My 2009 Habanos Cigar of the Year Award

[jacksfull]

I nominate the Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill for My 2009 Habanos Cigar of the Year Award.

I only recently tried one of these for the first time and have found myself consistently rewarded, going back to the well again and again.

I'm particularly fond of these in tubos packaging. In fact, it's the tubos version that prompted me to buy them in the first place.

I needed to have cigars to use as gifts that were easily portable and yet impressive enough for special clients. I gave my brother a 3-pack for his birthday, and find singles perfect for a token business gift. For gifting, it's really nice to have the option of singles or 3-packs according to the situation.

The thing is, once I smoked one I was hooked. I initially bought a 15 cigar box (5 x 3) for gifting, but had to order a second box because they are so darn good that the first batch was going to be gone before I ever got the chance to hand any out.

This is a lovely cigar, smooth and flavorsome. The size is just perfect for current tastes, particularly here in the USA. Most of the guys I know appreciate larger ring sizes. Perhaps this is a result of mostly smoking NC's wherein thinner cigars often fall short of expectations (though personally I prefer PC's as an everyday sort of smoke, and do not find the same shortcomings in smaller gauge CC's).

Nevertheless, the RyJ SC completely lives up to nearly everyone's standard in size and refinement. I've yet to gift one of these without hearing a sincere "WOW". Frankly, I've yet to smoke one without uttering the same myself.

[ipfoley]

I've been curious to try on of these smokes. Thanks for the opinion!

[samb]

The RyJ Short Churchill is a fine fine smoke!

[badaboom]

I also bought a bunch of these 3 packs, for the same initial reasons. Love 'em, fruity and rich and very tactile.

I recently cracked a tube open, and found some mold on the cigar (not bloom). I opened the others I had, and about 60% of them were similarly afflicted. I wiped them down, and put them in quarantine. A buddy and I are now smoking thru them quickly. Good thing they're so tasty.

Disclaimer, before anyone freaks: I am not suggesting that our favorite pusher sold moldy cigars. They were fine when they arrived about a year ago. I stored them in a wine cooler at a consistent ~65/65 with another couple dozen misc boxes, which are all fine. In my experience, this condition is not unusual in cigars stored in closed tubes and/or cedar strips. This has happened to me enough in the past that I usually store tubed cigars without caps and remove the cedar strips, but did not intend to have these long enough for it to be a problem. My loss. My buddy's gain.

[android]

I also bought a bunch of these 3 packs, for the same initial reasons. Love 'em, fruity and rich and very tactile.

I recently cracked a tube open, and found some mold on the cigar (not bloom). I opened the others I had, and about 60% of them were similarly afflicted. I wiped them down, and put them in quarantine. A buddy and I are now smoking thru them quickly. Good thing they're so tasty.

Wipe and keep on trucking