Romeo y Julieta

Romeo y Julieta was founded in 1875 by Inocencio Alvarez and Manin Garcia. Its modern character was set by Jose Rodriguez Fernandez, known as Pepin, who bought the house in 1903 and turned it into one of the most aggressively marketed brands of its era, with personalised bands for individual customers and a large catalogue of sizes. The Havana factory on Belascoain, built in the first decade of the twentieth century, still carries the brand's rolling.

The line is broad by Cuban standards and covers everything from the Petit Julieta to the Prominente double corona. The Churchill size takes its name from Winston Churchill, and the Wide Churchills and Short Churchills have since become core references. Blends are generally medium in strength with a floral, cedar-led profile, which has helped the brand hold volume across very different markets.

As with the other pre-revolutionary names, the trademark split after 1959. Habanos S.A. controls the Cuban brand, rolled at the Briones Montoto factory; the non-Cuban Romeo y Julieta belongs to Tabacalera USA and is produced in the Dominican Republic and Honduras. The non-Cuban portfolio includes 1875, Reserva Real and Romeo lines that have no Cuban counterpart. The non-Cuban brand is made at Tabacalera de Garcia in La Romana and at Flor de Copan in Honduras, and it is one of the highest-volume premium names in American shops.