Ramon Allones Regional Edition Canada Petit Unico
Size: 5 x 50 Belicoso
Wrapper: Natural
Country: Cuba
Smoke time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Pre-light thoughts: This is quite a beautifully constructed stick with a firm packing and no soft spots at all. The aroma it gives off is of a sweet tobacco with a very light hint of barnyard hay or wood. The aroma is light, though, and you really need to bring it right up to your nose to pick it up - I have 12 of them in my humidor and the smell of my other cigars overpowers it.
A pre-light draw evokes a nice sweetness, and a smooth cedar flavour which reminds me of the smell of a smoke shop. Very pleasant.
First third: It's a very firm draw. Smoke production is decent, but you really have to pull it out of the cigar with your lips if you want a substantial amount to fill your mouth. The flavours quite accurately mimic the smells the cigar gave off before lighting - a sweet tobacco and wood flavor, with a small amount of "barn" to it.
It kind of tastes like a day working on the farm.
Second third: I've had a few small problems with the burn, but I attribute it to the weather which is pretty gross right now - very windy, and light drizzle. I'm on a roofed patio, but still, the wind is enough that the burn is a little wonky. So, it's not the cigar's fault.
The flavour has morphed into a deep leather and it's very good. Also the smoke production has increased a little bit - it's still a fairly firm draw, but I'm getting noticeably more smoke out.
Final third: The leather has dissipated a bit and the flavour has returned to the original mixture of tobacco and wood. But with the hint of leather still there, it's evoking (for me) images of some of my favorite Western movies. It tastes like a horse farm, with the hay, wooden barns, and leather straps and saddles. I can imagine The Man With No Name smoking one of these.
Ending thoughts: I enjoyed this one, though it's not my personal preference in flavour blends - I personally am more of a deep chocolate and coffee cigar smoker, which I suppose is why I gravitate more towards Maduros.
It was very pleasant, though, with mild strength and a consistently
good flavour.
It does reinforce, though, my opinion that while Cuban cigars are great, they tend to not be all they are cracked up to me. I've smoked Nicaraguan blends that I found much richer and more pleasing. Perhaps I am uninformed as I am still, admittedly, new to the cigar world. But this is my fifth Cuban and while they have all been very good, they're not the be-all-end-all of smokes.
I feel like it may be kind of a "forbidden fruit" thing with American smokers. *shrug*
