Ramon Allones Specially Selected vs Ramon Allones Superiores

[soonerwings]

For those of you that have had both the Allones Superior and the RASS, what’s the difference between the two? I’ve loved me some RASS, but a Corona-ish vitola is my kryptonite.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

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[canadianbeaver]

Here ya go. All this info is on Trevor's site, www.cubancigarwebsite.com. One this I can tell you is the first one is probably 2x as much $$.

CB

[Cayman17]

ETP ABR 17 Superiores I am smoking now have a pleasant caramel sweetness to them that comes and goes as you smoke them.  To me RASS is more full-bodied and you sometimes get a raisin/fruit note. I really enjoy the Superiores but try not to overpay for them. $110 - $120 US is okay but I would not pay more than that for a box. 

[Ericbrobes]

I'm interested to hear opinions on this as well.

[joeypots]

 It depends on the box. Both can be exceptional with the RASS, imho, being less consistent. The Superiors are a great size. An aged well kept RASS can be a thing of beauty. 

[JohnS]

For me, The Ramon Allones Specially Selected Robusto is more cocoa, coffee bean, perhaps milk chocolate with age, with the typical Ramon Allones stewed fruit profile. In contrast, I find the Ramon Allones Superiores Corona Gorda to be milder, woody, floral with honey sweetness at times, with the Ramon Allones stewed fruit profile not as intense as I've found in the RASS.

[Derboesekoenig]

You never seem to hear much of anything about the Superiores. Is it because that it is maybe too mild? Or pricier than the RASS, and only comes in 10 ct boxes?

[JohnS]

I think there may be two reasons. One, the quality in 2015-16 production is generally as not as good as 2014 and two, they weren't as widely available as RASS in the recent past. I believe they are more widely available, worldwide, in this second half of the year, 2018.

[havanaclub]

I have some MSU 17s smoking very well, had one last week I believe.
And I agree with John, more sweetness from the RAS.


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[mbflash80]

Honest question and not meant as a slight in the least...whom here has actually had "stewed fruit"...its not commonly found on many menus here in Nor Cal...yet we use it freely to describe cigars..funny thing is I think I know what that profile entails

[luckme10]

1 hour ago, mbflash80 said:

Honest question and not meant as a slight in the least...whom here has actually had "stewed fruit"...its not commonly found on many menus here in Nor Cal...yet we use it freely to describe cigars..funny thing is I think I know what that profile entails

Stewed fruit is pretty common as a topping everywhere. You can find it at breakfast diners in oatmeal or cottage cheese, pancakes, granola, etc. If you've ever had a yogurt parfait they usually are served with berry compote, aka stewed berries. Not sure where in Norcal you're from, but as a lifelong bay area resident, if you're around the east bay, I'd recommend checking out the berry compote pancakes at Sunrise Bistro in Walnut Creek. Considering the state's massive produce exports, if you want some other fresh stewed fruit, spend some time more inland California, there's a ton of fruit stands around manteca/oakdale that would be happy to provide you with some. 

[mbflash80]

2 hours ago, luckme10 said:

Stewed fruit is pretty common as a topping everywhere. You can find it at breakfast diners in oatmeal or cottage cheese, pancakes, granola, etc. If you've ever had a yogurt parfait they usually are served with berry compote, aka stewed berries. Not sure where in Norcal you're from, but as a lifelong bay area resident, if you're around the east bay, I'd recommend checking out the berry compote pancakes at Sunrise Bistro in Walnut Creek. Considering the state's massive produce exports, if you want some other fresh stewed fruit, spend some time more inland California, there's a ton of fruit stands around manteca/oakdale that would be happy to provide you with some. 

Then maybe I am totally lost on this one...i was thinking more along the lines of peaches or nectarines...not berries...thanks for recommendation.

[JohnS]

The reference to 'stewed fruit' is there to differentiate a variety of stonefruit flavours as opposed to 'citrus-type fruits', for example. Don't sweat it if you don't get this type of flavour/s out Ramon Allones cigars. It's okay not to as palate preferences vary from individual to individual.

[shlomo]

8 hours ago, mbflash80 said:

Honest question and not meant as a slight in the least...whom here has actually had "stewed fruit"...its not commonly found on many menus here in Nor Cal...yet we use it freely to describe cigars..funny thing is I think I know what that profile entails

Hahaha...love the stewed fruit! Don't sweat it brother, not a single person I know (who is not on this or other online forums) tastes stewed fruit in Ramon Allones. 

