We will make this contest simple. First, please make sure you are 18 years or older before you decide to enter. That’s a given. Next, there will be 4 ways to enter the contest. If you do all 4 of the following tasks you will be entered 4 different times. If you do only one, you will be entered only once. Got it? Good. Here’s what you can do:

1)   Like us on Facebook. (https://www.facebook.com/casasfumando – if you already like us, you’re already entered)
2)   Share this article on your Facebook wall. (props if you ask you friends to follow us on Facebook. It will be easier for me to track them that way)
3)   Tweet your friends and let them know you entered to win a box of Romeo y Julieta from us. (Say whatever you want as long as you include the link and “@tonycasas” so I can track them)
4)   Comment below. (props if your comment involves Jeremy’s slackerness in any way)

The winner will be chosen at random on Friday, December 13^th, cause, well, it’s Friday the 13^th. I’ll ship these bad boys out the following Monday so that you will be able to smoke them for the holidays. I promise not to lick any.

Simple right? Now get to it. I want to give these cigars away.

The post Win a full box of Romeo y Julieta RyJ from Casas Fumando! appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Size: 6 x 52
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Limonera Corojo
Binder: Dual Nicaraguan Binder from Esteli and Jalapa
Filler: Nicaraguan Jalapa, Esteli, and La Mia
Strength: Medium/Full
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $8.50

Prelight: The first thing I noticed about the RYJ was the stray from the standard Red that Romeo y Julieta likes to use on their bands. The RYJ carries a more elegant, white band with gold and red embossing. The RYJ also carries a foot band with “RYJ” elegantly embossed into it. The wrapper on the cigar has a bit of character as well. I get used to seeing consistent, shade leaf on most of Romeo y Julieta’s cigars so it was nice to see the wrapper had a lot more character. Medium brown in color with some darker webbing and orange spots with very little veins running through the body of the cigar. The cigar is capped off with a large, round, double cap. The wrapper and binder combination make for a really tough, firm feeling cigar with no signs of weakness. The wrapper gives off a really musky, cedar aroma while the foot of the cigar carries a mid tobacco/spice aroma.

Flavors: Right off the bat I was greeted with something otherwise uncommon in most Romeo y Julieta cigars, black pepper. While it wasn’t powerful, it was a nice introduction to what an all Nicaraguan Romeo y Julieta has to offer. Behind the pepper laid some soft caramel, lots of earthiness and coffee, with a bit of citrus. It was a nice mixture and I was impressed with the amount of flavor I was pulling from the cigar. Halfway through the pepper dropped off completely while the coffee and cedar ramped up. By the end of the smoke the sweetness had diminished while the coffee, cedar, and earthiness had taken over. There was no harshness at all, in fact, this was probably one of the smoother cigars I had smoked in some time.

Burn/Draw: During the cold draw I felt the draw was going to be rather tight. I had a bit of an issue trying to pull air through the cigar. But that wasn’t the case at all once the RYJ was lit up. The draw was perfect, pumping out a ton of smoke with every little puff. The burnline started a bit wavy, but quickly corrected itself and burned a bit thick, but perfectly even the entire experience with no extra attention from my lighter needed.

Thoughts: Romeo y Julieta wasn’t the first cigar company to release a Nicaraguan Puro in the past few years and certainly won’t be the last. Personally, Nicaragua is my country of preference when it comes to tobacco. I feel some of the boldest, richest tobaccos come out of that country and the RYJ is just another example of that. Some of the other blends in the Romeo y Julieta portfolio don’t do much for me. I find most are a bit too mild for my taste. The RYJ is quite the opposite carrying a very robust profile that kept me pleased the entire experience. Mash that in with the flawless production Romeo has always produced and we have a solid cigar. If you are like me, and don’t normally go for a Romeo y Julieta due to the mild manner they usually carry, this is an ideal cigar for you.

The post Quick Draw – Romeo y Julieta – RYJ appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Again, if you are just tuning in, Brooks from Smokingstogie.com was kind enough to send me a 5-stick set of (so far) rare, blind cigars to review. If you haven’t checked out Smokingstogie.com before I strongly suggest you head that way and give Brooks a hello. The blog is jam-packed with honest reviews, and amazing photography of some of the rarest, most expensive cigars every made.

