The Steady Descent of Ramon Allones


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Great read, John.  Thanks for posting.  I myself am a fan of the Ramon Allones brand and would love to see some of the older cigars pictured return if only in limited offerin.  It would be pretty cool if they would select a vitola from days past and make a run of 50,000 each year as part of a "Legacy" Series.  These would I'm sure get snatched up quickly and at a premium price (which should make HSA happy).

Probably won't happen and if they do expand the vitola offering within RA, it would most likely be a stubby 54+ ring gage :lol3:

Only time will tell, I suppose.

 

Merry Christmas to you my friend.

Dan

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John, an awesome perspective. I too am a huge fan of the Ramon Allones marca and would love to see some more choices in current productions. I smoked a 2008 Gran Robusto today and it was an amazing cigar. Thanks for posting. 

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Very interesting read, thanks for posting.

The Private Stock looks like something I'd be trying to track down back in the day...great size and looks fantastic. Love the dark blue band as well - looks simple yet sharp.

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Great read.

Ramon Allones is a great brand with a great following and a terrific reputation that deserves so much more than to be essentially abandoned by HSA. I have no doubt the 8-9-8, if reintroduced, could be a big seller, as well as something like a Pyramid or Gorditos  or even a Marevas. I think RA fell victim to the <42 RG cuts as much as any brand. 

Another brand that has fallen from even greater heights is ERDM. Once Cuba's most famous brand, it has become a mere shell with only a Hermosos No.4 and a Small Panetela remaining. However, I don't see the potential to resuscitate ERDM as I do with RA. 

I guess they both fall into the category of HSA Darwin Award winners. 

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Yep, all cigars that I fell in love with 15 years ago are now dead... and brands completely hacked. I have zero faith in the lines coming back to draw me back into the hobby like I once was. The cigar world is being pushed farther and farther towards a collector market. Too many cigar smokers openly embrace inflated prices justified by a 2nd band, numbered box, slightly different RG or length, and "limited" production. Coronas are dead, PCs and TPCs have been hacked, panatelas and ninfas are dead (besides Monte and Cohiba), Lonsdales and dalias are pretty much dead. Any revived vitola is brought back at 2-3x the original pricing, with added flash and bling.

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Thanks for sharing that John, great read. All the while I kept drawing parallels to the demise of the Punch brand, which used to have ninfas, multiple corona gordas, lonsdales and all varieties of shapes and sizes.

This is an all too common pattern across most of the marcas, with few exceptions, namely MC, Partagas and Cohiba.

At times it's difficult to sort out whether the whims of smokers, or the drive of marketers causes these shifts, both in proliferation and bust cycles. For example, Punch had no less that four corona gordas in the line (Punch Punch, Black Prince, super selection #2, royal selection #11) in the late 90s. Now, it has just the Punch Punch. Why?

The only logic I can come up with is; there is a time in the life of every enterprise where growth takes precedence and leads to unsustainable decisions. Then at some point the realization that it is not sustainable leads to aggressive rationalization.


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  Thank you for the link John, this was a fantastic read.  I have only tried the RASS and the Superiores, they are both fantastic.  I will soon try the RASCC.  In fact, a RASS from Rob's New to Habanos sampler last May is still the best cigar I have ever had.  It was almost unexplainable, it was so complex and bursting with flavors.  So much mushroom and floral goodness.  

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2 hours ago, Brandon said:

Yep, all cigars that I fell in love with 15 years ago are now dead... and brands completely hacked. I have zero faith in the lines coming back to draw me back into the hobby like I once was. The cigar world is being pushed farther and farther towards a collector market. Too many cigar smokers openly embrace inflated prices justified by a 2nd band, numbered box, slightly different RG or length, and "limited" production. Coronas are dead, PCs and TPCs have been hacked, panatelas and ninfas are dead (besides Monte and Cohiba), Lonsdales and dalias are pretty much dead. Any revived vitola is brought back at 2-3x the original pricing, with added flash and bling.

