Ramón Allones Terra Magica (ER Adriático 2016)

In 1992, Camelot d.o.o was launched and became the first company to sell cigarettes in Croatia.

Twenty-five years later, the company has expanded into a variety of products including cigars, Champagne, and Scotch whiskey, as well as into another country: Slovenia.

Earlier this year, the company released an Edición Regional to celebrates its quarter of a century anniversary: the Ramón Allones Terra Magica.

The name is what the ancient Romans called Istria, the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea, which is shared by Croatia, Italy, and Slovenia. It’s most famous for growing grapes and olives, which are used for wines and olive oils.

The cigar is a Double Edmundo vitola in the Ramón Allones line, 6 1/10 (155mm) x 50. Production was limited to 6,000 boxes of 10 with pricing set at €20 per cigar ($23.46).

We’ve summarized Habanos S.A.’s Edición Regional program numerous times:

In 2005, Habanos S.A. introduced a new series of limited production releases that would eventually become to be known as Edición Regional (Regional Edition). The program took regular Habanos S.A. brands and gave their regional distributors special sizes that aren’t part of respective brands regular production line-up. In some cases, like the Bolivar Gold Medals, Habanos S.A. gave specific distributors sizes that had been discontinued, but most are sizes that have never been available prior. There are cases of multiple distributors getting the same cigar, but there must be at least two years between the first and second release. There’s one major exception to the rule and that would be perhaps the most famous ER, the Edmundo Dantés El Conde 109, which is an ER available for Mexico that is related to the Montecristo brand, but is largely its own brand.

The first Edición Regionals didn’t feature the red and silver secondary bands that read “Exclusivo (Region Name)” that have become synonymous with the ER releases.

• Cigar Reviewed: Ramón Allones Terra Magica Edición Regional Adriatico (2016)
• Country of Origin: Cuba
• Factory: n/a
• Wrapper: Cuba
• Binder: Cuba
• Filler: Cuba
• Length: 6 1/10 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Dobles
• MSRP: €20 (Boxes of 10, €200)
• Release Date: June 3, 2017
• Number of Cigars Released: 6,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (60,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Prior to smoking, these were stored in three different environments—the box and two different humidors—in a relatively short period of time, so there’s not a ton I pick up from the wrapper. The foot has some pistachio over top of some sweetness with hints of barnyard. While it’s medium-full, the flavor is super compact. I’m a bit concerned by the cold draw, which is a touch tight. The flavor is muted with some twang, pineapple, and pistachio, but once again, it’s notably muted.

I’ve had a fair bit of luck of smoking cigars that showed some signs of problems on the cold draw fixing themselves once the cigar is lit, but that’s not the case with the Ramón Allones. If anything, the draw seems to tighten once the cigar is lit. Flavor-wise it’s woody with cedar and oak on top of figs and a bizarre finish that varies between butterscotch and rubber. While the flavor gets sweeter in the nose with a grapefruit and bubble gum-like mixture, the mouth remains woody with one sample offering stale Italian bread. It’s medium-plus in intensity, showing a lot of signs that the flavors need more time to develop. A major touch-up is needed to fix the burn issue you can see in the picture below, though the other two samples are much better. Most notably, the draw is not good at any point of the first third.

Unfortunately, the Terra Magica’s main problem, the draw, doesn’t get any better in the second third, leading my notes to add the very descriptive phrase, “draw sucks.” Flavor-wise, it remains quite woody in the mouth with brown rice, toastiness, and white pepper through the nose. The flavor picks up to medium-full—but like during the pre-light ritual, it’s very short—while body is medium-full and strength increases to medium-plus.

The short of it is the draw is not getting any better and with that, you probably can skip to the final notes. For those into frustration, this Ramón Allones is harsh with woodiness, juniper, creaminess, pistachio and some sawdust. While the profile isn’t offensive, it’s getting harsher, including a burning sensation in my tongue. Another touch-up is needed and smoke production struggles to get past the poor draw. Flavor finishes medium-full in intensity, body is medium full, and strength is medium-plus.

Final Notes

• I would have guessed this cigar was slightly thicker than 50 ring gauge.
• Ramón Allones already had an Edición Regional in this size, the Grand Robusto, which was released for the Benelux region in 2007 and 2008. Brian Burt reviewed that cigar.
• The Adriatic region, of which Croatia is a part, has perhaps the greatest Edición Regional story of all time. Habanos S.A. shipped cigars under the Vegas Robaina name that were packaged in boxes that were once La Gloria Cubanas. That cigar is the Vegas Robaina Marshall.
• Camelot d.o.o is the distributor for the region.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time two and a half hours.