Ashton VSG

I decided that my first sample of Ashton would be a cigar from the VSG series as the Fuente Family seems to be particularly proud of this one. Advertised as powerful, complex, and rich, it sounded like one I would enjoy.

Ashton VSG's wrapper is what draws the most attention. It's grown in a naturally cloudy region of Ecuador (as opposed to artificially cloudy?) which serves as a shading factor, similar to the Connecticut shade wrapper growing conditions. The filtered sunlight leads to a particularly bolder tasting leaf.

The filler of the cigar is made with a variety of Dominican tobaccos that have been aged 4-5 years which would theoretically lead to those more complex tastes.

I purchased an "illusion" (Ashton has some weird names for their cigar sizes including wizard, and sorcerer) for $12. It measures 7 inches long with a 44 ring.

The stick has a rugged look to it. There are several noticeable veins and a few too many imperfections. It almost seems like it was constructed this way on purpose as all the cigars in the store looked this way, but I don't particularly like it. Still, the medium brown color is uniform throughout and the cigar is nicely pliable which makes me feel more optimistic.

The cigar cuts very nicely and lights surprisingly well for its size. I enjoy the toast particularly on this one as it releases a very nice tobacco scent before I even go to puff on it.

The draw is well balanced with a full smoke although the texture of the smoke, while creamy, is still a little biting.

This cigar is certainly full bodied from the get go. The smoke starts off with a dark cream texture and bold peppery flavors. There seem to be some faint wood notes as well but the pepper is dominating the first part here.

The cigar seems to be burning just fine with a light ash gray. It stays on for about.....OH NO!!!

We have a serious problem here. Half of the wrapper literally just popped loose and unraveled. I have never seen that happen so quickly before. It was as if the wrapper was too tight and finally just snapped. I managed to carefully peel off the damaged areas and save half the cigar, but I am obviously not pleased right now.

The second part of the cigar lifts my spirits a little. The tastes transition nicely to a mixture of dark chocolate and coffee. A strong nicotine presence emerges here but not enough to actually overpower the smoke.

Unfortunately, these pleasant flavors do not last long at all. In fact, within a matter of minutes, they are all but gone. Replacing them are strong but very simple earthy tastes. The creamy texture of the smoke has also diminished. All of this seemingly happening at once leaves the cigar tasting flat. The draw has also gotten noticeably tighter although the smoke is still full. I keep waiting for another transition of flavors that never comes.

As I get to the last part of the stick, everything just goes to Hell. The cigar starts to burn very unevenly leaving me with nothing but a smoky burning flavor and biting smoke. I can't even finish it.

One of the most important things a cigar smoker should learn early on is that high prices do not necessarily translate into high quality. I'm pretty sure Ashton just made my point. While the cigar was certainly bold and full bodied as I had been expecting, I was very disappointed with the lack of complexity that I had been promised. Putting aside the unraveling wrapper and the horrible burn at the finish line, both which might have been the result of unluckily getting a dud, I really didn't find anything much enjoyable about this cigar that would have justified handing over $12. Plus, when it comes to things like unraveling wrappers, I don't like giving expensive cigars the benefit of the doubt. The draw was nice for the most part, and the brief chocolate flavors were enjoyable. But all things considered, this cigar dug itself into a hole that 2 minutes of enjoyable smoking certainly wasn't going to get itself out of. All I hear about is how much people love Ashton. I don't care. I'm not going back.

Overall Rating: 59

Drinks

Being a cigar smoker, it's fun to experiment in pairing drinks with smokes. Sometimes I'll have the same cigar multiple times with different drinks each time coming away with a different opinion. A good drink can accentuate different flavors of a cigar and vice versa. Sometimes I'll go with something that complements the flavors. Other times, I'll have a glass of something that excites taste buds completely different than the ones the cigar is. Each time, the experience can be drastically different.

Below is a quick list of my regular drinks along with a simple ranked breakdown of my preferences in each category.