And this is the worst thing - If they brought one of my beloved Coronas back from the dead, they'd slap a second band on it and charge 3x the price....and the market would lap it up and justify the high pricing to begin with! A vicious cycle where the consumer never wins.

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So with the way I read the closing statement with so much regional demand for RA, why has the brand diminished and not expanded? Are they just satisfied with the current status quo?

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nice read indeed of a wonderful cigar which they should stop making all these limited smokes and start making some more regular production!!

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The three they still make are all awesome cigars. It would be great to see a regular production size between the RASS and the RAG.


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Great read, John. I feel that even if HSA reintroduced some of the discontinued thin ring guage cigars, they wouldn't hold a candle to what they were in the 90s and earlier owing to the change in tobacco strain in the late 90s. I'd be curious to hear @PigFish 's perspective on a vetical tasting of a discontinued cigar such as the Partagas SdCs comparing one from the mid-90s to one from the mid-2000s.

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Great read, John. I feel that even if HSA reintroduced some of the discontinued thin ring guage cigars, they wouldn't hold a candle to what they were in the 90s and earlier owing to the change in tobacco strain in the late 90s. I'd be curious to hear @PigFish 's perspective on a vetical tasting of a discontinued cigar such as the Partagas SdCs comparing one from the mid-90s to one from the mid-2000s.


Having smoked an SdC1 from 1997 and considering it one of the finer cigars I've smoked, along with the 98 ERDM TANIOS, Cohiba Reserva Humidor, and some other fine vintage cigars. Many of the vintage and aged Ramon Allones have been amongst my favorites. They age extremely well and I've had nothing but great times with them.

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Having smoked an SdC1 from 1997 and considering it one of the finer cigars I've smoked, along with the 98 ERDM TANIOS, Cohiba Reserva Humidor, and some other fine vintage cigars. Many of the vintage and aged Ramon Allones have been amongst my favorites. They age extremely well and I've had nothing but great times with them.

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I've got a couple of 02 Tainos somewhere I need to dig out, I think I may burn one this weekend :)

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Thanks for the post, very interesting. I am a bit ashamed to say that I knew very little of how big RA used to be, despite it being my favorite marca now.

Their popularity in REs should really push them the opposite way but hey.. In the meantime, I'll keep buying RASS's, minutos and whatever regionals I can get my hands on. Thanks again.

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Great post. Ramon Allones cigars have a flavor that is truly unique. Over the last year I have been systematically sampling non Cuban brands to identify the best, and I have NEVER smoked a cigar with that distinctive RA flavor. That full bodied stewed fruit flavor is astonishing.

Personally I am happy with the sizes that are available (including Superiores), and grateful that RA has not fallen into the state of another favorite, La Gloria Cubana, which has been decimated.

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Great post John 

Alas I have to wholeheartedly agree with this article ,I don't think the Ramon Alones is alone in this predicament just look at the Diplimatico Brand and Punch  :yes:

I have always a great fan of the marque,but even the Mighty RASS is not what it used to be ,it is very sad that Habanos in  it's "Wisdom" chooses to decimate the very Brands and Heritage thar IMHO define what smoking a good Cuban is all about 

My 2c worth 

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Great article on my favorite marca, even when visitors to our house blah blah about the ones that are more famous :lol:.

The 2011 Extra is my favorite and packing a few boxes of those. Lots of us do not like them, which makes them more interesting to talk about at a nice bar with beer and snacks.

Happy holidays all!

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22 hours ago, Professor Twain said:

Great post. Ramon Allones cigars have a flavor that is truly unique. Over the last year I have been systematically sampling non Cuban brands to identify the best, and I have NEVER smoked a cigar with that distinctive RA flavor. That full bodied stewed fruit flavor is astonishing.

Personally I am happy with the sizes that are available (including Superiores), and grateful that RA has not fallen into the state of another favorite, La Gloria Cubana, which has been decimated.

Well said, @Professor Twain, although I'd argue that a properly aged Punch (like the Punch Petit Punch) comes close to that stewed fruit profile, just with a bit more sourness to it.

 

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