The Cigar Clowns and the Limited Cigar Association (LCA) have recently released their latest drop “The Ron” this past month, shipping them to LCA shops across the country. This is their largest drop to date and the company is proud to note that this one is hand crafted by A.J. Fernandez.
Joe Cassara, one of the founding memebers of the Cigar Clowns noted:
“We love naming our cigars after famous clowns, and when we were growing up the most famous clown was Ronald from McDonald’s after doing some research we found out he got fired about 6 years ago and we thought it would be a great story to bring him back the story of our childhood clown out on his luck and we brought him back we just loved it!”
The company describes the blend as:
- Wrapper – Habano Hybrid
- Binder – Nicaraguan
- Filler – Nicaraguan
The Ron is from AJ’s personal family reserve Puro and was blended by AJ himself.
The Ron is expressed in a single (6 x 50) vitola and carries an MSRP of $10.00/cigar. The company notes that this a limited run of 15,000 cigars.
For this review, I sampled two Ron’s which I received from the Cigar Clowns for the purpose of reviewing on Stogie Press.
Pre-Light Examination
The Limited Cigar Association “The Ron” is a beautifully constructed cigar with a dark tan wrapper that exhibits a a mild toothiness and some noticeable veins. The cigar is solidly packed and there are no soft spots along the barrel. A well applied triple cap finished the presentation.
A single band adorns The Ron. It is designed to look like a monetary bill and is loaded with information, including the original Brooklyn area code 718 which touches my soul as it brings back memories of my years at Pratt Institute between 1977 and 1981 living in the Clinton Hill neighborhood.
The band is all about Brooklyn, and makes it clear that it is a Borough of New York City. It also has the area code 917, which was added in 1992 to cover the expansion of cell phones. The band includes an image of the Cigar Clowns logo, and a designation that this is Privada Cigar Club exclusive.
Fun Fact: Brooklyn is the most populous borough in NYC with over 2.6 Million residents. If Brooklyn and the other 4 boroughs were their own individual city it would rank as the third largest in the United States!
Continuing with the review, I ran “The Ron” along the nose and detected pungent and cocoa notes along the barrel and foot, with an additional nut component off the foot. This had me itching to cut and light this clown up.
Using my double blade cutter, I sliced the cap straight across the shoulder and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs that I found to be spot on with restriction and offered a pleasant nut component along with a growing black pepper sensation on the palate.
Reaching for my double flame torch, I warmed the foot to an even orange glow and drew in a blast of pepper laden smoke to start the journey. Follow along as I break down The Ron.
Cigar Review Notes
- Opens with a nice black pepper blast on the palate and nasals
- Floral aroma wafts off the foot right off the first puff
- Full volume of creamy thick and chewy smoke
- Vanilla cream notes enter as the pepper pulls back
- White ash forms on top of a wavy medium char line
- Aroma shifts to a cocoa note and dry cocoa flavor
- As the ash fell in a decent chunk, it revealed a flat but centered burn cone
- Pepper notes re-enter
- Aroma shifts again to a nut note
- Mild sweetness entering in the second third
- Earthy and dark chocolate notes fill in the profile midway
- Strength moves up giving my a touch of the “niccups”
- Touch of spice deep in second third along with a light salted butter note
- Spice increases as does strength moving into the final
- Dark Chocolate and Nut re-emerge
- Full Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 40 minutes
Final Analysis
I really enjoyed The Ron, and not just because it pays tribute to Brooklyn, NY but due to its complex and ever shifting and evolving flavors and aromas. This is one of those cigars a true cigar enthusiast would and should enjoy. With its eventual full strength profile it takes you an a magnificent journey of pepper, floral, chocolate, sweetness, spice, butter… and the list goes on. It did have a flaky ash, and slight wave in the burn, but otherwise it was a trouble free burn with a perfect draw. Most certainly box worthy, I rate this a 94.
Point Deductions: (-1) Flaky Ash; (-1) Wavy Burn; (-1) Flat but centered burn cone
Bonus Points: (+1) Pleasurable and Consistent across multiple samples; (+1) Complex and Flavorful; (+1) Buy a Box
