Ramon Allones Gigantes

📌 Brand: Ramon Allones
📌 Line: Gigantes
📌 Size: Prominentes (7 5/8" × 49) Double Corona
📌 Weight: 22.4 g
📌 Age: 4 years
📌 Origin: Cuba

Tasting Notes

• Cedar – Traditional Cuban woody backbone

• Earth – Deep and rustic

• Dark Fruit – Hints of plum and raisin

• Pepper – Mild retrohale spice

First Impressions

The Gigantes presents a long, elegant format with a matte Colorado wrapper showing light oils. Pre-light aromas include cedar, earth, and faint dried fruit. Cold draw is very tight, signaling resistance immediately.

Smoking Experience

• First Third – Cedar and earth appear but smoke output is restricted due to the tight draw. Flavors feel compressed.

• Second Third – Dark fruit attempts to emerge. Combustion remains steady but one relight becomes necessary to revive the draw.

• Final Third – Pepper lifts slightly, earth deepens, but tightness persists and limits complexity.

Pairings

• Alcohol – Choya Extra Years Aged Umeshu - Rich plum wine offering deep sweetness and acidity that balances the cigar’s heavy earthiness and complements the dark-fruit notes.

• Tea – Nepal Jun Chiyabari Black Tea - Floral, brisk, and aromatic — a clean counterpoint to the cigar’s tight, dense profile.

Music Pairing

“La Ritournelle” – Sébastien Tellier - Expansive and emotional, giving the cigar the openness its tight draw lacks.

Final Thoughts

The Ramon Allones Gigantes has the hallmarks of a classic Cuban profile—cedar, earth, and dried fruit—but the very tight draw limits evolution and depth. A relight was needed, and the experience never fully opened up.

Final Score: 7/10
Why not a 10?
Significant draw restriction and a relight reduced complexity and overall enjoyment.

Only cigars that deliver flawless draw, balance, flavour evolution, construction and satisfaction get a 10.