The King Street Emporium

1875 (Gold Box)

By Romeo Y Julieta

Romeo y Julieta was founded in Havana in 1875 by Inocencio Alvarez and Manin Garcia, named after Shakespeare's most enduring love story. The brand quickly became one of Cuba's most celebrated, eventually earning a reputation that stretched well beyond the island. After the Cuban embargo cut American access to the original, Altadis relaunched the brand in the Dominican Republic, where it has been produced ever since at Tabacalera de Garcia, the largest premium cigar factory in the world. The 1875 line is the flagship of that Dominican legacy. It uses an Indonesian shade-grown TBN wrapper over a Dominican binder and a blend of Dominican long-filler tobaccos, producing a consistently medium-bodied cigar that has earned a 92 rating from Cigar Aficionado and holds the distinction of being one of the best-selling premium cigars in the world. The blend was developed by the Grupo de Maestros, the same team of master blenders behind Montecristo and H. Upmann. For a cigar carrying that much history and that many credentials, it remains one of the more approachable and honestly priced smokes on any shelf.