Ramon Allones—New Corona Gorda
Ramon Allones, a small production, high-scoring cigar brand from Cuba, finally has a corona gorda size. Yesterday the Cuban cigar industry announced the upcoming release of the Ramon Allones Allones Superiores.
This 5 5/8 inch long, 46 ring gauge cigar is coming out in certain markets next month and will be sold only at Cuba's La Casa del Habano stores. The Allones Superiores will be limited to 50,000 cigars, or 5,000 boxes. They will be released in stages to various shops and regions and prices will vary from market to market. German and Italian cigar retailers said they would be priced at around 8 Euros (a little more than $11) per cigar.
Habanos S.A., which runs Cuba's cigar industry, said the cigars will come packed in dress boxes of 10.
Ramon Allones is one of Cuba's older brands, dating back more than 150 years. The sizes in the brand have been culled down to three, not counting this special release and Regional Edition sizes. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Smaller production means all Ramon Allones cigars are made in once place, the Partagas factory in Havana. (Many of Cuba's bigger brands are made in various factories.)
"It's a connoisseur's brand," says Ajay Patel of La Casa del Habano in Teddington, England, the United Kingdom's sole Casa del Habano. "The guys who know cigars, they'll go for that."
Ramon Allones' three standard sizes are very high quality indeed. In a vertical brand tasting of Ramon Allones published in the April 27 Cigar Insider, the trio of core Ramon Allones cigars all scored in the 90s, with a 92 point showing for the Ramon Allones Gigante, a double corona (or prominente) and the Specially Selected (a robusto). The diminutive Small Club Corona scored 90 points.
Regional Edition Ramon Allones are also highly regarded. The Ramon Allones Celestiales Finos, a Regional Edition Cuban made for the Asia/Pacific region, scored 91 points in the February Cigar Aficionado.
This is the third 2010 La Casa del Habano exclusive so far. It follows the August shipment of the Bolivar Gran Belicoso (the 2010 edition of the Habanos Collection) and the October release of the H. Upmann Noellas in glass amatista jars. Cigar retailers are still expecting to receive the La Gloria Cubana Inmensos this year, also as a Casa del Habano exclusive.
To peruse Cigar Aficionado's complete ratings on Ramon Allones cigars, click here.
