Romon Allones – Small Club Corona

Size: 4.3 x 42
Strength: Medium
Wrapper: Cuba
Binder: Cuba
Filler: Cuba

The weather hasn’t been to conducive to enjoying a cigar outdoors lately but the other night I found my window of opportunity. I wanted to try something special and one cigar in my humidor really stood out, the RASCC. This cigar is rather petite. I’m used to larger ring gauges like 50-56 so this cigar was a change of pace. The wrapper of the cigar was smooth with a few pronounced veins. The pinch test revealed that the body of the cigar was firm and had the right amount of give but the head of the cigar was soft and spongy. The wrapper gave off a nice sweet smell to it and had a small amount of bloom. The triple cap on the cigar wasn’t the prettiest. The cigar also sported a slight box press to it.

I cut the cigar with my Palio and took a test draw off of it. Nice draw with a woody-tobacco flavor. I lit the cigar by toasting the foot and lightly blowing on it till it was lit before I took the first draw. The first draw revealed no bitterness but rather coffee notes and creamy smoke. Off to a great start! As I continued smoking, the burn became uneven but later corrected itself.

The aroma that this little cigar produced was amazing! I have to say that it is one of the best smelling cigars I’ve had. When I rolled the smoke through my nose, the flavor was very good and not at all spicy. Later on, mostly in the last third, spice started to show up and disappear at times.

The RASCC had predominate notes of wood and tobacco and had a dry finish. The aftertaste was pleasant and mild and lingered in the back of my throat for awhile. Durning the last third of the cigar, that’s when the flavors took an interesting turn. Bitterness started to show up but was very slight. Hay was also a new flavor. But the one thing that really surprised me was the taste of grape! Yes, that’s right, grape. On the exhale I noticed a new flavor that was readily appearing. I knew it was familiar but I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. After detecting this taste for about 10 minutes, I succumb to the reality that it was grape but not an actual grape but rather grape flavored as in a grape flavored soda. This really surprised me and kept my attention in the cigar.

The burn had a few problems through out the duration of the smoke. It was uneven enough where I had to correct approximately 3-4 times during the duration of the smoke. The cigar also had to be re-lit twice. During the middle of the second half of the cigar, when I would tip the ash the cigar would require relighting. When I did relight the cigar I luckily didn’t experience any bitterness commonly found upon relighting. Also, the draw was a bit inconsistent meaning that for a majority of the time the draw was really nice and soft but there where bouts where the draw was rather snug but after awhile loosened up again.

I don’t keep track of the time it takes to smoke a cigar because when I sit down to have one, I make sure that I have the time to properly enjoy it. But this time was a little different. This little cigar burned cool and smoked for quite awhile. When I made my way back inside I looked at a clock and saw that I had been outside with the RASCC for a little over an hour! What a great hour it was. So many flavors made for such a unique experience. That is why I highly recommend that you try this cigar if you are given the chance.

I am going to give this cigar 4 out of  5. The only thing preventing me from giving it a top rating is the construction. Had it been better, then there is no doubt that this cigar would be a 5.

4 out of 5 – Excellent

***** Must Try
  **** Excellent
    *** Decent
      ** Poor
        * Avoid