Romeo y Julieta

Habanos writes that the name Romeo y Julieta was created as a Habanos brand in 1875 and has its roots in Shakespeare's tragedy, without naming a founder. OnCuba (2013) writes that in 1875 two Spaniards, Inocencio Álvarez and José García, launched the brand; Wikipedia writes Inocencio Alvarez and Manin García; other pages give 1873 (Origin of Cigar, 2025) or 1870 (CubaMemorias, 2022). Habanos writes that the brand gained international renown in the early years of the twentieth century; Wikipedia writes that it won many prizes between 1885 and 1900 without naming an exhibition, and CubaMemorias cites medals and diplomas at the exhibitions of Brussels, Paris, Chicago and Panama. Habanos cites Don “Pepín” Rodríguez among the first to have recognised the importance of bands as a factor in success; OnCuba and Wikipedia write that José Rodríguez Fernández, known as Don Pepín, acquired the brand in 1903.

Habanos writes that Winston Churchill was one of the most loyal smokers of the brand: since his visit to Havana in 1946, his name has been used on certain bands and has given its name to the brand's best-known vitola, Churchills. According to the trade press (1995), Churchill arrived in Havana in November 1895 and it was in the Caribbean that his passion for the cigar truly began; among his favourite brands, it writes, were Romeo y Julieta and La Aroma de Cuba. The same source writes that Churchill typically smoked eight to ten cigars a day. The Churchills vitola measures 47 x 178 mm (ring gauge 47), with the galera name Julieta No 2, says habanos.com.

The origin of the vitola's name is told in two ways: Habanos links it to Churchill's visit to Havana in 1946; the trade press (2018) writes that many say it was created at the Romeo y Julieta factory in the late 1940s, after a visit by Sir Winston, and that others think the name Churchill did not appear on Romeo y Julieta cigars until the 1950s.

In June 2019, Habanos presented Churchills Añejados in tubes, in a protective sleeve that covers the original box of 25; the house says it launched the Añejados concept with the Pirámides vitola. Habanos also lists in the brand the Short Churchills (2006, 124 mm long) and the Petit Churchills (2012, ring gauge 50 x 102 mm, about twenty minutes of smoke according to the house).

Habanos describes Romeo y Julieta as the classic Habano of medium flavour, in Vuelta Abajo tobacco. The Línea de Oro, three vitolas presented at the gala of the XXII Festival del Habano (press release of 2 March 2020) to mark the brand's 145 years, is given by Habanos as medium to strong in strength, while the heart of the brand is medium in strength.

In 2012 Habanos presented Churchills Reserva Cosecha 2008, Vuelta Abajo tobaccos aged at least three years, then in June 2015 a Gran Reserva Cosecha 2009 in Wide Churchills: a special series of 5,000 numbered lacquered boxes of 15, with leaves from the 2009 harvest aged five years. The Wide Churchills, presented in a press release of 3 June 2010, is a vitola de galera Montesco, ring gauge 55 (21.83 mm) and 130 mm long; Habanos writes that it inaugurates the 55 ring gauge and describes a balanced, aromatic blend. In September 2023 Habanos presented the Cupidos in Germany (ring gauge 55 x 148 mm, box of 20), sold only in the Casas del Habano and at the Habanos Specialists, says the press release; in February 2025, for the brand's 150th anniversary, the Amantes vitola (53 x 153 mm) was unveiled at the XXV Festival del Habano.

Where is it rolled? In Cuba the question has a two-storey answer. Since 2002 each Habanos brand has had a mother factory, responsible for leaf selection and blend, and its cigars may be rolled in any of the island's few dozen factories under the mother's supervision; Habanos does not publish that map, the trade press reconstructs it. Habanos does not name the factory of Romeo y Julieta, and the press gives successive versions that diverge. In March 2006 the trade press reports the closure of the old Romeo y Julieta factory in Havana, judged too dilapidated to be renovated, its workers being due to move to a new factory at the gates of the city. In 2011 it describes a Romeo y Julieta / H. Upmann factory at 852 calle Belascoaín, in Centro Habana, where the H. Upmann team moved in in February 2011; in 2014 it writes that the brand was housed in that building until around 2000, and that production there was then increasingly outsourced. In February 2024 Prensa Latina presents the Carlos Baliño factory, in Marianao, in a renovated former convent of the early twentieth century, as the new Romeo y Julieta factory; Origin of Cigar writes in 2025 that the brand has been based there since 2015, on a site that was, from about 1950 to 2013, the José L. Piedra factory. The trade press also writes in 2011 that the Francisco Donatién factory, in Pinar del Río, rolls a few Romeo y Julieta. In October 2026 the page “The Habanos Brands Academia” on habanos.com lists Romeo y Julieta among the six global brands of a portfolio of 27 brands, with Cohiba, Montecristo, Partagás, Hoyo de Monterrey and H. Upmann; the trade press announced this classification on 1 August 2019 and says these brands are sold in every market where Cuban cigars are found and are present in all the Casas del Habano.

