Wrapper: Cuban
Binder: Cuban
Filler: Cuban
Size: 4.9 x 52 “Petit Pyramid”
Body: Mild/Medium
Price: $24.50

Today we take a look at the Cuban Ramon Allones Edición Regional Gran Bretaña 2012.
This cigar was produced for Great Britain.
50,000 cigars were produced in 2012.
Thanks to Peter Leviten for the wonderful gift of the Cuban Ramon Allones Edición Regional Gran Bretaña 2012. He’s had this cigar for a year and believes it was bought in 2012.

DESCRIPTION:
The oily wrapper is the color of sun kissed honey combs. Very smooth to the touch.
A solid cigar but not weighty. Fairly tight seams. A lot of small veins.
The triple cap is more than impeccable. It is tri-impeccable.

AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
From the shaft, I smell mild chocolate, cedar, barnyard, citrus, and a touch of spice.
From the clipped cap and the foot, I smell spice, barnyard, milk chocolate, cinnamon, coffee, cedar, cream, and sweetness.
The cold draw presents flavors of chocolate, citrus, spice, wood, nutty, and sweetness.

FIRST THIRD:
The draw is good.
I’ve found that the Cubans I’ve smoked all have very thin wrappers. This makes it hard on them in terms of lasting for years. Especially, during climatic changes as the cigar moves from one time zone to another. I’ve got a crack emanating from the foot but I expect to burn through it. Fingers crossed it doesn’t continue to travel upwards.
I let the cigar rest for a few minutes.

Man, it starts off like a triple climax. Heavy cream, marzipan, black pepper, cedar, coffee, lemon citrus, and some sweet floral notes.

After 3+ years of rest, I’m not sure what the strength was originally. At the moment, it is mild/medium body.

I don’t have much experience smoking Cubans but the ones I’ve smoked have been pretty damn good. There is something about that rich, warmth a Cuban blend brings to the table.

I read in Cigar Aficionado that the Cubans have had some bad seasons in the last few years with the soil being depleted of the essential nutrients thereby producing subpar cigars.

Now, with the prospects of Americans soon being able to buy as many cigars as they want in the next year or so, they are pumping up the production. This is not good as it will end up depleting the soil even more not to mention producing mediocre cigars. So, smokers will need to be very careful in the next year as they may not be able to tell the difference between the fake Cubans and the real ones.

But I’m having a helluva good time with the Cuban Ramon Allones Edición Regional Gran Bretaña 2012.
Smoke output is amazing. There is a floral fragrance in the room.
Strength moves to medium body. With that little kick in the back of the throat.

I’m listening to Zep on a 1972 Live album sent to me by Bryan Kinnaman. Received it yesterday. More on this a bit later.

SECOND THIRD:
Smoke time is 25 minutes.
I successfully burned through that nasty little crack.

Here they are: Citrus, creaminess, marzipan, chocolate, black walnuts, black pepper, coffee, cedar, and floral notes.
Strangely, no malt flavors. Doesn’t need it.

There are no transitions. No complexity. Just a steady stream of flavor. But the flavors are basically uniform without subtleties and nuances. Full ahead as she goes Captain Edward Smith.

I hate to use the term Cubanesque because I’m not really sure what that means. But I know it’s something special.

“Nothing tastes like a Cuban cigar other than a Cuban cigar, just as nothing tastes like a Nicaraguan cigar except a Nicaraguan cigar.” Courtesy of Benji Menendez.

Some new adjuncts to the Cuban Ramon Allones Edición Regional Gran Bretaña 2012: An earthy mineral element, a compendium of nuts: Cashew, almonds, walnuts, and the slightest hint of peanut. The creaminess makes a big surge supplanting the citrus in the flavor list.
The lemon citrus, while very strong, is now second in line.
The chocolate is on the wane.

OK. So the cigar is now very complex. The balance is a bit off with a few flavors very strong and the balance sort of weak.
The finish is long but only for the creaminess and citrus.

Extended aging of a cigar is a tricky thing. Not all blends can handle the challenge. In fact, most become blah losing everything that made them a fine blend. Yet others are renewed and their flavors meld together beautifully actually requiring a few years of humidor time. Naturally, manufacturers don’t tell you this because I really think they don’t know what blend is a motivational speaker after time and what blend becomes the kid with the dunce hat in the corner.

Halfway point. Smoke time is 40 minutes.
Basically, the construction has been good and the char line on point.
Strength remains at medium body.