[joshhooper7]

As far as stewed fruit... I have no idea what that would taste like in a cigar. However, I've definitely tasted prunes with a brown sugar sweetness in some cigars, and when I hear 'stewed fruit' I imagine someone stirring a cauldron of prunes with caramelized sugar as the glue. The CAO Amazon Basin provided the most brown sugar and prune flavor that I've ever experienced; with RASS it's more of bakers chocolate with a slight dusting of prunes in the background, if you're lucky.

[Troels]

Prunes and dried figues maybe, but no stewed fruits for me either

[Kaptain Karl]

I definitely get much more of the stewed fruit flavor off the RASS. While the RAS box I have from 2012 is lovely, for my tastes a good RASS is much better. That stewed fruit flavor blows my damn mind!

[JY0]

Both of these are in my regular rotation. IMO I can taste the common DNA in both. RASS is a bit fuller, RAAS is a bit sweeter. In Cuba it's hard to beat RAAS for around $58 a box. 

[Derboesekoenig]

51 minutes ago, JY0 said:

Both of these are in my regular rotation. IMO I can taste the common DNA in both. RASS is a bit fuller, RAAS is a bit sweeter. In Cuba it's hard to beat RAAS for around $58 a box. 

That makes it 0,3 cheaper than RASS, correct? I regret not grabbing at least a box or two now...I need to head back soon.

[cigaraholic]

Screw stewed fruit....give me the fruitcake!!....that’s what I get when I smoke a great RASS

[soonerwings]

I can’t say that I’ve gotten stewed fruit from a RASS but it may be there lurking behind the delicious floral sweetness and spice.

The only cigar that I’ve tasted stewed fruit in as a dominant flavor is last year’s Angel’s Anvil. Paired with Angel’s Envy bourbon (an acquired taste), it made for a pretty memorable experience.


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[Hotboxx]

I'm smoking a 2424 superiores  ETP APR 2017 that I got in May. I smoked 1 ROTT and liked it a lot . 4 months later and 3 days in dry box it's 2 points better. Burn, mouth feel, smoke production nice. Great sourdough toast, hint of leather and dark chocolate. nothing fruity or floral, much different than a RASS to me. 2/3rds through and the leather has picked up which I really like. 

[NSXCIGAR]

Hate the RASS.

Very much like the RAS.

On 8/31/2018 at 9:12 AM, Derboesekoenig said:

You never seem to hear much of anything about the Superiores. Is it because that it is maybe too mild? Or pricier than the RASS, and only comes in 10 ct boxes?

The RAS was all the rage here on the forum from 12-14. Then, as @JohnS accurately points out, quality and consistency seemed to really drop in 15 and I believe most of 16 saw a production hiatus. 17 has them back on track, but I think word of mouth on these took a big hit over the last 2 years and has yet to recover.

I'd still put them near the top of the Corona Gorda heap but some others have caught up during the last 2 years. Punch Punch and JLS1 are smoking very well recently. 

I actually have no problem with the 10 boxes and doubt that will change as it's the format for nearly all of the LCDH releases. It didn't seem to hurt its popularity from 12-14. 

[Edward7]

On 8/31/2018 at 8:56 PM, mbflash80 said:

Honest question and not meant as a slight in the least...whom here has actually had "stewed fruit"...its not commonly found on many menus here in Nor Cal...yet we use it freely to describe cigars..funny thing is I think I know what that profile entails

My guess is that since Rob uses that term regularly to describe boxes of RASS that are thrown up and members read that description, it’s what people tend to go to in order to describe a RASS. I’ve never stewed fruit in a stew. I don’t know how it smells or tastes, but I can kind of see the link. 
 

A non cigar smoker could laugh if they heard us describe cigars as cocoa, chocolate, cream, coffee, grass, hay, pork, bbq, prawn cocktails, Michelin r compound tires whatever. You have to have an imagination to see the 1% resemblance. It’s hard to describe the flavor of dried tobacco as anything other than tobacco and smoke if you think about it. Some of these wine sommeliers go nuts with their descriptors lol

[Sir Diggamus]

Ramon Allones Specifically Selected was one of my first love Cuban cigars. I love them when you get the rich sweet raisin flavors and cocoa. Unfortunately, after trying many vintages over the years, not many have quite hit the highs of the earlier versions I experienced. I still have had really good ones but most of them end up being meh.

The Ramon Allones- Allones Superiores on the other hand have been “on” since the first one I tried. The flavors have hints of that raisin/stewed fruit you get with the RASS, but lean much more toward cherry for me. I also get notes of cocoa and coffee in there. I haven’t had any recent vintages (18/19), but I have never left an experience with the RAAS with anything less than a “man, that was good!”. I also prefer the Corona Gorda size over a Robusto so on both accounts I vote SUPERIORES.


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