Scotch: It's hard to go wrong with a good bottle of scotch. There is such a wide variety available that you can find one that will pair with any cigar you have.
1. Johnny Walker Blue Label
2. Dalmore Cigar Malt
3. Johnny Walker Gold Label
4. Macallan 12 year
5. Glenlivet 18 year
6. Glennfidditch 15 year
7. Johnny Walker Green Label
8. Glenlivet 12 year

Cognac: Lighter and almost sweet. If you normally don't drink things straight up, starts with this to ease you into it.
1. Remy Martin XO
2. Courvoissior VSOP
3. Remy Martin VSOP
4. Hennessey VSOP

Whiskey: Bourbon and other whiskeys often tend to have a little more of a kick to them. As a result, I usually reserve them for more full bodied cigars that can hold their own against a powerful tasting drink.
1. Makers Mark
2. Crown Royal
3. Single Barrel Jack
4. Knob Creek
5. Wild Turkey

Tequila: This sounded weird to me too so I haven't even tried much of a variety yet. Trust me, it's worth it.
1. Patron Silver
2. Jose Cuervo

Beer: No specific brewer, but these particular styles can go very well with a cigar if it's a quality brew. Check out Josh's Beer Blog for brewer ratings and recommendations.
1. Belgian Ale
2. Imperial Stout
3. Barely Wine
4. Scottish Ale

CAO Gold

Since I had been focusing on bold cigars, I figured it was time to change things up a little. CAO Gold is a mild to medium cigar from Nicaragua. I have enjoyed many cigars from CAO's collection so I figured it would be a good move to depend on them for my first mild smoke review.

The wrapper on this cigar is Ecuadorian. The binder and filler are all made from Nicaraguan tobaccos. I purchased a Churchill size stick for $8.00. The length is 7 inches and the ring is 48.

The wrapper is a light brown with a few visible veins. It seems a little dry and the cut is disappointing as it leaves some frayed and torn edges. The wrapper isn't quite to the point of unraveling, but if I'm not careful, it will be. And then I will flip out.

The cigar lights easily and the first few puffs release a pretty strong aroma considering this is a mild cigar. A very pleasant scent of cedar practically fills the whole room.

The draw is a little tight but not enough to ruin the smoking experience. Also, the construction is a little off as the stick seems a little too spongy. In fact, the draw becomes even tighter if too much pressure is applied by my fingers to random parts of the cigar.

The smoke is quite light and mild. I have heard some people refer to this cigar as "crisp" although I'm not sure I would go that far. The first part of the cigar has a light cream texture and an almost caramel sweet taste.

The next part sticks with its mild flavors. New tastes emerging now are vanilla and nutmeg. Some faint wood flavors are also present.

What earned this cigar major points in my book was the burn. The stick burned evenly and consistently. Sometimes as you smoke a cigar, it seems to have varying levels of burning throughout. This was not the case here as the draw and burn was exactly the same from start to finish. My favorite part of all this? The ash, a light gray, stayed on the cigar for a delightfully long time. I even found myself carefully puffing to see how long I could keep the ash from falling off. It actually stayed on for more than half the length of the cigar before falling into my ash tray. These kind of things really excite me.

Towards the end of the smoke, the flavors stay in the mild spectrum with the sweetness fading away to woody notes. A slight nicotine taste comes out here but mixes well which is unusual because the smoke is so mild. Normally, the emergence of a nicotine presence is my cue to put a mild smoke down since it will often overpower the delicate flavors. However, it seems to work right now.

At the end of the cigar, some stronger earthy flavors emerge. The faint vanilla tastes fade out and the smoke finishes off with a bit of a pop which even mild cigars sometimes do.

As I have said before, I usually lean more towards the full bodied smokes. That being said, mild cigars still have tastes and flavors to be appreciated. Consistency was one of this cigar's strong points. The smoke could stand to be a little more complex, but the flavors were still enjoyable. The construction and draw took away from the experience a little but the tastes were interesting enough that I would probably purchase this one again if I found myself in the mood for something on the smooth and light side. I found myself a little torn on whether this cigar finished in the high 70's for low 80's. Points were lost due to the fact that CAO Gold advertises itself not as mild, but as a medium bodied cigar. It's not. However, I gave out some very generous points for such a great burn, especially the ash lasting as long as it did which really does contribute quite a bit to the development of flavors. I'll admit, I may have put a little too much weight on this one characteristic. But it really was great.

Overall Rating: 81