Ramon Allones Specially Selected : PET OCT 15 : RA Review Comp 2016

[schubb]

This RASS comes from a PSP box, PET OCT 15. My spreadsheet of cigars says I haven’t had one of these since the middle of May. I usually try to rotate what I’m smoking and try everything at least once every three months. The longer delay on these was due to mixed experiences with the first three out of this box. This box was very oily, and one of the three completely refused to burn while another tunneled for most of the smoke as the wrapper barely burned. The one that burned well was incredible, and I hope for a similar experience today now they they’ve rested for a few months longer. I’ve picked the least oily cigar from the top row, and dry boxed overnight. Stored at 68 degrees and 63% humidity, so we’ll see how this goes.

Start 11:15am

1^st third: Draw is perfect, firm but not overly so. Starts off with a lovely blast of black cherry. Bit of a vanilla too. Some coffee and earthy notes start to make their way into the profile as the cigar gets towards the end of the first third. Definitely closer to medium bodied than I was expecting. I would love it to kick up just a bit in body as it goes on. Burn is excellent so far, which is great considering that was my biggest worry coming into this review.

2^nd third: Bit of spice starts to show up around the middle point of this cigar, and the vanilla is gone. Black cherry is still present but takes a back seat to the coffee and earthiness, which is starting to ramp up. Body is now solidly above medium and slowly wandering towards full. Burn is still excellent as is the draw. This RASS is exceeding the expectations I had coming in, and giving me much more hope for the construction for the rest of this box.

Final third: Black cherry has left the profile unfortunately, but I’m still enjoying what’s left. Espresso and earthiness with more spice survives until the end, and the RASS ends around full for me. Construction was excellent the entire time.

End 12:47pm

This was probably the best I’ve had out of this particular box. Everything was excellent, and even towards the end it stayed flavorful and didn’t have too much youthful harshness. I’ll wait a bit to smoke more of these in the hopes that the black cherry notes sticks around for the final third. Overall it was a very enjoyable cigar, even if robustos aren’t my favorite vitola at all.

[skyfoxsxer]

Nice review.  I had the same experience with construction with the first two out of the box that I have.  Hopefully the next one I try is as good as the one you reviewed here.

[schubb]

32 minutes ago, skyfoxsxer said:

Nice review.  I had the same experience with construction with the first two out of the box that I have.  Hopefully the next one I try is as good as the one you reviewed here.

Dryboxing probably was the key for this one. I left it overnight, and for the next one I'll probably try to give it a full two days. I'm also going to try to give these some more time down, because I really enjoyed the fruitiness in the first half or so, and I would love it to stick around longer. Hopefully more time down will help with that. I may look to pick up a clearance or seconds box here soon just to smoke through in the mean time.