Ramon Allones Noellas Italy's 2020 Regional Jar Release....

[KavalanWhisky]

https://halfwheel.com/ramon-allones-noellas-selected-as-italys-2020-edicion-regional-release/391385/

 

Italy’s storied collection of Edición Regional releases will get another entry later this year: the Ramón Allones Noellas. And yes, it will come in jars.

Diadema S.p.A.—the distributor of Cuban cigars in Italy—confirmed to halfwheel that its 2020 Edición Regional release will be the Ramón Allones Noellas, a 5 1/5 inches (132mm) x 42 corona. While it shares many similarities with the H. Upmann Noellas, it’s not quite the same vitola. The Ramón Allones Noellas is the Eminentes vitola—the same size as the H. Upmann Coronas Major—while the H. Upmann Noellas is 3mm longer.

It will come in jars that are quite similar to the H. Upmann Noellas, albeit with Ramón Allones branding. This will be the first time Italy has received an Edición Regional in jars and appears to be the first modern instance of a Ramón Allones release to officially be sold in jars.

The MSRP is set at €16 per cigar ($9.60) or €400 ($480) per jar of 25. Production is limited to 4,500 individually numbered jars.

Diadema S.p.A. has not announced a release date, just that it is expected later this year.

 

I'm excited about the old band look and the pricing

 

[NSXCIGAR]

Do we know it'll have the classic bands? Don't see any image or mention of that. Hope it does. 

And why didn't they use the Cosacos vitola like the HU Noellas? An Eminentes? So we get screwed out of 3mm.

And I'm not thrilled about the price. $480--in Italy. Instant markup to get them out of there, so you're looking at $22-23 for a damn Eminentes. And they probably won't even give us the classic bands. 

 

[gojira]

  On 3/22/2021 at 9:38 AM, NSXCIGAR said:

Do we know it'll have the classic bands? Don't see any image or mention of that. Hope it does. 

And why didn't they use the Cosacos vitola like the HU Noellas? An Eminentes? So we get screwed out of 3mm.

And I'm not thrilled about the price. $480--in Italy. Instant markup to get them out of there, so you're looking at $22-23 for a damn Eminentes. And they probably won't even give us the classic bands. 

 

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They will have the classic band with Noellas written in it. I posted a pic in another thread last week.

 

Found it:

 

[Corylax18]

  On 3/22/2021 at 9:38 AM, NSXCIGAR said:

Do we know it'll have the classic bands? Don't see any image or mention of that. Hope it does. 

And why didn't they use the Cosacos vitola like the HU Noellas? An Eminentes? So we get screwed out of 3mm.

And I'm not thrilled about the price. $480--in Italy. Instant markup to get them out of there, so you're looking at $22-23 for a damn Eminentes. And they probably won't even give us the classic bands. 

 

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RP Noellas are $400 plus, they really couldn't charge much less than $480 for these. I agree both prices are too high, but I'm a broken record on that point. 

I think they use the slightly different Vitola's to help prevent fakes, but that doesn't make much sense in this case. There are plenty of RP Eminentes out there ready for rebanding. 

If these where ~$300 I'd probably be in for 2. At the ~$600 plus they will be available for, its a hard pass. It looks like another unique release from Diadema though, certainly better than another $25 Petite Robusto. 

[Puros Y Vino]

400 Euros apparently. 

[NSXCIGAR]

  On 3/22/2021 at 2:16 PM, PurosyVino said:

400 Euros apparently. 

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Yes, but only in Italy who doesn't export. So add an instant 10%+ premium on that for any European vendor who gets them out of there. $530-550 USD bare minimum for these.

 

  On 3/22/2021 at 1:56 PM, Corylax18 said:

I think they use the slightly different Vitola's to help prevent fakes, but that doesn't make much sense in this case. There are plenty of RP Eminentes out there ready for rebanding. 

If these where ~$300 I'd probably be in for 2. At the ~$600 plus they will be available for, its a hard pass. It looks like another unique release from Diadema though, certainly better than another $25 Petite Robusto. 

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The best way to combat fakes would be to use the Cosacos. Only used by the HU Noellas. Eminentes are 3 current cheapies. Should have used Coronas Grandes (only Siglo III).

