Blind Cigar Review: Romeo | San Andrés by Romeo y Julieta Toro

Cigar Info

The original Romeo by Romeo y Julieta debuted in 2012 and was posed as a stronger blend to the regular Romeo y Julieta line. Since then, there have been three line extensions: the Romeo By Romeo Y Julieta Aging Room, the Romeo Anejo By Romeo y Julieta, and the Romeo 505 Nicaragua. The fourth extension is the Romeo | San Andrés by Romeo y Julieta and is what we are reviewing today.

This is also the fifth collaboration with AJ Fernandez and Altadis USA. The previous collaborations were Gispert Intenso, Monte by Montecristo AJ Fernandez, Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez, and the H. Upmann by AJ Fernandez.

This cigar is blended by Rafael Nodal of Aging Room and recently Altadis USA and AJ Fernández. It is rolled at AJ Fernandez’ factory in Nicaragua. The wrapper is a Mexican San Andrés, binder from Nicaragua, and filler from Nicaragua and Dominican Republic.

Romeo y Julieta San Andrés comes in four sizes, Robusto (5 x 50) — $9.35, Toro (6 x 54) — $9.55, Pirámides (6 1/8 by 52) — $9.70 and Short Magnum (5 1/2 by 60) — $9.85.

All come in boxes of 20.

Vital Stats:

Vitola: Toro
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 50
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaraguan
Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez
Blender: Rafael Nodal and AJ Fernandez
Number of reviewers: 4 – Ryan H. (Ryan H.) John A. (Bostoneo) John I. (John I.) Mickey T. (irratebass)
Price: $9.55
Age: 3 Months
Release Date: March 2018
Contributed by: Altadis USA

Initial Impressions

Appearance: 94

“A very dark cigar, almost black in color, no real visible seams or veins to point out. This cigar is packed to the gills. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)

Aroma: 93

“Very potient aroma emmited from the wrapper floral or perfumy from the foot is aged tobacco.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)

First Third

Flavor: 88
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium

“A very nice sweet salty spicy profile, brown sugar white pepper, its hard to pin point the salty taste of the profile reminds me of vinegar but it is weak and midpalate not overpowering at all it actually complements the profile quite nicely. The spice is kicked up lopsidedly so but is still manageable. What a wonderful cigar. Quite complex with added sweetness, the sweetness slowly transitions from brown sugar to hiney to dried fruit keeping things very interesting.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)

“On the first initial puffs, bold beefy flavors of leather, char, and pepper start things off. The black pepper notes intensify to almost level 11 a half inch in while stark white ash forms. The profile remains consistent through the end of this third as I notice wrapper cracking issues upstream. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)

Second Third

Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full

“Going into the second third, very heavy leather, dark chocolate, and earthy saltiness provides a very full bodied experience. Eventually this profile tones down a notch to allow a black coffee and malt finish take over.” –John A. (Bostoneo)

“OK, so if you like your maduros with an extra lump of sugar, this cigar is for you. Toward the mid point the flavor is becoming brighter, but there’s still not a ton going on beyond a nice sugary sweetness. Have I mentioned that it’s kind of sweet? It’s pretty sweet. ” –John I. (John I.)

Final Third

Flavor: 90
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium

“Strong roasted coffee beans and rich black pepper take over. The strength on this portion increases immensely ands takes me for a nicotine roller coaster. The boldness continues to build and build until no decipherable flavors are present except for dark char until the very end. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)

“The earthyness becomes more and more until you are straight chewing on a mud pie. Strength does increase in the last third as well” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)

Overall Impressions

Draw: 94

“No issues with the draw, there was plenty of smoke with each puff. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)

Burn: 95

“Required no touch ups” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)

Construction: 93

“Very nice construction on this cigar. Burn was pretty decent, there were only a couple times it started to get wonky, but the cigar corrected itself. each third I had about a 1/4 of an inch of ash. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)

Overall Strength: Medium-Strong
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium
Experience Overall: 89

“The profile on this cigar was amazing very box worthy. Aside from the few negitives that really dont matter from a scoring stand point. You should buy a box and find out for yourself.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)

“This was a monster of a cigar. I typically smoke a lot of cigars everyday, and this one made me a bit ill on the amount of strength it hit me with. The solid dark and full bodied flavors were quite tasty, but at the cost of feeling a bit woosy, even after a fair sized meal. Like full bodied and strong cigars? This one is definitely for you my friends!” –John A. (Bostoneo)

“The final third of this saved it for me from being a decent, but pretty one dimensional, experience. The initial two thirds with the overwhelmingly dominant sweetness were fine, but essentially unexceptional. The transition to the last portion of this cigar with it’s roasted notes of earth and deep rich coffee saved the day, and made this worth revisiting. ” –John I. (John I.)

“The cigar started out kind of rough, but flavors of cinnamon, black pepper, baking spice and some type of potpourri element developed. As the cigar progressed more flavors popped up such as chocolate, cream and eventually some wood. This cigar never ramped up in in strength, it stayed medium. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)