Announced in late 2020 and brought to market early in 2021, the Romeo y Julieta Eternal celebrates 145 years of the brandmark. The cigar is a collaboration between the Plasencias and Rafael Nodal, head of product capability at Tabacalera USA. This limited edition Nicaraguan puro incorporates tobacco leaf from the Plasencia farms in all the major growing regions of Nicaragua: Jalapa, Condega, Estelí and Ometepe.
Being a Nicaraguan puro the blend is simply described asL
- Wrapper – Nicaraguan
- Binder – Nicaraguan
- Filler – Nicaraguan
The Romeo y Julieta Eternal is expressed in a single (6 x 54) toro and comes packaged in 11-count boxes with an MSRP of $15.00/cigar. What may be of interest is that there is a one cigar on each box that has a thin golden band on it. Rafael Nodal noted:
“In a romantic nod to the popular Shakespeare play the brand is named after, one cigar in each 11-count box—the 11th—will come with a golden band.
Eternal’s golden ring symbolizes the strong bond between aficionados and Romeo y Julieta and the everlasting love of the iconic star-crossed lovers. It is a love that has proven to be eternal.”
Pre-Light Examination
The beautifully constructed Romeo y Julieta Eternal sports a dark, reddish brown, wrapper that has a light marbling throughout. There are minimal veins noticeable on the wrapper. The cigar is solid to the touch with no discernable soft spots and it is nicely capped.
I am not sure if Rafael was being nice to me at the 2021 TPE, but he gave me a sample of the golden banded one to review on Stogie Press. In addition to the special golden band there are two other bands that adorn the cigar. The primary band uses a bold black, red, and gold motif and displays the Romeo y Julieta brand mark in the center on top and the name “ETERNAL” printed in bright red on a black background below. There is also a bright red footer band.
Running the cigar along the nose, I detected mild spice and floral notes along the barrel while the foot presented notes of sweet raisin bread.
Using my double blade cutter, I sliced the cap straight across the shoulder and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs that I found to be decent in restriction and offered notes of mild pepper and fruit.
With the pre-light much to my liking, I warmed the foot with my double flame torch, bringing it to an even orange glow and drew in the first puffs of pepper and fruity smoke. Follow along as I burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Dry Fruit notes start the journey
- Mild pepper is detected on the retrohale
- Fine volume of thick chewy smoke fills the palate
- Light grey ash forms on top of a medium thick char line
- A pleasant nut fills in the early profile
- A touch of honey brightens the mix
- Mild off burn appeared near the end of the first third
- Ash fell after the first third, revealing a flat but centered burn cone
- Spice notes start to develop in the second third joined with a natural tobacco sweetness
- Dark chocolate enter near the end of the second third
- Spiciness maintains into the final with an added raisin note to finish
- Medium to Full in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 35 minutes
Final Analysis
The Romeo y Julieta Eternal was a pleasant and flavorful smoking journey and well deserving of a celebration of the 145 years of the iconic brandmark. I especially enjoyed the notes of honey and dark chocolate, albeit nuanced more than dominate. The cigar was well balanced and performed fairly well with just a mild jag in the burn and a slight off burn in the 1st third that did not require a touch-up. I would say grab a fiver of these if you can find them and let some a couple rest for sure. I rate this a 91.
Point Deductions: (-1) Mild Jag in Burn; (-1) Slight Off Burn in first third; (-1) Flat Burn Cone
