Ramon Allones Estupendo RE POS SEP 06

[Colt45]

Construction: Weight feels very good, no hard spots, all seems in order

Wrapper: Fairly smooth colorado with some mottling. Rather lumpy from the tobacco underneath.

Pre-Light Aroma / Draw / Taste: Sweet barnyard aroma, nice draw with a very light tobacco taste.

Draw / Burn / Smoke Volume: Excellent draw and smoke volume, good burn.

Taste: First draws are woody, a little nutty, and lightly creamy in texture. The wood element fades some leaving sweetish tobacco, the light

cream, and a decidedly citrus finish. Just under medium in body with a great draw and volume of smoke.

Well into the first third it's shown nicely. A nice play between wood and sweet tobacco, light cream middle, citrus finish, and just enough spice on

the tip of the tongue to let you know it's there. Fairly smooth and balanced - harmonious, with what I'd call a medium depth of flavor.

The mid third shows the fruit aspect moving more toward the stewed, but the overall character remains on the brighter versus the earthy side. A few

stray green hints, but generally well mannered. The overall profile has remained fairly stable, but each draw has a nice complexity of the aforementioned

flavors from inhale to exhale.

At midpoint, generally the same. The mid palate has flattened out some and the finish meanders between the earlier fruit and a sense of amaretto.

It has remained just under medium in body, and while certainly not a "thin"cigar, it is not very dense.

Interestingly (to me), the first ashing revealed a prominent cone, while the third (at the start of the final third) is almost reversed - with the binder

seemingly burning slowest.

The final third shows things getting deeper / darker, body moving past medium, and an added greenish tinge, but overall, the ingredients remain

relatively the same. It finishes up moving in that direction. Perhaps not an attention grabber, but a very enjoyable companion.

Score: 91

[lemmycaution]

The few of these I have smoked suffered from a very tight draw, which kind of ruined the experience for me. Hopefully in the future I'll have more luck because I have always heard such great things about these. Thanks for the review, Colt.

[Professor Twain]

Great review... I love these cigars, and have a half a box or so left.

[TrickNick]

These are excellent cigars. I might consider picking some more up before they are out!

[Tarks]

Thanks for the review. I have smoked an 06 as well and loved it. I am told the 07's are even better.

[aavkk]

Thanks for the review Ross, I have actually been slightly more impressed with my 06's than you have. Do you feel they have potential to be classics down the road?

[Colt45]

The few of these I have smoked suffered from a very tight draw, which kind of ruined the experience for me.

Unfortunately, as reported by a number of members (myself included), the original release was plagued with draw issues. This was actually the first

from this box with a truly good draw.

Do you feel they have potential to be classics down the road?

Difficult to say - As you can see, a number of members really like this cigar, but it's been a bit of an enigma to me. At times, it has shown flashes of

brilliance, at others - not so much. To be honest, at this time I would not put it in the same class as the Upmann Sir Winston, and I'm not sure it

has that kind of potential. I've also a box of '07s and I'm looking forward to getting into those.

Of course, this is all just my personal take.

[anacostiakat]

This is the first saturday of a two week Christmas leave for me and I took some time to locate my POS SEP06 box. As I was intent on trying another one. Not having smoked from this box since acquiring it.

I have been hearing a couple of things about this 06 original release of this cigar aside from colt's review.

One is that quite a few folks are experiencing draw problems. On that note I will say that I clipped this beauty and was rewarded with a perfect draw. Flavor is magnificent and follows the review above pretty closely.

The second is that the 07 releases are better than the 06. Well, if that is the case and the remainder of this box smokes the same as this one, I will be one happy cigar smoker.

I am pairing it with a Savigny-Les_beaune 1er Cru Les Peuillets and watching a show on the White House decorations for 2010. The weather outside is cold but it is warm and relaxing within.

I am the master of my domaine.