mjolnir01
El Cañón de Latón
After dropping my wife and daughter off at London Heathrow today, I decided to take the train into London and hit up St. James Street for some shopping. I popped into Davidoff of London where I was greeted by Eddie Sahakian, the son of owner Edward. We had a wonderful chat in the humidor where he let me in on a secret: the larger cigars haven't been as popular lately, so by default most of them have a bit of age on them. Partagas Lusitanias, Hoyo Double Coronas, H. Upmann No. 2s, and so on- great cigars that just aren't moving. I spotted the Ramon Allones 8-9-8s and we checked the bottom of the box. The Hunters & Frankau stamp was dated 2001! What a great find, and being that part of my inspiration for treating myself today was that I just found out I made Major and 2001 was the year I was commissioned, I figured it was a good way to celebrate.
On to the review!
The cigar had that wonderful barnyard smell we all know and love. The flavor also came through in the cold draw. When lit, there was a slight spice on my tongue and lips. The draw was excellent.
In the first third, the cigar had a distinctive mineral flavor that reminded me a bit of a Fuente Sungrown. It had a very nice tang to it. The burn got a little crooked, but soon righted itself. Going into the second third the cigar really smoothed out but the spice went away. The 8-9-8 produced a very dark gray and flaky ash that didn't want to hold on much beyond half an inch.
The final third is where the cigar really shined. The spice came back along with a great cedar flavor; very smooth and very tasty. My basset hound Daisy joined me at this point, and in my distraction the cigar went out. After a re-light it still performed well until I let it go out with about an inch left. I was surprised with a little bit of a nicotine kick in the end, but it was still two hours of great aged Habanos delight.
I really enjoyed the 8-9-8. It's a shame that HSA discontinued these, but if you find yourself in London the fine folks at Davidoff can hook you up with some of these great smokes.
Edited to add the pictures.
On to the review!
The cigar had that wonderful barnyard smell we all know and love. The flavor also came through in the cold draw. When lit, there was a slight spice on my tongue and lips. The draw was excellent.
In the first third, the cigar had a distinctive mineral flavor that reminded me a bit of a Fuente Sungrown. It had a very nice tang to it. The burn got a little crooked, but soon righted itself. Going into the second third the cigar really smoothed out but the spice went away. The 8-9-8 produced a very dark gray and flaky ash that didn't want to hold on much beyond half an inch.
The final third is where the cigar really shined. The spice came back along with a great cedar flavor; very smooth and very tasty. My basset hound Daisy joined me at this point, and in my distraction the cigar went out. After a re-light it still performed well until I let it go out with about an inch left. I was surprised with a little bit of a nicotine kick in the end, but it was still two hours of great aged Habanos delight.
I really enjoyed the 8-9-8. It's a shame that HSA discontinued these, but if you find yourself in London the fine folks at Davidoff can hook you up with some of these great smokes.
Edited to add the pictures.