Prelight: Cigar #3 is a standard, bulky little robusto sized cigar. The wrapper is a very light brown with shades of yellow and orange mixed in all accented by an extremely shiny, silky overcoat. The wrapper is beautiful and carries a very textured character as each and every little bump and vein in the leaf are highly visible with a darker shade of brown. The meaty body leads to the famous, and well loved round triple cap. The construction of this cigar is mnear flawless outside of a few softer spots towards the foot of the cigar. Overall the cigar is tightly packed with a ton of tobacco visible at the foot, but overall very soft and squishy in contrast to most other cigars.

I can pull very little aroma off the wrapper of the cigar. Just a slight spice and soft woodsy smell. The story is similar for the foot, but I am able to pull more of the spice, less of the wood. The cap clipped very cleanly with extreme ease using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw produces a very earthy, malty flavor with only a little of the spice present on the aftertaste.

First Smoke: This cigar was a pain in the ass to get lit. But once I did, it was off and running. The cigar started out with just a subtle greeting of white pepper which transitioned into a very pleasant spicy, wood mixture much like what I picked up from the cold draw. The main flavors are accented by a splash of citrus, and the saltiness picked up on the wrapper. If you read a few of the reviews on this site, I have made mention to that salt flavor taken from the wrapper, and how it is only present on certain cigars. Is it too early to call the country of origin? If the thick, crazy burnline, flaky, zebra striped ash, and light body have anything to say about it, I would have to dub this one a Cuban early in. But we all know I screwed this up on the first cigar that Brooks sent my way. Anywho, cigar #2 is kicking out a massive draw that leaves behind a thick, cedar scented lasting cloud of smoke. The ash held steady for about an inch and a half before falling to its doom in my ashtray.

Halfway there: The pepper is completely gone, and what is left behind is a hell of a smooth and creamy smoke. The cedar and other woodsy/earthy flavors are rocking hard while a more milky, almost heavy-creamed coffee flavor has snuck in. The malty flavors I spoke about early in are starting to jab through as well.  I’m not sure if it’s the cigar or the we-haven’t-gottona-a-drop-of-rain-in-3months El Paso weather, but I am developing a case of dry mouth. Again, I am pairing all of these blind cigars with water as to not hinder the experience. I only get one shot at these and pairing incorrectly usually turns out to be a horrible idea. The burnline has shockingly enough completely corrected itself and the cigar is burning dead even at this point. The retrohale on this cigar is wonderful, coating my nasal passage with a very rich and creamy cedar flavor/aroma. I’m not feeling too much of anything nicotine from this cigar at all.

Finish: The body began showing face a little more into the final third. It didn’t get crazy strong or harsh, but there was a noticeable increase in strength. The pepper also came out of hiding and held on to a flavor accent to the very potent cedar and creamy malt that commanded my attention. The burnline still remained completely even cause no touch-ups or relights of any kind. I’m still not really feeling much in the nicotine department, which is a good thing. This cigar is perfect at the mild/medium that it is. I am forcing myself to really take my time and enjoy this one as it’s been burning pretty quickly. It took only about and hour and fifteen minutes to take the whole stick down. There was only a very slight harshness that I encountered into the very final inch of this cigar. Nothing off-putting, and the fact that the cigar never burned hot, even down to the nub made it all worth it.

Overview: This cigar was a very awesome stick, perfect for those lazy Sundays. Mild, smooth, full of flavor, and just quick enough to not have to spend a lifetime in the backyard. Depending on the price tag this cigar is something totally worth keeping on hand as it fills the void in those early to mid afternoon smoking sessions.

Final Guess: I’m going to coin this cigar Cuban for sure, but the difficulty is choosing exactly which Cuban I think it is. I’m going to go with either the Partagas Serie D, or some sort of Romeo y Juileta. I’m not as versed in the ways of the ISOM’s so I may be way off with those two guesses. But we shall soon find out.

The Reveal: From Brooks:

It was a Cuban (great call :), actually a Cohiba Robusto from 1995….

Did I read that right? At first I glared right over it. But 1995?!! This Cuban Cohiba is 15 YEARS OLD?!!?! Wow! I almost felt bad for smoking it. Almost…So much for wanting to keep a few of these on hand. I’ve never had a Cuban with that much age on it. Or anything close for that matter. I actually reviewed a newer Cuban Cohiba Robusto recently, and I have to say, there was dramatic change in the experience. The age really mellows out the cigar and helps build up the main, targeted flavors. Big thanks goes out to Brooks for not holding back on the sticks he sent my way!

The post Blind Cigar Review #3 (from Brooks at Smoking Stogie) appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.