Popular Post PointFivePast Posted April 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted April 12, 2020 It's finally time... I'm going to lay flame to my first Regional Edition I ever received. Got this stick as part of a trade back when I first got in to CCs around late 2014 so I have no idea of box code or exact roll date. As with many new collectors, it promptly went in to a box of Grail-type smokes that I didn't trust myself to be able to enjoy. There it sat, waiting patiently. At first, the ER band was enough to keep me away and the fact that it was not from a country so readily available at the Netherlands or Spain added even more prohibition. After a couple of years I knew there were no more of these on the market (primary or secondary) so now this was truly an unrepeatable experience... add in more fear of smoking it. A couple months ago I found this cigar and decided to find a reason to smoke it. Enter this competition and it seems the stars have aligned! Initial Impressions: To start with, the petit belicoso is probably one of my favorite vitolas. Great size in the hand, the ease of draw of a well cut pyramid cap, perfect length of smoke... whats not to love? Construction on this stick feels good; firm with just a bit of give, well applied cap, no knots can be felt inside. Aroma at cold is simply stunning, giving off a sweet honey note that reminds me of sweet mead - ever so slightly fermented. There's a bit of dry hay and a unique note of sweet mesquite as well as some cedar and saddle blanket coming off the foot. Cold draw reveals more mesquite, sweet and spicy with a rick smokiness, and maybe a touch of cumin. Enough about the aromatics... on to the cigar! Paired up with a Campo Viejo cava for a beverage. First Third: Draw is absolute perfection with heavy smoke production from the very beginning. Instantly recognizable as a Ramon Allones in the flavor profile. Dried fruit (apricot and dates), honey, nougat, very soft flavors though the intensity is a solid medium. Reminds me of a Turkish delight. The flavors are elegant and well-behaved, perhaps even a bit tame, but you can recognize that this must have been rambunctious in it's youth. Hints of nuts (cashew?) coming through now but very faint. Spice flits in and out with a profile like the pickled ginger you get with sushi. The nougat is consistent... does anyone know about Zero bars? A candy bar I used to like as a kid that was just all white nougat on the inside; this is that in a cigar. Just wrap that nougat in a bit of cedar and bind it shut with some dried fruit jelly and you have this cigar. Second Third: Leaving bands on not for posterity but for fear of removing them before the glue softens. Construction has been flawless so far with a spot on burn, zero relights, ash that holds forever, and tons of smoke production. Why can't all CCs have this level of quality in the roll? As for flavor, hints of marzipan and mildly sweet, eggy bread like challah. Spice is still present but mostly as an aroma in the nose instead of on the palate and the profile has become all clove. The nougat of before has been replaced by a holistic note of Graham cracker. Flavors are still mild in theme but medium in intensity. Around the halfway point I notice the floral components gaining strength taking the entire profile in the direction of jasmine-infused green tea. A rye quality has also begun to appear with a bit of a spicy spearmint. Final Third: Profile returns to the nougat, fruit and nuts of the opening. Rye spice hangs around a bit and occasionally the Graham cracker notes return. Stewed fruit comes in with more intensity than the dried fruits of earlier. Flavors stay relatively clean even as the cigar darkens a bit in tone towards the end. If anything, the final third is a repeat of everything that came before just with a rapid cycling of flavors instead of clean, singular expressions. Cigar strength stays at a sold medium for both intensity and nicotine. Conclusions: Word to the wise... don't wait forever! This cigar was beautiful and elegant in it's profile but I wish I has known it in youth... what a bruiser it could have been! Perhaps the advice is buy everything by the box so you can smoke them over the years. In any case, the cigar scores extremely high on construction and ease of smoking. Loved the fact that it carried such a recognizable Ramon Allones profile. Received this in trade so not sure of original cost but Halfwheel's review from a few years ago indicates this was about $25 USD on initial release... steep to be sure but ERs do have country specific taxes I suppose. I would say to those who have these in their humidors, "Lucky you! Revisit them if you haven't recently," but I don't know that I would search out more of these personally at that price point. Overall, great smoke that has aged well and may yet have a couple turns left in it... I could see the Turkish delight profile perhaps gaining sweetness and some cream over time. Me personally, I can deal with a bit more punch in my flavors. I give this cigar a 93/100 for great construction and a solid expression of high end Ramon Allones DNA. The only detractors for me are slight lack of depth and transitions (a couple more twists in the story would be nice) and the price compared to the overall experience... but no one buys ERs for the value! Thanks for reading and hope everyone is having a good Easter weekend even with the strangeness in the world today. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99call Posted April 12, 2020 Share Posted April 12, 2020 great read, cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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