Welcome back to our Spotlight Series, a sequence of blog posts which delve into various and fascinating topics. These posts can vary from talking about Cigar brands to cigar techniques, as well as take an in-depth look at cigar aficionados and cigar events. Whatever the subject we’re sure it’s going to be something that will definitely peak your interest. This time we’re taking a look at the remarkable history, successes and progressions of Romeo y Julieta Cuban Cigars, a cigar brand which takes its place amongst other esteemed cigar brands like our popular Cohiba Cigars Online.
The History of Romeo y Julieta Cigars
Romeo y Julieta Cigars first began in Cuba in 1875 when it was founded by Inocencio Alvarez and Manin Garcia. The forefathers of the brand were aware of the top-quality products they were producing and were using only the finest materials. This allowed them to relish in its early success rates, which had high sales and excellent reviews even in the very first years of the brand being established.
In fact, the brand took part in various competitions, contests and exhibitions in these initial years and received critical acclaim, which has in turn contributed to its ever-growing popularity (the gold medals on the brand’s logo pay homage to just how many they have received). Its searing fame didn’t stop in the early days; these Cuban Cigars went on to becoming the hottest cigars on the market when business man José Rodriguez bought the company in 1903.
With his forward thinking cap on, Rodriguez was fully aware that for the brand to become the conglomerate success that it is today, it was time to take the brand abroad and make it international. Rodriguez began implementing very modern marketing techniques to do this. One campaign that particularly stands out is his frequent travelling to Europe and America to enter his racehorse ‘Julieta’ into the races. During his visits there, he would socialise/meet with wealthy and cultured enthusiasts of cigars and would actively promote his brand amongst the high society. One of the smartest cultural marketing campaigns of that time, it saw the brand become the most highly respected and popular brand at the time.
Winston Churchill’s endorsement of the brand furthered their success and saw even more cultured and educated individuals favouring the cigars in the mid 1900s. His love of these cigars was recognised by the brand and in his honour, a flagship vitola, which measures at 178mm by 47 ring gauge, was named Churchill and consequently more shapes have been released over the years such as:
- Romeo y Julieta Wide Churchills Cigar for sale online
- Romeo y Julieta Petit Churchills Cigar prices online
- Romeo y Julieta Short Churchills Cigar buy online
Everything seemed to be going smoothly for the brand up until Rodriguez’s death in 1954 which was then followed by Fidel Castro’s revolution in Cuba. This time of political upheaval saw the nationalisation of the Cuban Cigar Industry and a part of the manufacture moved to La Romana, in Dominican Republic. Nevertheless, the Romeo y Julieta Cigars produced in the Dominican Republic still proved to be of nearly equal quality and very famous for their medium-bodied cigars which are loved almost as much as their sibling cigars in Cuba.
The Romeo y Julieta Cigars
The Romeo y Julieta Cigars contain a tobacco blend which comprises of hand selected leaves from the Vuelta Abajo Region, giving it its famous aromatic and balanced, medium bodied flavour. Zino Davidoff claimed in ‘The Connoisseur’s Book’ that the Vuelta Abajo Region is ‘royal terrain’ and any cigars made using that blend ‘risks no disappointment’.
Romeo y Julieta is recognised worldwide as a truly incredible brand that has always created top quality cigars and has a significantly large and popular portfolio. Over the years it has produced around 2000 bands, including Romeo y Julieta Petit Julietas, the Romeo y Julieta Cigars No.3 and Romeo y Julieta Cuban Cigars No.2.
The cigars we mention in this blog post are available to buy on our website and we stock an excellent range of Cuban Cigars online from the Romeo y Julieta collection which can be shipped to any location worldwide. We believe that every humidor should have at least one Romeo y Julieta Cigar in it, what do you think? Leave us a comment below or get in contact via our social media channels like Instagram or Facebook , we’re always interested in hearing from our readers!
See our previous posts on our Cuban Cigar Blog for more from the Spotlight series: