Romeo y Julieta Churchill Tubos Join the Añejados Line
Cuban tobacco aged for more than 10 years. One of the country’s most iconic cigars, named after Winston Churchill. Put the two together and you have the latest in Cuba’s line of aged cigars, the Romeo y Julieta Churchill Añejados Tubos.
Habanos S.A. announced the new cigar will soon be shipping to global markets, packed in boxes of 25, with each cigar presented in a tube. Known in factories as a Julieta No. 2, the 7 inch by 47 ring gauge Churchill size has always been one of the benchmarks in the Cuban cigar portfolio. This is the second time the size has been released in this aged series, which now has six cigars in total.
Cuba’s Añejados program was launched in 2014 with the release of the Romeo y Julieta Pirámides, a 6 1/8 by 52 figurado (rated 92 points in Cigar Aficionado), and the Montecristo Churchill, a standard 7 by 47 cigar that scored 91 points in the magazine. At the time of their release, each of the cigars were reported to have been aged between five to eight years. Every box was stamped with the original production date, and always carried a “Revisado” stamp, indicating the cigars had gone through a final inspection before being shipped.
In 2015, two more Añejados were announced: the Partagás Corona Gorda Añejados (5 5/8 by 46, 91 points), and the Hoyo de Monterrey Hermosos No. 4 Añejados (5 by 48, 90 points). Then, two years later, Habanos added the H. Upmann Robusto Añejados (5 by 50) to the program. In each case, the Añejados cigar represented a new size in the brand’s normal lineup.
Unlike previous Añejados releases, the Romeo y Julieta Churchill is the first Añejados cigar that is also a standard size sold in the brand. It will be available, according to Habanos S.A., around the world in the coming months; however, the La Casa del Habano in Zurich, Switzerland, was able to get them last week in advance. The Churchills are being sold there for 835 Swiss Francs (about $858) per box of 25, or approximately $34.32 per cigar. Compare that to 580 Swiss Francs (about $596), which is the cost of a regular, un-aged box of Romeo Churchills from the same store. That’s a markup of 44 percent.
Habanos S.A. has never confirmed where the tobacco for the Añejados cigar line came from. Rumors of a large cache of cigars set aside for future sale have always been denied by current executives in the Cuban cigar monopoly. Since the new Romeo y Julieta Churchill Añejado is touted as having been aged for 10 years, the assumption is that the cigars are from the same original program as the other Añejados cigars.
