2009/09 – Heiko & Brian Tasting 1999 RyJ Celestiales Finos

3 Sep

Romeo y Julieta Celestiales Finos 1999 – Foto : Heiko

Romeo y Julieta Celestiales Finos 1999

This will be the beginning of series of tasting to be done by Brian (Clampdown) and Heiko (Eldondo) with cigars which come out of the same box.

Heiko :

The wrapper of this discontinued cigar is colorado-colored, a bit coarse and matt, the cigar itself is very hard rolled. Not really a beauty…. You can still see the pressing that the cigars got in the box….

The first odors that came to my nose reminded me of walnuts and polished wood… there is still some more but I don’t find a relation to put it down to words….

The first third starts with a tight draw which changed to a better after 1/2 inch. First flavors touching my palate are almond, brittle and also some hints of wood and leather…. The leathery component started very decent and got more and more intensive over the whole smoke with every puff.

The second third is characterized by some nutty flavors… they are more like walnut and hazelnut… leather coming up more and more.. also some fresh roasted coffee… interesting combination and interaction between the flavors…

The last third is definitely getting stronger: animal-like… leather, wood and pure tobacco. Intensive flavors and a very creamy smoke make it hard to put this cigar to the ashtray.

On the whole you can say that the cigar had an interesting progress over the time of the smoke (which was app. 80 minutes): starting slow with a tight draw, getting better and developing a thick and creamy smoke to end up in a terrific finale.

Brian:

Appearance: Rugged and dry colorado wrapper with a slight box pressing.

First third of the cigar was very unfulfilling. The cigar had a slight spice to it and pronounced flavor of walnuts and hazelnuts that for the most part were unrefined and at times lacking in flavor other then tobacco. The draw was a bit tight at first but then opened up to reveal some more intensity. There is still a trace of the RYJ sweetness but the semi-tight draw led to a lacking of this overall quality to present itself ahead of the flavor from the tobacco in my mouth.

Second Third -The cigar opened up a bit in more ways then one. The wrapper started to unravel a bit but was corrected thanks to the torch and some quick smoking. The cigar for most part was unimpressive and continued with some coffee flavors and more intense leathery notes. I became a bit annoyed that one minute the cigar was quite flavorful with some intense coffee flavors, then a few minutes later it was bland and just pure tobacco. I let the cigar sit for a bit to maybe settle it down and see if the flavors presented itself in the final third.

Final Third – The flavor that remains is just pure tobacco. I don’t really mind the flavors but would like it to have the nutty coffee flavors that were present at times. The cigar had a straight burn throughout and only had to be touched up once when the wrapper started to unravel. Overall, the cigar finished with intense tobacco flavor and that at times held on to the typical RYJ profile. After an hour I finished the cigar with about half an inch left.

An interesting smoking experience, mainly because I have never had one, but for the most part not something I would go back to unless it was a gift.

Additional Pictures to this Tasting :