The citrus was becoming a bit overbearing, but now, it has settled down and allowed the other flavors to be heard from.
An excellent cigar. But certainly not worth $25.00. I check around and find one Cuban cigar site, Cuban Cigar Collectors, selling them for 30 Euros each, or $33.84. A box of 10 goes for 300 Euros. Out of my reach but telling as it is truly a very limited cigar and probably sold out in 2012 very quickly.

So I consider myself very lucky that Peter Leviten would part with this cigar to give to me. What a mensch of the highest order!

LAST THIRD:
Smoke time is 55 minutes.
The Cuban Ramon Allones Edición Regional Gran Bretaña 2012 takes off like the supersonic Concorde…but doesn’t crash and burn.
Just a big flavor explosion. Now we are talking very complex.

One last time: Very sugary, creaminess, citrus, nuts, chocolate, cinnamon, spice, vanilla, floral notes, marzipan, coffee, the peanut component rises dramatically, and cedar. Plus that good Cuban soil.
Damn.
This was a real joy to smoke and a complete surprise. The last Cuban I reviewed was the RASS…I believe. Another gift. There is something about this brand that hits a homer when it comes to the plate.

I take some strong puffs and get a real spice bomb. Black pepper becomes red pepper.

I saw in a cigar forum a comment about me. It said that my photos are much better than they used to be. And I must have gotten a better camera. LOL.
I guess no one considers taking photos with a real camera anymore. I don’t have a smart phone. What does a 66 year old retired man need with a $200 per month phone? I have my laptop right here. We have a Virgin Mobile $10 flip phone and pay $20 per month for 400 minutes per month. I get looks when I use it in public. They look at me like I’m from the Stone Age.

But I did get a better camera about a year ago which explains things. I used a cheap Panasonic. Then I changed to a really good Fuji camera thanks to Fingerhut. Yeah, I know. That $500 camera probably was only a $350 camera and with interest…who knows? But we pay more than the minimum each month. Therefore, we were able to have a Christmas this year.

Caramel enters for the first time. So sweet.
This has been a fun ride. And after the abortion of a review from yesterday, a big relief.
For a cigar that is more than 3 years old, it held up pretty good. Some minor cracking of the wrapper and only minor char line touch ups.

The nub is cool without a hint of harshness or nicotine.
I’d love to direct you to a store where you don’t have to pay a fortune to get one, but unfortunately, I cannot.
Final smoke time is one hour 10 minutes.

RATING: 96

And now for something completely different:

Just yesterday, I got the best birthday present I’ve ever gotten. Bryan Kinnaman sent me a precious 3 CD set called “Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won.” 3 hours of live Zep!!

And the best part? It was taped at the June 25, 1972 concert at the L.A. Forum and the June 27 concert at the Long Beach Arena.
I WAS THERE FOR BOTH CONCERTS!!

In fact, those ticket stubs ended up on the auction block a few months ago on Ebay to help pay medical bills. It just killed me selling them. In fact, despite what pain in the ass reader “magyud” says, I’ve sold off every single piece of rock n roll memorabilia I owned. And I owned a lot. Now…all gone. So fuck you “magyud” (William Burke). His nasty comment is placed on my post: “Help Me…Please.”
This guy has taunted, insulted, and belittled me every chance he got. I only allowed a small handful of his comments to be posted. The rest went into my spam folder. I think the guy is mentally unbalanced.

Back in the summer of 1972, I owned a VW camper bus so every concert my friends and I went to, we took my VW. It had a kitchen and working fridge. We’d get there early and smoke doobs and hash if someone had some. The smoke that poured from that VW must have looked like it was from a Cheech and Chong movie.

I had seen Zep every time they hit L.A. I can’t remember exactly how many times but something around 7-9 times. They would always play 2-4 nights and we always bought tickets for all the shows.
At this 1972 show, I took my new girlfriend, April, to see Zep. She had never even been to a single concert. Not one concert of anyone.

At the time, Bonham, used a kit that was clear plastic and lights were placed inside each drum.

The arena would go black. Then the drums started the song “Rock and Roll.” The lights lit up the arena.
April jumped to her feet in total excitement and didn’t sit for the entire 2-1/2 hour show.

I got the best blow job of my life that night.

And now, thanks to Bryan K., I have back a reminder of those nights. I’ve been listening this entire time I’ve been writing and it has been quite the distraction. LOL.

One last comment. For some reason, in all the albums Zep made, the bass was low in the mix. It was just how things were done back then. Who knows why?
In person, John Paul Jones became my godhead hero. This man blistered the bass. The first time I saw him play, I wanted to go home and burn my bass.
But I got better. So it worked out in the end.

Such wonderful memories. Bryan, you are my boychik.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: cigar review, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars, cuban cigars, Cuban Ramon Allones Edición Regional Gran Bretaña 2012 Cigar Review