Range Depth

• Churchill

  Wrapper Vuelta Abajo · Strength Medium

  Vitola de galera Julieta No 2, ring gauge 47 x 178 mm, says habanos.com, which presents it as the best-known vitola of the brand and links its name to Churchill's visit to Havana in 1946. Habanos released Churchills Reserva Cosecha 2008 in 2012 and presented Churchills Añejados in tubes in June 2019, in boxes of 25 under a protective sleeve. The house describes the brand as the classic Habano of medium flavour.

  Churchill

• Wide Churchill

  Wrapper Vuelta Abajo · Strength Medium

  Vitola de galera Montesco, ring gauge 55 (21.83 mm) x 130 mm, presented in a press release of 3 June 2010: Habanos writes that it inaugurates the brand's 55 ring gauge and describes a balanced, aromatic blend. The Gran Reserva Cosecha 2009 derived from it (June 2015) is a special series of 5,000 numbered lacquered boxes of 15, with Vuelta Abajo leaves aged five years.

  Wide Churchill

• Short et Petit Churchills

  Wrapper Vuelta Abajo · Strength Medium

  The Short Churchills, presented in February 2006 as the brand's robusto, measures 124 mm long, says Habanos. The Petit Churchills, presented in September 2012, is a vitola de galera Petit Robustos, ring gauge 50 (19.84 mm) x 102 mm, in boxes of 25, for about twenty minutes of smoke according to the house.

• Línea de Oro

  Wrapper Vuelta Abajo · Strength Medium-Full

  Three vitolas presented at the gala of the XXII Festival del Habano (press release of 2 March 2020) to mark the brand's 145 years: Hidalgos (ring gauge 57 x 125 mm), Nobles (ring gauge 56 x 135 mm) and Dianas (ring gauge 52 x 145 mm). Habanos gives the line as medium to strong in strength, with a band and a cintillo designed for it alone; on its brand page, Dianas and Hidalgos are parejos and Nobles a figurado.

🥃 Pairings

• Bollinger R.D.

  Champagne

  Suggested pairing for a Churchills (47 x 178 mm), with a brand that Habanos describes as the classic Habano of medium flavour.

• Springbank 12 years

  Whisky

  Suggested pairing for a Wide Churchills (ring gauge 55 x 130 mm), with a brand that Habanos describes as of medium flavour.

• Darjeeling First Flush

  Tea

  Suggested pairing for a Petit Churchills (ring gauge 50 x 102 mm), about twenty minutes of smoke according to Habanos.

👤 Associated figures

• Winston Churchill

  Habanos writes that Winston Churchill was one of the most loyal smokers of the brand: since his visit to Havana in 1946, his name has been used on certain bands and has given its name to the Churchills vitola, the best known of the brand. According to the trade press (1995), he arrived in Havana in November 1895, it was in the Caribbean that his passion for the cigar truly began, Romeo y Julieta was among his favourite brands and he typically smoked eight to ten cigars a day. Sources diverge on the date of the vitola's name: the late 1940s according to some, the 1950s according to others (trade press, 2018).

✨ Notable limited editions

• Romeo y Julieta Churchills Reserva Cosecha 2008 (2012)
• Romeo y Julieta Gran Reserva Wide Churchills Cosecha 2009 (2015)
• Romeo y Julieta Tacos Edición Limitada (2018)
• Romeo y Julieta Cupidos (présentée en Allemagne, 2023)
• Romeo y Julieta Amantes, 150e anniversaire (2025)
• Romeo y Julieta Romeos, humidor du 125e anniversaire (2000)