Ramon Allones Allones Specially Selected TUA FEB 20 (PSRW)

[saltbox]

Rested for just over 3 months, 10 months box age. My first out of this box, though I've had some out of a cab of ASR JUN 17 from 24:24 that have been excellent.

Why: It's not so much about the evidence for this one being a star of the year and more wishful thinking: I've found the fruit flavors of various marcas (cherries in RyJ, stewed fruit in RA, resting some SLR Regios I'm looking forward to) to be particularly unique and interesting, and if RASS has a great 2021, all the better! From what I recall there were quite a few PSP and HQ listings of 2020 boxes in 24:24.

Drink pairing: Humm Blueberry Mint Kombucha. Not too sweet and it seems to go well with the older RASS I've had.

First third: Opens with cream, cedar, and a light malty sweetness on the finish. The tannic cedar increases in prominence and picks up some peppery spice. The retrohale brings out a subtle leathery raisin note, but otherwise the cigar overall is quite cedar-forward and tannic.

Middle third: Some occasional hints of malt and stone fruit on the retrohale but they seem trapped underneath the cedar. There are really nice sweet malty notes on the aroma of the foot smoke, but it's far from representative of the flavor. At the halfway point, some faint plum notes appear, but by the end of the third they've faded again.

Last third: At this point all the interesting notes have faded and it's really just cedar and almost paper coming off the cigar.

Overall: A bit bummed to have this one be so muted right after having similar results with a PSD4 the other night. I've found that the thinner/shorter vitolas have been smoking much better young than their bigger counterparts. May have to go out and grab some RASCC while I let these sit for longer. 85/100