Romeo y Julieta Short Churchills

Romeo y Julieta Short Churchills

Approx Date: October 2007
Stored at 70*F 65%RH

A nice specimen, this cigar. Smooth wrapper, and great color. A little shag at the foot, but I’ll get over it. A peek at the business end showed only one or two veins, and the fill looked to be evenly packed.






Taking a whiff pre-light revealed some cut hay and woody notes, with a little farm animal in the background…horse? [Mr. Spock] Fascinating [/Mr. Spock] Punch-cut cold-draw was a little tighter than I’d have liked, and the hay and wood pulled though, no horse thank God. On to the smoking:

1/3 : Lighting the cigar greeted me with cedar and cream. The burn at this point was razor sharp, and the Short Churchill bellowed out great clouds of cedar and spice perfumed smoke. Delicious! Halfway through the first third, the cream subsided and cedar became the dominant flavor. Medium/Medium-Full

2/3 : Wow, so far, this smoke has me quite entertained. Cedar has gone to the background and freshly course-ground black pepper steps up. I was blasted by it! Not quite to the point of too much, but danced on the edge just a level or two below. Reminds me of Steak Au Poivre. Burn has remained perfect, with nicely striated grey-white ash that announced the peppery-punch by sloughing off to the ground. Medium/Medium-Full

3/3 : Things are starting to tone down a bit. The peppery goodness has settled down to allow mellow creaminess (almost cashew butter) bring this smoke to a relaxing close. Burn is starting to get a little ragged now, but corrects itself every other draw.

Wrap up: Where do I start?!? This cigar was very satisfying, and kept me interested down to the very nub. I smoked this one in the late morning with a black coffee, and lasted me about an hour and a half. This seems long for me with a robusto, but taking into account it’s gauge, that’s probably about right. I felt a little bad smoking this cigar in front of my Dad (he was sans smoke), but I got over it. :P IMHO, I believe this particular example of the RyJ SCs was in it’s prime. It had lots to offer and kept me glued to my seat anticipating what it would bring to my palette next. I only wish I had the rest of the box to horde. :cigar:

Score: 92
Tighter than preferred draw affected the score here.

Romeo y Julieta Exhibicion No. 4

Romeo y Julieta Exhibicion No 4

Approx date: June 2006
Stored at 70*F, 65% RH




A nicely constructed robusto with a mottled, but soft to the touch wrapper.
Peering down the barrel showed what looked to be veins, and some dense areas around the circumference, with “thin” areas in others. I made the mental note to prepare for some un-even burning during the smoke. Cold draw produced clean tobacco flavors, with hints of coffee on the nose.















After a little lime sherbet to cleanse the palate, I snipped the cap, and began to roll toast the foot. This cigar had a slightly open draw, but smoked cool, and produced a good volume of smoke.










The first 1/3 smacked of cedar. A little nutmeg, green peppercorns, and cream came through as well. Strength at this point is medium. The finish is woody, and medium-short. Mouth-feel is creamy and a tad moist. Un-even burn is hurting this smoke so far, likely due to the aforementioned fill. Initial beverage pairing is ice water, with the occasional nip of Macallan 12.










Once through the first third, the burn corrected itself, and the cedar really began to come to the front, while the spice elements still seemed a bit muted. Also the strength of the cigar seemed to ratchet up a couple notches. Finish is a little drier as well, but still lingers nicely; some toasty woody notes are starting to show on the finish too. About halfway through the second third, more spice started to come forward. Cloves, and some floral (almost anise) characteristics.

On to the final third. Burn problems have resurfaced, and will hurt my scoring of this cigar. The cedar has moved to the back, while spices have moved forward on the palate. As I get closer to the band, I’m picking up more mineral characteristics, and a slight peatiness.

In closing I will say I enjoyed this smoke. The Romeo y Julieta Exhibicion No 4 is a cigar I would surely have a box of resting in the humi. I’m not sure at this point if aging would benefit, it surely would not hurt. The RyJE4 was a satisfying smoke. However, I will say that the pairing of the Macallan 12 was not the best choice for this cigar. An espresso or Columbian coffee in the black would be better suited for the flavors this cigar brought to the table. Good iced water was just fine in today’s case. The burn problems were disappointing and hurt the score, but overall, the time invested was well worth it. I put this cigar in the 85-87 range.

Thanks for reading.

60% of Photoshop Users are PIRATES!

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me....

read more | digg story

Lander Brew Fest 2008

Saturday, 14 June 2008 marks the 6th Annual Lander Brew Fest in Lander, Wyoming. The Pirate of the Prairie will be in attendance to sample ales, chase women, sample ales, and likely fall asleep on a rock. Camera in hand, I will document, interview, and review the fare (at least until I cannot stand up straight). My mates from Suds Brothers Brewery in Evanston, Wyoming will be there to represent our town. See you back on Monday.

YARRR!

 

*UPDATE*  Sadly, the Pirate got too drunk to recap much of the brew fest.  While I got some good pictures, they seem to have gotten progressively worse as the day wore on.  Cannot for the life of me figure out what happened….don’t remember.  Anyway, the pictures can be seen here: Photosynth of Lander Brew Fest