It has been some time since I last reviewed, my humble apologies to my friends and readers, I know you can't live without these nuggets of cigar wisdom. I won't bore you with the details of the last few weeks in my life, but you can all rest easy, as I smoked plenty of cigars during this time. A preponderance of these recent cigars were smoked on my trip to the DR to tour the La Aurora factory (15 in one day at one point). Enough details though, I may blog my experience at one point or another depending on time.
The cigar in question here is new from the folks at Altadis. As most of my loyal readers know Altadis does little that I like, however in this instance, they are billing this new Romeo as a departure from the norm in terms of strength and flavor. I like strength and flavor so this is my kind of marketing language. The first thing I notice is how modern the boxes and bands are, this is a serious degree of removal from the old fashioned and often staid presentations of the old blends, the message is that this is not your grandfather's Romeo. The cigar itself is very bulky feeling and a 54 ring is about as far out on the ring gauge scale as I like to go. The construction appears to be nice and the wrapper has a nice dark brown color that usual Romeo's don't have. The pre light aroma is full of cedar notes and there are some instances of spice in the nose as well. The pre light draw is fluid and shows crisp and somewhat dry notes of cedar.
The cigar opens with a profile that is severely one dimensional for me. The core profile is cedar, cedar and more cedar. The good news is that the flavor is not sharp, as is so often the case when cedar is the only profile flavor. There is just not enough depth or complexity here to make me think much more about this Altadis product in comparison to others, I am just feeling like it will be average at the very best. The back of the palate shows some light pepper flavors, but there is a disjointed carbon note here as well that just does not work. The draw is very fluid and plenty of smoke is delivered with little effort. The burn is solid and a nice thick ash is forming.
The first half of the smoke continues to wallow in a shallow pool of it's own mediocrity. The profile shows no real development as the core flavor remains full of cedar impressions. At one point I do catch some cream notes and some fleeting spice, but they are not enough to take away the one dimensional approach. The back of the palate has gathered a profile that has some nice spice, but there is not real depth here either. The draw continues to be very fine. The burn is still solid, though there is a runner beginning to show so I am concerned about the last half of the smoke.
The final half of the cigar finally begins to show some development, but it is far too late to help all that much. The core transitions into a sweeter coffee presentation. While there is still some cedar here, the overall profile is benefited by the addition of a complementary flavor. The back of the palate is really full of wondrous, tasty additions. The profile here shows a nice earthy flavor and some great caramel notes when taken through the nose. The draw continues to be excellent. The burn does run some, but I do not have to do anything with it so late in a cigar.
The finish was middling with some tart and overwrought cedar flavors.
Appearance- 88 a nice modern look
Taste- 83 below average, not enough depth in the first two thirds of the smoke
Construction- 90 the burn issue takes some points away
Strength- 86 a nice medium, I expected more based on the adds
Overall- 86.75 slightly above average based on nice construction
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