Romeo y Julieta Petit Churchill
I never thought of myself as a cigar smoker, until recently. In early December, my friend Jesse and I took a trip to Havana. Now, I’m into cigars. It was really nice sitting back and essentially forcing myself to relax for anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half. Aside from setting the time aside, the breathing pattern and nicotine helps.
My plan was to smoke a variety of cigars, and then choose my favorite and bring back a box of those. While I wish I brought other boxes back as well, I decided on the Romeo y Julieta Petit Churchill. Let me tell you why. There are several reasons. The flavor, the strength, the time and the price.
The flavor is great. It’s not overpowering, but has flavors of wood and vanilla. I find that it gets stronger as you smoke it. I don’t know if that’s because my tastebuds are more dilated, there’s more accumulation in my mouth or the flavor has changed as i’m smoking tobacco that’s been filtering smoke for half an hour. Probably a combination. It’s a nice diameter, so you get a nice, full draw.
Tolerance is probably hard to compare, but I didn’t think it was too strong. I could feel a nice buzz, but at no point have I ever been like “Oh my God, I’m going to be sick” or anything close to that.
I’ve timed my smoking a few times. It ranges from 45 minutes to an hour. More than I would have thought for a cigar this size. It’s 4” long.
One of the big reasons I went for this one, because I did smoke plenty of cigars I enjoyed, was the price. A box of 25 was $97 and change. I also liked Cohiba Silgo II, but those were closer to $350 for a box of 25. I wasn’t ready to drop that much on my first box. I couldn’t even be sure I was going to continue the habit. I have. And I wish I got a box of those too.
From what I gather, drink pairing with cigars is an art of its own. I found my favorite pairings with this are either a Cuba Libre with Havana Club 3 year and Tukola, or bottom shelf Four Roses Bourbon. It’s non GMO.
Anyway, as a new, entry level, novice, noob cigar smoker, I highly recommend the Romeo y Julieta Petit Churchill. But I hear it’s got to be from Havana. From what I’m told, the non Cuban RyJs aren’t nearly the same.