That Partagas Ramon y Ramon sounds interesting. I love Dominican tobacco. I might try to hunt some of those down.
Today, a 2014ish Monte no 4. Down to my last 2 from the box and I've been eyeballing them for a while. Today was the day. Clipped the cap and saw that perfect divot in the head that tells me this was rolled by a pro.
The dry hit was heavy on honey over a certain chocolate crisp a British ex-girlfriend used to buy.
The first half had notes of cinnamon wood, toast, fleeting citrus and creaminess along with an earthiness I associate with the Illusione Original Documents Corojo line.
The second half was mind-bogglingly complex. You could hunt and search and find all sorts of twists and turns in the flavor profile. Sitting back and not paying attention while I was talking to my wife was difficult as the profile kept drawing me in - I was even accused of not listening a few times, if you can imagine that. The citrus increased along with a thinly syrupy mouth feel, a bus load of creaminess, fleeting cocoa and cacao, light coffee, light cake. My wife said it smelled extra funky, and I smoke a wide variety of cigars, so I took note.
EDIT: The last third became its own animal. Chocolate-covered raisins, an old musty trunk in a clean attic, finished leather, slight pepper, the earth has switched from Illusione to Cuban twang, peanut, nougat, and marshmallow. And a decent bump of nicotine. You gentlemen may keep your Cohiba - for me, the most masterful Cuban blends have always been Montecristo and Trinidad. This was a perfect cigar. Flawless draw the whole way down - literally 100/100.
EDIT 2: The cigar is finishing wish big notes of mint and pepper. I'll take a cajón of these at Habanos SA earliest convenience.
I don't know what sales numbers are like now, but this used to be, supposedly, the best-selling cigar in the world, surpassing Macanudo, Cohiba, fake Cohibas, and the mighty Montecristo no 2. If prices and supply were not irrevocably f'ed, I'd get another box of these to age away again. Alas, I have one left sitting in a tubo for some day in the distant future. After today's cigar, that last one has legs to age for another 10 years easy.