thing I noticed was the cut end looked tight, quite tightly packed indeed, the foot of the cigar didn't show this and I was curious, so I tried a pre-light draw, and as I suspected TIGHT.

Undeterred we lit our churchills, which took a little while as the draw was difficult. Immediately we noticed how mild it seemed, milder than anything I'd personally had before, and there was a definite sweetness to the flavour. The aroma of the smoke was also different to what I was used to, it was quite aromatic, I understood the "floral" notes that I've often read in cigar reviews. We were suitably impressed and were enjoying this new cigar adventure.

As the cigar continued I tasted coffee and cocoa, more clearly than I had with other cigars before, and this was very pleasing.

About halfway through the cigar though, my friend and I had become really tired of the extreme tightness of these cigars, from a squeeze test from top to bottom, we guessed that the plugging or just plain tight binding was right at the bottom of the cigar, so we weren't going to suddenly smoke through the plug. This called for drastic measures...

I'm sure many on the board will gasp and slap their foreheads in amazement, but my friend brought back a metal skewer (I had read about doing this in a post or book somewhere) and we pushed it up the middle of the cigar and out through the ash, hoping to make SOME kind of passage to draw through.

Luckily this worked rather well and the draw was improved, the cigar after a while would close back up but not too badly and we could clear it again if needed.

Eventually with about 2 inches left on the cigar it kept going out and I didn't have the patience to re-light it (for about the 3rd or 4th time).

I was quite disappointed in this cigar, but for only one reason: the construction. I really enjoyed the flavour of it, it was by far the most complex and flavoursome cigar I have ever had, and I would rate it through the roof if not for this unfortunate experience.

The churchills we had came in aluminium tubes, and I'm not sure of the age, but my one had some bloom on it, and they both came from the same box, they seemed a little overly moist and tight, and I'm not sure exactly what can improve that, or if they were doomed from the moment they came from the rollers.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with the R & J Churchill? Or were we unlucky enough to get a troublesome couple?

Oh, for score's sake, I'd say it was around a 65, would have been more if not for how much we had to fight to actually smoke them!

[Colt45]

Thanks for the review. I've not had this problem with the RyJ specifically, but have

with a number of other large format cigars.

I think we've all had to resort to the skewer at least once! I've gone so far as to

use a power drill with a fine bit, though once it reaches this point, it's usually a lost

cause, aside from being bad form:-D

Also, when using a boring device, we're really trying to just break up the knot/plug,

not create a channel through the cigar - this can lead to other problems.

Don't despair - give it another shot!

[Bubba -NJ]

I had one from 1998 en tubos . Definitely not plugged . Good cigar , however the one I had was quite strong on the full flavored side and packed a hell of a nicotine buzz in it . I currently have one from 2002 sitting in the humi waiting for a fiery death . I haven't made a final opinion on these yet , will smoke a few to see if they are for me or not .

[anacostiakat]

My '99s are magnificent! The younger ones I have had only confirm that they need age to blossom.

As for construction. I havent had any problems what so ever. At least so far... ;-)

[Deano]

Sorry to hear about your experience.

The R&J was the first Churchill I tried and remains my go to pick in this size. I've only had one box with some construction problems, and I've worked through a "few" boxes.:-D

Tubos are definitely preferrred in this model!

[avid toker]

» Sorry to hear about your experience.

»

» The R&J was the first Churchill I tried and remains my go to pick in this

» size. I've only had one box with some construction problems, and I've

» worked through a "few" boxes.:-D

»

» Tubos are definitely preferrred in this model!

Tubos are preferred only for their storage advantages. You never mentioned the year fo the vitola and the fact that you had an oily cigar, the wrapper was moist and that both cigars exhibited this behavior leads me to believe that these were relatively young and that contributed to the tightness. I don't think this was an issure regarding a plug. Remember this pointer, barring a plug, age will always loosen up a cigar. Check back on these in another 6-12 months and you might find a much different cigar ;-)

[bassman]

I've been smoking a fabulous box from July 04. Wonderful flavor, no draw problems & IMHO, superior to any 98 I've had.

[avid toker]

» I've been smoking a fabulous box from July 04. Wonderful flavor, no draw

» problems & IMHO, superior to any 98 I've had.

My '98's are smoking excellent but certainly not as good as the '86's en tubos. Simply divine.

[El Presidente]

We go through a lot of R&J Churchills, I can't recount how many boxes I have opened and checked over the years. It was a crapshoot between 99-2002 in terms of quality of construction. I would suggest you had close to a 20% chance of a plugged cigar. Much better since 2003 and almost flawless in 2005/2006.

I haven't witnessed a construction variation between tubes and non tubes.

I have had some great R&J Churchills crossing all years. The secret from my experience is selecting that classic red hue wrapper that R&J Churchills are famous for. Gorgeous

[Deano]

»

» Tubos are preferred only for their storage advantages.

Defintely disagree with you on this. The best multiple examples of this Churchill for me have always been en tubo. The tubo format also is better for long-term aging. In the end though it always boils down to personal preference.

[PorscheC4S]

» I've gone so far as to use a power drill with a fine bit, though once it reaches this point, it's usually a lost cause, aside from being bad form:-D

»

That's funny, I've wanted to try that for a long time:clap: When little to no smoke is coming out of the head, form must make way for function;-)

[mongboy]

Had my 1st RyJ Churchill a couple of weeks ago on holiday and it was fantastic.

I bought it as a single so I don't know when it was made, however it had been sitting in my humidor for a year and a half.

The draw was pretty much spot on. It started off spicy and peppery, then developed a sweet, ripe fruit flavour. From there it mellowed in to what I can best describe as 'cookies and cream', mmmm, yum.

All up, a very satisfying way to spend 1 3/4 hours.

[avid toker]

» »

» » Tubos are preferred only for their storage advantages.

»

»

» The tubo format also is better

» for long-term aging.

That's what I meant by storage advantages. There's no evidence that the blends are any different between the tubos and au natural versions. I cannot tell a noticeable difference between smoking the two unless either has been stored incorrectly. Kudos to you if you can tell the difference!

[Deano]

» » »

» » » Tubos are preferred only for their storage advantages.

» »

» »

» » The tubo format also is better

» » for long-term aging.

»

» That's what I meant by storage advantages.

Ahh, now I get it! I agree completely that the blend is the same. The maturation of the cigar is controlled much better in the singular environment of a cedar-lined tubo rather than a DB. To me, that's why the really memorable ones have always been en tubo!