Christmas Corona Gordas, Day 9: Ramon Allones Superiores

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

January 2nd and this is day 9 f this series of reviews. Holidays are officially over for me, as today was my first day back to work, hence the post midnight review. Today’s corona gorda is the Ramon Allones Superior, a new release that has already developed a big fanbase. The Ramon Allones Superior is one of the two vitolas released in 2010 exclusively for the La Casa del Habano stores worldwide. Along with the Seleccion Suprema, a regional edition for Italy released in 2005, this is one of the only two corona gordas from the Allones brand.

The Superior is a lovely looking cigar. It is very well constructed and equally well presented in the numbered dress boxes. It wears an attractive dark wrapper, which is oily and toothy on touch that has some veins but no imperfections. The bunch is firm and the triple cap is rounded and perfectly applied. The cold draw is perfect, with some leathery flavours.

The initial flavours are rich and complex. Nuts, coffee, vanilla, with some added grass, all these in the first few puffs! After the initial mouthfull of flavours, the cigar settles down and becomes smoother and sweeter. Its body is medium, but the flavours are strong and crisp. Fruits, caramel, freshly roasted coffee beans, and also some grass and wood to make it more interesting. It is very complex and although you could relate it to a RASS, it has not got the harsness and ammonia you sometimes find in a young Specially Selected.

In the second third the cigar gets even sweeter. Chocolate, and toffee are the two newcomers, joining the fruity flavours in the foreground. The woody and grassy flavours have now subsided, with some cinnamon and leather now appearing on the background, while the finish is long and salty. The cigar burns evenly and produces clouds of smoke that quickly swarm the room! The ash has a firm texture, light colour and stays on the cigar until it reaches about an inch in length.

In the last third the Superior gets stronger, with the body now being medium to full and its flavours richer and meatier. It is not just sweet now, but it has some strong earthy and woody flavours. But a little ammonia shows up on the finish, spoiling the overall good impression. A few burn problems also appear and they become persistent and irritating. The continuous relighting brings some unpleasant carbon flavours and the cigar is put to rest early.

The Superior is a fine cigar, but it is still young. I found it a lot sweeter and not as strong as your typical Ramon Allones. Its youthfulness cannot be seen on the first half, where the cigar is smooth and creamy, but it starts showing in the last third. If I had tossed it without smoking towards the end it would have scored higher, but I tend to try and smoke my cigars right to the butt and the Superior did not agree with this. It has plenty of aging potential as it would benefit from some more body, so if you have some let them rest. 4 starts and 87 points, for a cigar that has plenty of potential but is not yet ready to be enjoyed at its full…

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