The prices you mention are in line with the HU Noellas, which would be reasonable. These will be nearly twice as much and smaller! Very nice release, but this is just an outrageous price. By size, one of the most expensive ERs in recent memory. 

If I read that correctly they're at 4,500 jars, so 112,500 sticks. That's a lot. Won't be scarce, and the price will be high. Yuck.

[LLC]

The Noellas jar at 122CUC already seemed like a bargain, this only make it look that much better.


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[Bijan]

  On 3/22/2021 at 8:09 PM, NSXCIGAR said:

The best way to combat fakes would be to use the Cosacos. Only used by the HU Noellas

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What about Fonseca cosacos? Though granted those are often rough looking, but so are the cheapy eminentes.

[NSXCIGAR]

  On 3/22/2021 at 11:36 PM, LLC said:

The Noellas jar at 122CUC already seemed like a bargain, this only make it look that much better

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HU Noellas at 122 CUC is (was) maybe the bargain on the island. I would pay that for just the cigars and no jar. 

I don't know where this pricing for the RAs came from. My goodness, the PL Coronas 50 cab was $500. No reason these should be more than 300 euro, especially with the apparent production numbers.

  On 3/23/2021 at 6:37 AM, Bijan said:

What about Fonseca cosacos? Though granted those are often rough looking, but so are the cheapy eminentes.

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Even more embarrassing I missed that--it's named Cosacos for goodness sake. 

You can tell Fonseca is more or less an afterthought for me.

[Bijan]

  On 3/23/2021 at 6:43 AM, NSXCIGAR said:

You can tell Fonseca is more or less an afterthought for me.

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Insipid is what instantly comes to my mind, though the cosacos is a bit less bland than the KDT Cadetes and No. 1. But I like them for smoking on zoom as I'm not really paying that much attention to the cigar and also for a change every now and again. Price can't be beat, although not really much of a mystery why. Every now and again they can surprise.

[NSXCIGAR]

  On 3/23/2021 at 6:48 AM, Bijan said:

Insipid is what instantly comes to my mind, though the cosacos is a bit less bland than the KDT Cadetes and No. 1. But I like them for smoking on zoom as I'm not really paying that much attention to the cigar and also for a change every now and again. Price can't be beat, although not really much of a mystery why. Every now and again they can surprise.

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I have no problem with Fonseca's existence. I do have a problem with Fonseca having more models than Dip, LGC, SLR and SP. They even cut one but won't stop making it.

Funny enough, in my days of trying all the Cuban brands for the first time Fonseca is the only one I decided to not revisit. Decidedly not for me. 

[Corylax18]

  On 3/22/2021 at 8:09 PM, NSXCIGAR said:

The best way to combat fakes would be to use the Cosacos. Only used by the HU Noellas. Eminentes are 3 current cheapies. Should have used Coronas Grandes (only Siglo III).

The prices you mention are in line with the HU Noellas, which would be reasonable. These will be nearly twice as much and smaller! Very nice release, but this is just an outrageous price. By size, one of the most expensive ERs in recent memory. 

If I read that correctly they're at 4,500 jars, so 112,500 sticks. That's a lot. Won't be scarce, and the price will be high. Yuck.

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Dont forget the Monte Tubo!! Its one of my favorites, and I love the Corona Grandes size. I agree though, the size/value ratio is not strong with this release. 

 

  On 3/23/2021 at 6:43 AM, NSXCIGAR said:

HU Noellas at 122 CUC is (was) maybe the bargain on the island. I would pay that for just the cigars and no jar. 

 

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Agreed, one of the best deals in all of cigars. I've only been lucky enough to grab 2 jars, but I look for them during every trip. 

 

  On 3/23/2021 at 8:03 AM, Psiman said:

it doesn't matter what jar you put them in, it's still a $6 or $7 cigar at best. Habanos will assign what ever price they want to things like this. Case and point the new Partagas and others in 5 ct. tins at inflated prices. You would think the public would stop supporting this kind of marketing. Just go buy RASCC at half the price and no gimmicky packaging to hustle consumers with. 

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The distributors actually set the pricing for regional releases, so blame Diadema in this case. They pay HSA X dollars for Y cigars, its then the distributors job to market the release. Hence why they will only be sold in Italy and marked up heavily by the people reselling examples on the internet. 

