My 2009 Habanos Cigar of the Year Award

[gfoster]

I don't have a large experience with cuban cigars. My introduction to cubans (and cigars in general) was the venerable Montecristo #4 which set a nice standard for the rest of my cigar smoking experience. While I enjoyed the montes, nothing prepared me for my first Ramone Allones Specially Select, which is my selection for the Habanos Cigar of the Year.

Why, in a world of awesome cigars, would one pick the venerable RASS? Many people cite this as a "blue collar" cigar. It's economical, reliable and unsexy. It is also a phenomenal smoke and I don't feel like I'm lighting $20 bills on fire every time I light one up. It's also a powerhouse of flavor.

I tend to prefer more full-bodied smokes and the RASS delivers in spades. The first one I had of these was in my back yard, sitting with my feet propped up and a cup of tea in my hand after doing some backyard chores. I actually remember stopping, staring at the cigar and going "what the hell?" (in entirely a good way). I'd had a few random CC's prior, but this is the first cuban cigar that actually made me stop what I was doing, stare at the cigar and focus on what I was smoking.

The body is rich and full bodied with heavy espresso notes. There's a definite chocolatey silkiness to the smoke as well as some slight stonefruit and spice notes that interweave throughout. This may be a "blue collar" smoke but we should remember that blue collar is also often considered "salt of the earth" and I personally consider "blue collar" to be a badge of honor. The world was built on the foundations of blue collar laborers and my humidor could easily be built on the foundations of this cigar.

Thank you, humble little RASS, for showing me what a real cuban cigar is like. You will always have a place of honor in my humidor.

My portion of the HQ box I recently purchased, getting some naptime before I tuck into them... oh and there's a single tagalong there too that I got in a trade. See if you can pick it out from it's brethren

-- Gary F.

[ksblazer]

Glad to hear that the 2009 RASS is your cigar of the year. I'm enjoying some 07's right now. I wish I could nominate a cigar for the year of 2009. But the only 2009 cigars I have is a box of Partaga Serie D No.4's and I have yet to crack them open. I'll be doing that in a couple of weeks when they are re-humidified.

[aavkk]

O man, if you enjoy those RASS now do yourself a favor and buy a few more boxes. You will want to smoke these with age, they are simply magnificent if you get a great box.

[samb]

The HQ will be a stunner.