Romeo y Julieta

Although founded in 1875 it wasn’t until 1903 when the marque was promoted by its new owner “Pepin” Fernandez Rodriguez that the cigars achieved notoriety, particularly in Britain. He travelled widely, raced his horse “Julieta” all over Europe and produced the widest selection of personalised cigar bands for celebrities of his day.

Winston Churchill became a devotee of Romeo y Julieta. Since his visit to Havana in 1946, his name has not only been commemorated on a band but it has also served to describe the marque’s most famous size – a Julieta No.2 measuring 7 inches (178 mm) by 47 ring gauge – even though he preferred to smoke a “Romeo” size which was a large ring gauge perfecto.

The famous Churchill with its distinctive gold band remains a classic medium to full bodied cigar. However in recent years the entire range has been revised with such additions as the new “Petit Churchill”, “Short Churchill” and even “Wide Churchill”. To top that Habanos have finally released the “Reserva” Churchill 2012 with very limited availability. For the time being this just might qualify as the “definitive” Churchill given the benefit of 3 year aged tobacco from the Vuelta Abajo.

Flavour Ranking: Medium.