[La_Tigre]

  On 3/23/2021 at 2:20 PM, Corylax18 said:

Agreed, one of the best deals in all of cigars. I've only been lucky enough to grab 2 jars, but I look for them during every trip.

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Only hindrance is the transport size...we have one jar now resting in perpetuity on the island...

The RA is the same jar at 4-5x the acquisition price. May look to trade the jars but won’t be buying a full one.

[LLC]

  On 3/23/2021 at 6:43 AM, NSXCIGAR said:

HU Noellas at 122 CUC is (was) maybe the bargain on the island. I would pay that for just the cigars and no jar. 

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Agree, I really don’t need any more jars and the cigars are definitely worth that on there own.

[NSXCIGAR]

  On 3/23/2021 at 2:20 PM, Corylax18 said:

Dont forget the Monte Tubo!!

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For some reason I thought MT1 had been cut last year...guess not. 

  On 3/23/2021 at 2:20 PM, Corylax18 said:

The distributors actually set the pricing for regional releases, so blame Diadema in this case. They pay HSA X dollars for Y cigars, its then the distributors job to market the release.

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Yes, the distributors set the final price but we don't know what HSA charged them. That might be a factor in Diadema's price. I doubt Diadema would mark this up that much knowing they can't export and the run is 4,500 jars. This price just seems way out of line in every way. The jars aren't even ceramic! 

I don't believe Italy can discount tobacco (similar to Germany) so the European vendors' cost can't be less than 400 euro, so I expect these to linger for years at 500 euro if those production numbers are correct. And the jar's weight increases shipping costs. Once you start getting over 60,000 sticks it takes a while to move these ERs. Both the RG 88 and Punch 898 (88,000 sticks) are still readily available, in the case of the RG 88, 4 years later. I believe LFDC Casanova is still available and that was only 60,000 sticks.

[Corylax18]

  On 3/23/2021 at 6:05 PM, La_Tigre said:

Only hindrance is the transport size...we have one jar now resting in perpetuity on the island...

The RA is the same jar at 4-5x the acquisition price. May look to trade the jars but won’t be buying a full one.

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Agreed, if/when I find them again, the 3rd jar will stay on the island!

 

  On 3/23/2021 at 7:40 PM, NSXCIGAR said:

For some reason I thought MT1 had been cut last year...guess not. 

Yes, the distributors set the final price but we don't know what HSA charged them. That might be a factor in Diadema's price. I doubt Diadema would mark this up that much knowing they can't export and the run is 4,500 jars. This price just seems way out of line in every way. The jars aren't even ceramic! 

I don't believe Italy can discount tobacco (similar to Germany) so the European vendors' cost can't be less than 400 euro, so I expect these to linger for years at 500 euro if those production numbers are correct. And the jar's weight increases shipping costs. Once you start getting over 60,000 sticks it takes a while to move these ERs. Both the RG 88 and Punch 898 (88,000 sticks) are still readily available, in the case of the RG 88, 4 years later. I believe LFDC Casanova is still available and that was only 60,000 sticks.

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I hope not! Its work keeping up with what's actually being produced/what was cut, but still produced. Etc. Ill keep buying them until they go away. 

The RG 88 is still around because the cigars sucked. There are plenty of examples of larger volume Regionals selling quickly, if the cigars are good. 60,000 Punch Sir David's where sold the day they announced them. Haha. I know every cigar doesn't have that cache, but the good ones move. I haven't and probably will never smoke a Talisman, but that went from a "Limited Edition" to hundreds of thousands of sticks, produced across several factories and years. My point is, if they nail it, (price, presentation, etc.) the top line production number doesn't matter much. 

You're right, HSA Could be charging Diadema $300 per jar, they have "rationalized" some of their prices over the last 18-24 months. But, I would be surprised if that was the case, either the HSA loses their ass on every jar of Noellas (I doubt it) or their true costs are in the $50 range. 

We know that the farmers, rollers, etc. are getting cents on the dollar. As you said, the Jars aren't all that special themselves, maybe $35 a piece when purchased in bulk? Stuff them with "$15 dollars worth" of cigars and there it is. Maybe another $10-$15 for all of the printed material, cedar, etc? So maybe, $65 at the most, out of pocket. Say they double it for the "special release" we're still only talking $130 a jar, that leaves damn near 400 Euro's a jar for shipping, marketing and maybe, just maybe a touch of profit...........