Puritos (5 Sticks per Box)

Founded in 1875 by Inocencio Alvarez and Manin García, Romeo y Julieta became the house that literally named the Churchill format after Sir Winston visited the Havana factory in 1946 — yet the Puritos sits at the opposite end of the portfolio, a compact machine-made petit cigar designed for shorter smoking occasions.

Tobacco originates exclusively from Vuelta Abajo, Pinar del Río, a Habanos Protected Appellation of Origin whose red, clay-rich colorado soils, warm humid microclimate, and consistent trade winds yield leaves with an unusually precise balance of combustibility, aroma, and measured strength.

Sun-grown leaves form the filler and binder; a shade-grown Criollo wrapper from the same zone delivers a finer-textured draw. Post-harvest, leaves undergo air-curing in ventilated barns for 25–50 days, followed by bulk fermentation in pilones at 40–50°C for 15–90 days to strip ammonia and build layered flavor compounds.

The critical distinction: unlike the brand's flagship handmade vitolas — rolled totalmente a mano, tripa larga — the Puritos is machine-produced, making it the one format in the Romeo y Julieta line that breaks the house's handmade rule. The result is a consistent, medium-bodied smoke with the house signature of cedar, almond, and citrus in a format that finishes in under 20 minutes.