Romeo y Julieta Capuletos EL 2016

Description

I’m on the terrace of a 19th-century villa just outside Florence. The scent of jasmine hangs heavy in the air and somewhere, off in the distance, the muted thumpa tha-thump of a wedding band playing what can only be described as jazzed up Motown something or other. My dear friend Elias — who, the last time I saw him, we were both barely scraping by on rent in a cramped and grungy Brooklyn fourth-floor walk-up — leans against the stone balustrade looking spectacularly dapper in navy tuxedo. We’d just told a round of “remember when” stories that had us both doubled over, and there was this overwhelming dust cloud of triumph in the air.

Product Specifications

We’d made it. Not only to this wedding, but to a time in our life when we could actually breathe. I fished into my travel humidor, cool leather against the palm of my hand. I’d been hoarding a set of special sticks, saving them for an occasion that seemed serious enough to deserve them.

I didn’t want something ordinary; I wanted something that felt like a landmark. I passed one to Elias and he gasped as the double band—-the traditional red and gold of Romeo y Julieta with that wonderful new gold, black addition of the Edición Limitada—captured his eyes. I snipped the necks with my V-cutter, the “pop” hardly audible over the din, and passed him his fire. As the first tendrils of smoke curled heavenwards under the Tuscan stars, talk turned to matters present, and there was something reassuring in having its weight on our hands.

That smoke? The
Romeo y Julieta Capuletos Edición Limitada 2016 Specifics: Brand: Romeo y Julieta Vitola: No.
. I’ve smoked plenty of Habanos over the years, but this one always seemed like it was hiding a secret, only to reveal it when the time was right evening. This is a cigar that commands your attention but doesn’t bludgeon you over the head for it, an elusive balance I’ve grown to value more since my palate has matured.

Sitting there, with the wedding guests dancing through the glass doors, I knew had chosen the right date for the night. The Specifications
Before I go on to how this thing rips/rocks/smokes/practices, let’s get to the vitals.

This is not your run-of-the-mill Robusto, it’s a bit meaty. Feature
Details
Product Name
Romeo y Julieta Capuletos Edição Limitada 2016
Construction and Pre-light
The first thing that stands out about the Capuletos is the wrapper.

Because it’s an Edición Limitada, Habanos S.A. saves those darker and oilier leaves from the upper part of the plant for this release. It has a gorgeous, slightly dappled chocolate color — you could say it looks like a well-loved leather armchair. In my palm it had heft. A 53 ring gauge has a hefty feel that’s just right when you’re wanting to celebrate.

Had a bit of that Cuban “sponge” feel I’m now used to–not soft, mind you, just giving in slightly under the fingers, announcing that those leaves are well-humidified and packed with care. I cold-drew and was smacked with this lush, raisin-y sweetness. It wasn’t sweet, it was more of a dried fruit concentrate type flavore with very distinct notes of hay on the sweet side and some strange undertone that was somewhat like an herb. I’ve heard some guys say it smells like a barnyard in the very best way, and I have to say that they’re not exaggerating.

It’s that earthy, raw tobacco smell that let’s you know you’re about to smoke something with some lineage. The draw was perhaps a little bit tight — a typical Cuban character, but not anything that felt like I had to try and drink a thick milkshake through a straw. It was the right amount of push-back to maintain a slow burn. The First Third: The Graceful Lead-in
This was already a ritual to light this fucker up.

I toasted the foot with a single-jet flame, ensuring that every square inch of that 53 ring gauge was aglow before I took my first puff. The initial smoke belch was genteel — no chimney, but heavy, velvety clouds that clung to the air. The opening handful of pulls were a love letter to creamy earth. I found these sharp notes of nuts, and I mean peanut shells more than creamy peanut butter, and a woodiness that brought cedar chests to my mind.

A little in, this weirdly nice “lemonade” note began to peek through. It wasn’t sour, but it possessed this high note of citrusy brightness that sliced right through the denser earth tones. I grabbed some multi-grain bread, for good measure, and the toasted satisfaction was altogether “breakfast.” “It’s like smoking a savory pastry,” Elias said, glancing at me. You can even see George Bailey’s troubles through that way of thinking, if you push it.

There was even a hint of what I can only guess might be burnt meats — that starchy, charred umami taste you get on the crust of a good brisket. Odd to say about a cigar but with the Romeo profile it worked. The ash was a fine, compacted grey, hanging on as though it didn’t want to release the experience. The Second Third: In The Heart of the Matter
And the Capuletos really had found its legs by the second third.

The power had ratched from, say, a firm medium to something close to full. The flavors darkened, but not in the way of those brightly acidic citrus notes to something more decadent. I began to get waves of nougat and mocha. It was as if the cigar was coming back to its “Romeo” roots, presenting that floral and cocoa underpinning for which the brand is known but with a bit more muscle than you’d get from aging an Edición Limitada.

The cedar was stronger here, though it was a “fresh” kind rather than the dusty one you get in an aged humidor. The retrohale is where the music was. If you are not retrohaling this stick, then your missing half the story. I picked up a separate damp earth sensation and a rattling of kosher salt.

It was delicious, velvety and so smooth. I didn’t get any roughing up on the back of the throat; that’s courtesy of two-plus years of aging they already gave those leaves before they even rolled them in 2016. The cigar had been burning for some 45 minutes by now, and I was only halfway in. This isn’t a smoke you rush.

The Final Third: Capulet Finale
By the time I was down to the last third, everyone in the wedding party had partied on over with us and we were locked into “the zone.” The taste profile switched up once more, in this case to a much creamier palate.

That note of vanilla that everyone talks about? It showed up in spades. It was complemented by an almond nuttiness that made the finish very smooth. However, it wasn’t all sweetness.

A lingering spice — a hit of paprika and a bite of black pepper — kept things interesting. I was beginning to find the salt ramp up, and it’s getting a little jittery at that point, the draw snugging just a hint as all those oils start amassing near the top. I had to attend to it a bit in order to keep it from going out, but the payoff w