A while back I picked up an habano sampler while waiting around at the airport. Among the cigars inside was this Romeo y Julieta Hermoso No.4. Having tried other formats of the R&J to my satisfaction I decided to give this one a try.

A quick look and feel reveals a nice firm cigar with a creamy colored wrapper. On the nose, it has a light sweet tobacco smell with a soothing and relaxing attitude; appropriately so for a cigar that is suitable for a morning or afternoon smoke. Its triple cap is very well laid, a familiar sight of premium Cuban cigars. The wrapper leaf was a bit rough with some minor blemishes.

A clip and a quick light later, the aromatic tobacco smoke gently oozes from this stick. The aroma is very pleasant. Somewhat floral, if that’s the right word. I can’t imagine anyone not liking the aroma of this smoke. The mouthfuls of smoke taste light, but pleasant, with a creamy character to it. I tasted roasted nuts on this one with a sweet and slightly spicy under tone.

The stick will not get too much more powerful than this, but that didn’t bother me with this one. In the last third, I got a bit more spice and sweet dry wood, which also constituted the pleasant and clean medium finish.

Overall, though not an extraordinary smoke, the Romeo Y Julieta Hermoso No. 4 is very tasty in its own way and it’s a nice one to have around when a lighter smoke is desired, or for a change of pace.

Here’s a perfect example of how a good wine need not be an expensive wine: On a recent trip to my local grocer I came across a display of a new “house” wine composed of a single grape variety called “Grenache”. This 2004 wine from a local distributor comes from a southern region of France where the Grenache grape, originally a Spanish grape, abounds and from where we get well known French denominations such as Cotes du Rhone and Cotes de Provence.

I picked it up without hesitation, since I am used to experimenting with “new” wines and have always been pleasantly surprised. Once again, the little wine turned out very well. A well rounded and balanced wine, the nose is spicy with sweet dark fruit. The consistency is pleasant on the palate. A refreshing acidity, and a very harmonious bouquet of figs and citrus fruit, with just the right amount of tannins, give this wine a good body. Of course, being a very young wine, it retains a youthful character which, for this wine, is quite enjoyable.

Because of its spicy nose and citrus palate, I decided to pair this with a lighter smoke with rather spicy, floral and woody notes: The Romeo Y Julieta (Cuba) Romeos No. 1 de Luxe… mmm, I just love it when a plan comes together.

While still curious about the European attitude for non-Cuban cigars I decided to look around and find out which non-Cubans, if any, receive high marks by serous French cigar clubs. I did my homework and found a number of cigars that were crowned in as the best of non-Habanos for 2005.

In what I am calling “France’s Best Cigars of 2005” Part I, I’d like to present their 2005 winners from the Dominican Republic.

The runner-up is the Davidoff Millennium Blend Pyramid (torpedo), awarded three stars out of a possible of six! Oh boy, I said to myself… and continued on to see how they described this 15 dollar second place winner. For the strong points they said: “looks good, well made, good draw”, whereas for the weak points: “linear throughout and bitter last third”.

Right off the bat I couldn’t help but think, if this is the second place winner from the Dominican Republic, I can imagine what they must think of the cigars that didn’t win. In all fairness, though, I should mention that they did appreciate a refreshing acidity of the first two thirds and a curious note of cacao once the cigar warmed up. Overall, they gave this one a score of one out of a possible of four in terms of its aroma. At any rate, let’s all give a big round of applause to the French 2005 runner-up!

Alright, now we move on to the 2005 winner. From the Dominican Republic, and rated a whopping six stars out of a possible of six, a petit corona that no one has ever heard of, is the Pleiades Esprit Nomade Special (petit)-Corona! This cigar did very well on all accounts: the construction, the taste, the aroma and the progression. Overall, they called this petit-corona a true pleasure.

Now, all humor aside… I should say that I really don’t mean to pick on the French for the nature of their choices. I have no doubt that, given the reputation of the more than fifteen participating entities, the reviewers had unparalleled expertise as well as a fine sense of taste, judgment, and devotion to cigars. I for one don’t like to criticize reviews based on personal tastes… but, with these winners, I can’t help but honestly wonder if they have ever even heard of a man named Arturo Fuente.

As you can see the Flor de Copan Belicoso is quite a nice looking cigar. It comes wrapped in its own cedar strip held neatly in place by two bands at either extreme. Remove the cedar and you will see a very clean, light wrapper, with no blemishes or imperfections. It feels solid and thick. With this much attention to detail, one would think to be holding a winner. The fact that there is nothing on the nose of the pre-lit cigar, though, stirs up doubt.

A quick clip and light later, the doubt quickly materializes. The aroma of the cigar is very muted, almost no taste whatever to reward the smoker. There is also very little smoke in comparison to other similar cigars, and considering the large gauge.

I thought I’d give it more time before settling down my opinion of this one. So, on I went, first third, second third, and still just a very faint scent and flavor of a woody nature, but very flat, and lacking any merit worth mentioning. The one redeeming feature of the cigar is its easy combustion and the even hassle free burn. The ash is also above average.

Finally, well into the last third, as in a huge effort to put out some flavor the cigar yields some dry notes of cedar and maybe a tiny bit of spice, but by now I was already dreaming about the Cuban Crafters Robusto I was going to have after this.

A cigar that fails to get your attention throughout, the Flor de Copan Belicoso simply doesn’t deliver. It’s not that I am disappointed with the light-bodied smoke; the cigar simply has no appreciable character I would ever imagine anyone would enjoy. Why a tabaclera would spend so much attention to detail for a cigar that isn’t worth the cedar strip it’s wrapped in is beyond me.

Oh well… CCR Robusto here I come…