Ramon Allones Silver Jubilee RE Asia Pacific: Weekend Review Competition

[Wilzc]

 

A sampler received from El Pres awhile ago so no box code.

Initial impressions are really good!, smells amazing! looks imposing! spongy without being underfilled. Cap comes off easily, no cuban dimple on this one. Pre light draw is very typical cuban with an extra lemon-ny tinge.

First few puffs are, rather robust. If I would be blind tasting, this would be more of a Partagas than a Ramon. Draw is perfect, billows of smoke, pity the ring gauge makes my jaw cranky.

Burn is wonky from the get go! there is a patch that would not ever stay lit or catch some embers! Burn line is thick and black with traces of oil all over. Ash is on the flaky side and does not have my preferred 'layering' effect.

At the moment, this is a medriocre RASS x Partagas D4 with a touch of brightness, like a lemon zest.

After a few more burn touch ups, we have arrived in the second 3rd. Pear and some other fruitiness appears as that Partagas note fades away. Pepper lingers at the back of the throat. Retrohaling gets a mix of spices with a strong dark wood note.

 

Cigar suddenly died on me out of the blue, I was puffing quite regularly as well. Ah well, such is life. Did a purge and a full relight and suddenly! the cigar came to life! Burn line is a little bit better as well! Cigar is more complex now, cinnamon and cloves fleeting in and out of the fruitiness, and sometimes, on some puffs, light milk chocolate appears.

Final 3rd, the cigar turns darker and earthier. The fruitiness and spices got damp and a little bit muddled. Retrohale is all sorts of interesting and I'm just in cruise control. Going to kick back and enjoy the rest of the smoke. Smoke output remains very generous the entire way!

 

Final smoking duration: circa 80 mins.

 

Overall opinion: 83-91. Perhaps this needs another few years before they are re-assesed. At present, the flavours are not good enough for the asking price, and the construction and burn struggles hurt the Silver Jubilee even more. Granted this is a single sampler smoke, so maybe I got an outlier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mrastigue]

June 2019: smoking my 3rd stick from my box after hanging on to them for a year.  Wonky burn issues with each one.  Wrapper seems extra thick.  Cigar is maturing a bit flavor-wise though.  Will try another in 4-6 months time.