The Stogie Guys

This reblended and redone line from General Cigar now sports a dark, gritty Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper that’s unfinished at the foot, twisted into a pigtail at the cap, and an inviting target for bargain hunters.

Eager to breath new life into what had seemingly become almost a catalogue afterthought, General turned Ramon Allones over to its Foundry Tobacco Co., which functions as something of a cigar skunkworks under Michael Giannini, who serves as the company’s creative director and director of innovations.

While the cigar might not live up to the advance billing—“the world’s best tobaccos mixed with the forbidden fruit”—it more than holds its own among low-priced smokes.

Sure, no one’s going to mistake the Ramon Allones for a complex boutique blend or a high-end stick. But if you’re looking for a medium-strength smoke that can serve as a yard-gar, golf companion, or handout to your brother-in-law, this is one to consider. Even an occasional cigar smoker will appreciate the thick volume of smoke.

Remember, this robusto (5 x 50, $6.49) can be found online for under $4 a stick in a box of 20. Considering that you get General’s consistency and construction quality, it’s almost certainly a better buy than many no-name bundle cigars, even if they’re half the price.

I wasn’t at last summer’s IPCPR where the Ramon Allones debuted, along with a redone Bolivar line. General sent me a five-pack that I smoked for this review. (Of note, General Cigar says the bands on these samples, which appeared at the IPCPR show, are not exactly what you will find at retailers.)

The Ramon Allones starts dark and meaty with a fairly strong finish, befitting its Nicaraguan filler. At several points, a bitterness emerged and walked up to the edge of overpowering but didn’t cross the line.

A StogieGuys.com three-stogie rating signifies that a cigar is “pretty respectable,” and I think that’s an apt label for the new Ramon Allones. It’s well worth considering if you’re looking for a smoke that can fill a few different roles in your humidor. The Ramon Allones 550 earns three stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys / General Cigar

A couple weeks ago, on February 13, I asked Skip Martin of RoMa Craft Tobac to join me for lunch. We both happened to be in Austin for the weekend (I live in Chicago, he makes his home in Estelí, Nicaragua), and we both happen to enjoy over-eating BBQ.

Our get together—which ended up being almost a whole day—afforded me the opportunity to visit RoMa Craft Tobac’s new headquarters, as well as gather some interesting information about what many consider to be one of the world’s premier boutique tobacco outfits. So today I figured I’d share some highlights from our visit, as well as a few photos.

First off, anyone who follows Skip Martin on social media knows he loves to take pictures of his food almost as much as he loves eating. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to snap a pic of him taking a picture of our mountain of meat at Stiles Switch, a top-notch BBQ joint he recommended. If you have the opportunity, make sure to stop by. I’d especially recommend the beef rib and the jalapeño sausage.

After consuming mass quantities of meat, we took a 20-minute drive north to stop by an office park just off US-183. There, Skip and his business partner Mike Rosales are in the process of transforming a former industrial facility into RoMa Craft Tobac’s headquarters. This destination is expected to be more than just a location to receive shipments from Fabrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño and fulfill orders. The duo is also outfitting the 4,000-square-foot space with a craft beer bar and other cigar-friendly amenities so they can welcome interested tobacconists (by appointment), display their cigar lineup, and entertain.

Nica Sueño, the Estelí factory managed by Martin, is currently manufacturing 1.2 million cigars per year. Most of these cigars are sold to RoMa Craft, which is a separate company. These cigars will arrive in Austin already aged, boxed, and packaged, where they will be housed in a humidified storage room until they are shipped across the country.

Work at the headquarters is still underway, yet it’s certainly a welcoming space to enjoy a cigar or two right now—especially if Martin shares a little of his extensive craft beer collection (I think he said he had over 2,000 bottles on site). We had cigars at this conference table while sampling a few fine beers.

Speaking of beer, Skip assured me no visit to Austin would be complete without a stop at Jester King, a brewery about 40 minutes southwest of RoMa Craft. This place was well worth the drive for several reasons. First, the picturesque grounds struck me as more vineyard than brewery (think Texas hill country), with ample outdoor space to enjoy a cigar while taking in the view. Second, Jester King’s lineup of “wild ales” and “spontaneously fermented beers” is a joy to taste and learn about. And third, Jester King exchanges its rare beers with many other craft breweries, enabling visitors to purchase hard-to-find beers not only from Jester King’s stock, but from breweries all over the world.

While the RoMa Craft headquarters in Austin is not intended for retail or walk-ins, Skip says you should have the chance to check it out at one of the twice-yearly BBQ events he plans to throw starting this summer. These CroMagnon Culture gatherings—which will feature cigars, BBQ, and craft beer—will be ideal for those who want to learn about cigars without making the trip all the way to Nicaragua.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

Liga Privada was the traditional cigar that put Drew Estate’s marker down as a force in the traditional premium cigar market (previously, the company was best-known for its infused cigars). Lately, though, my favorite line from Drew Estate has been Herrera Estelí. The cigar sports an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Honduran binder, and Nicaraguan filler to produce a “Cubanseque” profile in a lineup of five traditional sizes. Recently, Drew Estate added a box-pressed version as part of its line of exclusive box-pressed smokes for the Drew Estate Lounge at Corona Cigar Company’s location in Sand Lake, Florida. The cigar features plenty of cedar along with cream, hay, and roasted nut notes. Although it’s a solid cigar, I prefer the original sizes to this pressed vitola, which burns a little hot, probably because the box-press yields a loose draw.

Verdict = Hold.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

While the small Fabrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño in Estelí makes many excellent cigars, the Intemperance BA XXI A.W.S. IV is my absolute favorite. This Arapiraca-wrapped lonsdale (6.5 x 44) is the perfect format to enjoy the outstanding Intemperance blend, which also includes an Indonesian binder and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. For the very fair price of $7.50, you get a well-balanced profile of red and black pepper along with notes of cocoa, sweet cream, roasted nut, and dry wood. Construction is always impeccable. Consider this Quick Smoke an affirmation of my review two years ago that awarded this cigar our top rating.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

One saying goes, “The best cigar is the cigar you like the best.” Another says, “The best cigar is a free cigar.” This week we’re embracing the latter and hooking up our readers with some fine free cigars.

On Monday, our review of the Búho Primero Connecticut included the chance for two readers to win a sampler of Búho cigars. (It’s still not too late to enter.)

We’re also giving away a box of 20 CAO Pilón Coronas. And if the randomly selected winner happens to be a dues-paying member of Cigar Rights of America, we’ll add a bonus prize, including cigars from our personal humidor and some cool cigar swag.

The giveaway is being run completely through the StogieGuys.com Facebook page. Details on how to enter (it takes approximately 60 seconds to do so) can be found in this Facebook post, which we’ve embedded below.

–The Stogie Guys