Cigars.ie

Ramon Allones Gran Robusto - RE Benelux

The first cigar that I was going to look for, on my recent trip to Belgium was going to be the Ramon Allones Gran Robusto, the only Regional Edition cigar for the Benelux region. The Gran Robusto was first released in 2007, in boxes of 25 and cabinets of 50. 600 and 204 of each packaging were made available in the market and they were quickly dissapeared! So in 2008, Habanos S.A. re-released the vitola in more generous amounts; 1400 boxes of 25 and 600 cabinets of 50. The boxes were widely available in all the shops I visited, but not the cabinets!

The Gran Robusto is a pretty damn good looking cigar! It is a typical Robusto Extra, measuring a generous 6.1″ by 50 ring gage, promising around 90 minutes of pleasure. The cigar has a dark brown wrapper, smooth and oily to feel, with a few small veins and strong scents of wood and earth. The pre-light draw is good to firm, with the wrapper leaving a sweet and woody taste on your lips.

The cigar lights up easily. The draw is firm, but not tight, with medium to full-bodied earth and wood flavours.It is very complex from the beginning, with tones of honey, coffee and chocolate. It delivers rich, thick and creamy smoke that you feel you can almost chew!  You can feel the smoke tingling your palette and wrapping around your taste buds! I can only compare that feeling to a good aged Cohiba.

Even burn, consistent draw and flavour are the main characteristics of the Gran Robusto, as I smoke towards the second third. The flavours become even more complex, with coffee and cream joining wood and earth as the predominant flavours. The cigar burns evenly all the way and the draw is now slightly looser, a tad away from perfect!

The cigar finishes as enjoyeable as it started, without getting hot or harsh. I smoked mine down to the butt, enjoying every last bit of it, and it did make it up for the burnt fingertips!

The Ramon Allones Gran Robusto is a great cigar. Its complex, creamy taste and its  impeccable construction make this cigar a true gem. It is in my opinion the best Ramon Allones I have ever smoked, and my best cigar so far in 2009. I will be happy enough to rate it 5 stars on average, only loosing a few points on its appearance ( slightly veiny) and construction (slightly firm draw). Luckily enough, I brought a few with me from Belgium and I will (try to resist the temptation and) to give them a year or to and see if the great can get even better.