Review: Romeo y Julieta Perfectos (1968)
I recently purchased a 4 pack of Romeo y Julieta Perfectos from 1968 to see what they would smoke like over 40 years after they were rolled.
There is not a bunch of historic info on these specific cigars. According to various websites, these were released pre-1960s (nobody knows an exact year, apparently) and were discontinued in 2003. These cigars were made with all Cuban Tobacco (unlike Clear Havanas, some of which will be reviewed soon) from the Pinar del Río region of Cuba.
A machine-made cigar (as most were back then), the price of each stick was approximatly $.25 (or 100 for $25), which was quite a bit, considering that most cigars cost between $.05 and $.10 each or so. Here is a price list from a cigar store named Park & Tilford which details some of the most popular imported brands of sticks and their prices. The Romeo y Julieta Perfectos price can be found about 3/4 of the way down the page on the left hand side. (image credit Gotham Cigar Museum):
Enough chitchat, let’s get down to business, shall we?
- Cigar Reviewed: Romeo y Julieta Perfectos (1968)
- Country of Origin: Cuba
- Wrapper: Cuba
- Binder: Cuba
- Filler: Cuba
- Size: 5 Inches
- Ring Gauge: 44
- Vitola: Petit Perfecto
- Est. Price: Varies Wildly
- Date Produced: 1968
The first thing I noticed when I picked up this cigar was the wrapper. While obviously well made, age seems to have turned the silky wrapper (or at least I assume it was silky at one point) into a material almost like parchment; dry (albeit not fragile) and a bit rough. The color is a light brown, and while the cigar is quite bumpy in places, I am impressed that the it has held together as long as it has without any major issues, although perhaps I should not be, considering the source. The cigar itself is quite spongy when squeezed, and the wrapper does have much of a smell at all besides a VERY light cinnamon scent.
As an aside, I have also been a bit surprised at how small most of the cigars from this age, and older, are. They look almost more like cigarettes then cigars, but I DO love the perfecto shape of this one. After cutting it, I took a few predraws, and the only thing I noticed was a VERY old musty tobacco flavor. Not unpleasant at all, but if someone gave you this cigar blind, you would know immediately it was an aged stick. After lighting it, I got a little bit of spice in the first few puffs, along with notes of woodsy cedar and that very aged tobacco flavor again.
The cigar turned totally mild in the second third, with any and all spice departing for parts unknown. There was still that aged tobacco flavor and some cedar, but I also picked up some floral notes as well, albeit faint.
The last third held a bit of a surprise. Honestly, I was expecting it to continue as it had for the first two thirds, but out of the blue, I tasted what I can only describe as peppermint oil (if you have ever tasted any, you will know what I am talking about). NOT sweet peppermint, but like the taste and tartness of peppermint without the sweetness that is usually associated with it. The woodsy and tobacco flavors were still there, but the peppermint note stuck around until the end. The stick did get hot at the end, but I was able to get close to the nub.
Some Final Notes:
- The draw was great for the entire stick, but the burn was VERY up and down; I had to relight 5 times total.
- After reading various reviews of other older sticks I was prepared for a mild cigar, and I was not disappointed. Other then the first few puffs, there was little to no pepper or spice for the entire smoke.
- This cigar produced an astounding amount of smoke for something so old and so small.
- The final smoking time was 1 hour and 10 minutes.
The Bottom Line: While it was VERY cool to be smoking a 40 year-old stick, the flavors and burn were really nothing to write home about. As I said earlier, anyone who picked up this stick and started smoking it would know it was an aged cigar. It was not a waste of time or money by any means, but I am hoping that my next vintage stick is better.
As always, excellant review and pic's!
I still love seeing your hand-written notes.
thanks for the review man, I'm surprised after all those years a machine made cigar still held together.
Great review. Can't imagine smoking a cigar older than I am. :)
Great review and pictures. Thank you for both.
I find it very interesting smoking cigars with 30+ years of age on them. Father time puts an interesting spin on the tobacco. I've had flavors that have ranged from tomato soup, steak, roses, and citrus. I can relate with finding a different flavor like the peppermint. Always nice to hear what someone else has to say about cigars.
Great review on a cigar many of us will never see. Thanks
Interesting note regarding the thickness ("more like a cigarette"). I wonder if that is because, at the time, cigars were more workaday, less a luxury (and thus less prone to trying to "stand out"). What I mean is, if you smoke a regular ole 'gar TODAY, you risk being labeled an addict (or whatever), so makers go out of their way to make each 'gar an veritable EVENT (think Drac, or anything in a glass tube).
That is, cigars of yore were more about feeding the need, not the ego.
(And please do not take the above as a crit of current cigar consumption - I am emphasizing traits to draw the comparison).
Good stuff Brooks!
Interesting to know about cigars from that period being almost all machine-made. How this and other brands have transitioned from hand-made to machine to hand-made again.
Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick me, Mr. Kott-ayr!
Great photos again.
Very interesting review. Never had the chance to smoke a "vintage" cigar but it would be interesting. Great write up and pictures as usual.
Thanks for the review Brooks! As always too, great pics. Too bad the cigar wasn't better than okay, but I agree that it would be pretty cool smoking a cigar that old....
I agree with the other poster, why not rate it? We all can understand old cigars might not be that good and I'm sure no one would be offended. You can also add a "Nostalgia" score, for how cool and historic you think that cigar is! LOL
Interesting review.
From my (limited) experience with aged cigars, in most cases anything over 15 years old is not worth the hunting.
Look like it might be fun!
OH!!! LOVING the site man.
What up Brooks,
Are you shooting that with the 50 1.2 or the 85 1.2?
Got to hook up in Vegas next year for some smokes.
Aaron Underwood
thanks for the great review! that was a impressive review
Another great review of a rare treat! Nice!
great review brooks! awesome photos! that thing sure looks old! Every old stick ( 30 years plus ) i have ever had i didn't like. Way to mild and they all have a weird taste. Granted i have only smoke like 3 that were that old but all of them had a really bland, basement smell taste to them.
Another nice review with great pics! Thanks brooks!
Wow that is very cool. But man is that an ugly burn on that stick!
Why not score them? I understand what you wrote,however, don't you judge each cigar in comparison to some other,or to maybe what you remember some really awesome cigar to be? Sure, you and certainly not most of us are going to be smoking a cigar with this much age. Nonetheless, each cigar you smoke, they are not all aged at the same intervals, some may be less than a year, some 2 years, some 5, or 10, and others much older, yet you compare them all. I think maybe you are nervous at putting a score out there, as oh no, how will it compare to what others have thought. F it, Brooks, this is your site, your reviews, if you like it, give it a good score, if it is weak and tasteless, rate it accordingly.
Very cool. It LOOKS 41 years old! I am surprised it has as much character as it did!
Cool review! It would be very interesting to smoke something that old.
That stick looks ugly as hell, but sexy at the same time. Wish I could get my hands on something like that.
very cool...no matter what it would be a cool experience to smoke something with that much age (only 29 myself)...
I have to comment on this one. I think it would feel very exalting to smoke forty years in a few puffs....ah the ravages of time.
oh man! thats a damn treasure. how the hell do you land sticks like that time and time agian? im jealous.
Great review man, and AMAZING photography!