There are few vitolas of Cuban cigars as popular as the Mareva, and the Romeo y Julieta Mille Fleurs is a fine example of why. The dimensions, 42 ring gauge by 5 1/8 inches, give around 40 minutes of smoking pleasure – enough to get a true idea of the flavours of your chosen brand, but not so much that it’s difficult to find a portion of the day to enjoy one. No wonder, then, that over a dozen Cuban brands have used the format at one time or another.
Romeo y Julieta are among the best-known Cuban brands, producing medium-bodied cigars that delight smokers everywhere. There are many expressions of the Mareva in their portfolio, including the Club Kings in their splendid retro tin packaging, with the Mille Fleurs having been a machine-made version until the beginning of the 21st Century. Nowadays these smokes are carefully hand-rolled, just like the rest of the line, and represent about the best value for money to come from La Habana.
The famous Romeo y Julieta band dresses each cigar
Construction: 8/10
- A fairly rough grain to the wrapper leaf, but a generous fill through the cigar and no hard spots or gaps to be detected.
Draw: 10/10
- In short, perfect. No effort required, plenty of smoke – flawless.
Combustion: 10/10
- Again, flawless. The cigar lit easily, smouldered gently away with no further touch-ups required and remained perfectly straight the whole time I smoked it.
The ash was surprisingly dark and flaky
Ash: 2/5
- The ash on this cigar was surprisingly flaky, considering how well-built the cigar felt to the touch. A dark grey, almost black, colour is never an ideal sight, and there was almost no ability to cling to the end of the stick. A bit disappointing after the initial good signs about the construction.
Smoke: 4/5
- While the ash may not have been pretty, the clouds of smoke from the cigar were. A rich, leathery aroma filled the air as a result.
Flavour: 23/25
- I was genuinely surprised by the amount of flavour in this little cigar. The diminutive size of both the stick itself and the price tag attached to it may leave one with relatively modest expectations, but my own were greatly exceeded.
Overall: 31/35
- Forty or so minutes spent with this cigar are an impressive treat for the palette. The price point means they are ideally suited to be handed out in abundance at large gatherings, the medium body is neither too overpowering nor too insignificant and the range of flavours took me on a thoroughly pleasant journey.
This was a fine cigar to spend the afternoon with
Final Score: 89/100
- As I sat down to enjoy this cigar I did not expect much. Upon lighting, however, I was immediately treated to a flood of sweetness; notes of fresh grass and hay danced across the tongue before swiftly settling down to reveal a touch of oak wood. This was a bright and refreshing sweetness, not sharp or acidic as some young cigars can be, and set the scene nicely for the rest of the smoke. The middle third saw sweetness remain as cedar wood replaced the oak, alternating with a rich espresso and every so often backed up with black pepper aftertaste. The final third saw the pepper build and cement itself in the profile, with the smoke also taking on a wonderfully creamy mouthfeel. A wonderfully enjoyable cigar.