Cigar Review: Partagas Ramon y Ramon Robusto
5 Oct 2016
This latest addition to General Cigar’s Partagas line has quite the tobacco heritage.
According to General, a key filler component is “a special variety of old-world Dominican tobacco†that had been “locked away for nearly 50 years†before company agronomists restored it solely for this cigar.
It’s blended with Nicaraguan Jalapa and Dominican Piloto Cubano leaf. Those, like the Dominican binder, were also grown by Partagas agronomists.
The wrapper—for me, the jewel in this arrangement—is high-priming Cameroon tobacco grown in that country’s Belita region.
StogieGuys.com has enjoyed cigars from Partagas, both regular and limited releases, for more than a decade. Quite a few have garnered high ratings, and you can check them out through our Reviews Archive. This latest offering, a brick-and-mortar exclusive, is no exception.
As I noted, I think it’s the Cameroon wrapper that makes it special. There’s a spicy pre-light aroma that kicks in with the first puff. And it doesn’t let up. The cigar isn’t particularly hot or peppery; the flavors are a mixture of exotic and seasoning spices.
The Robustos I smoked, which weigh in at 5.5 inches with a 50 ring gauge ($7.49), did not change much throughout, aside from a bit of tobacco sweetness intertwined along the way.
With a flavor so enjoyable, that’s by no means a criticism. The subtlety draws you deeper and deeper into the smoking experience.
Construction, draw, and smoke production were excellent. I’d put the strength level at medium. The only drawback I noticed was that it tended to dry my mouth.
As is evident from the name, this cigar is another General tribute to Ramon Cifuentes Toriello. The Cuban cigar pioneer lost Partagas after the revolution and fled to the United States in 1961. He went to work for General, and later produced the first non-Cuban Partagas cigars.
The new line consists of four vitolas and is a regular-production smoke so you should have no trouble finding them at your local shop. I rate this latest Partagas four and a half stogies out of five.
[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]
–George E
photo credit: Stogie Guys
Patrick Ashby
Co-Founder & Editor in Chief
Patrick Semmens
Co-Founder & Publisher
George Edmonson
Tampa Bureau Chief
I am curious about your comment that because this is a regular production cigar, there should be no problem finding it in a local shop. But I have the impression there are thousands of different cigars in production. If that’s the case, would it not follow that the majority of shops actually carry only a relatively small fraction of all cigars in regular production? And BTW, the best cigar I ever smoked was a Cuban Partagas!
Cigar Seeker – Yes, there are many, many cigars produced and no shop carries them all. However, shops with even a moderate selection more often than not will include at least some General products, since it is one of the industry giants. And a lot of them will stock at least a few of its latest releases. On the other hand, some General releases, such as the Macanudo Mao, are limited editions and won’t be on the shelves in nearly as many shops.
I’ll have to find this. I love the Dominican Cameroon-wrapped Partagas, and always have a few in my humidor.
Mike- Come back and let us know what you think when you’ve had one.