Ashton Double Magnum – Cigar Review
Here is a picture from Ashton Cigars of the Ashton Double Magnum Cigar.
This is a well packaged cigar with a cedar sheath and two bands; one at the foot and one near the cap, like normal. The problem is that the glue securing the bands to the cigar are actually securing the bands to the cedar sheath and when I went to take the sheath off it also took both bands off. Oh well.
The cigar itself has a nice, oily wrapper. The wrapper is unusually smooth. Looks nearly perfect with only a mild imperfection in the way the wrapper looks in one spot. Light brown cigar. I’m smoking this cigar with Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit Single Barrel and some water.
Cigar Stats
Toro
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: USA/Connecticut
Binder: Dom. Rep.
Filler: Dom. Rep.
Price: $10.00
Evening Light!
Finally, a cigar with a good draw! It’s not the best drawing cigar ever but after the last couple of cigars I’ll take it. Even though in the past I have thought this was a mild cigar there is a little more bite to it this time around. (Note: It should be a mild cigar, I don’t know what was up with this cigar.)
Flavors: earthy, black cherry, peat; almost tastes like a single malt. It is also burning evenly and I think it’s medium-full bodied, which it shouldn’t be. It is supposed to be a mild smoke.
Guess my luck, the draw got a little tight about halfway through. The flavors are still mostly there but, for me at least, when the draw tightens up it lessens the flavors and thus my enjoyment of the cigar. Wait, I just ashed the cigar and the draw has opened back up. Weird.
Nearing the end now and there haven’t been any more problems with the draw for this cigar. There is also an added sweetness to this cigar now. I think it’s an excellent pairing with my single barrel bourbon. Good cigar.
89 points
Ten Questions with Jamaica’s Cigar Man – Joseph Adduci
About a month ago I did a post on Jamaican cigars. Evidently, one man, Joseph Adduci of Adduci Tobacco Limited, is trying to lead a renaissance for Jamaican tobacco and I was able to have him answer ten questions from me.
Minister of Commerce,Industry and Investment The Honourable Karl Samuda Government of Jamaica (L) and Joseph Adduci,CEO Adduci Jamaican Tobacco Ltd.(R)
The Perfect Draw: How did you get your start in the cigar business – do you come from a family that smoked cigars?
Joseph Adduci: Yes,my father smoked Macanudo and Temple Hall! I started growing tobacco in Connecticut at the age of 12.
TPD: What is unique about Jamaican tobacco?
JA: Mild, tasty, rare, exotic. Jamaica Tobacco is the smoothest in the world. It is extremely unique.
TPD: What other country’s tobacco would you compare Jamaican tobacco to?
JA: I wouldn’t compare Jamaican Tobacco to any other country’s tobacco. Jamaican tobacco and cigars stand alone. We are different and very rare.
TPD: How many cigars will you be producing five years from now if all goes according to plan?
JA: 60,000,000.
TPD: Do you have any cigar mentors? If so, who are they?
JA: Yes, Robert Gore of Royal Jamaica fame and Edgar Cullman Sr. Two great Jamaican Cigar MEN.
Prime Minister of Jamaica,The Honourable Bruce Golding (L) and Joseph Adduci
TPD: How difficult is it for a Jamaican cigar company to be taken seriously?
JA: Not difficult at all. TEN YEARS AGO WE (Jamaica) WERE #3 IN THE WORLD.
TPD: Is it actually a marketing plus being the only brand solely from Jamaica?
JA: No, Remember Barrington House manufactures in Jamaica also. A lovely cigar!
TPD: What cigars, other than your own, do you like?
JA: Bolivar (CUBA) and Drew Estate (Nicaragua).
TPD: How worried are you about anti-smoking laws in America and Europe hurting your business?
JA: I am not worried at all. I feel anti-smoking laws are necessary for cigarettes only.
TPD: Are you doing anything to combat this?
JA: Yes.
TPD: How is the government of Jamaica “on your side”?
JA: The Jamaica Labour Party led Government of Jamaica has been extremely supportive. The Government of Jamaica is a 10% equity partner in Adduci Jamaican Tobacco Ltd.
TPD: Are they subsidizing your company, supplying you with land, or is it something else?
JA: 10,000 acres in total, millions in backing, total support!
TPD: Where can we find your cigars – are they in cigar shops in America and Europe?
JA: 220 countries! adducicigars.com (factory direct)
I will obviously be following up on some of these points. What I think is important to focus on is laws against cigars and what he is doing to combat the assault on cigars. Is there anything else that should be gone over again? Have any of you smoked one of Mr. Adduci’s cigars? Any other questions?
Joseph Adduci seems like a very interesting guy and I wish him all the best. Hopefully we can do something like this again.
Cohiba Black (Robusto) – Cigar Review
Very black and oily. The construction for this cigar looks perfect. I’m actually excited about this cigar even though I have had problems with Cohibas in the past. This, like all the other Cohibas I have smoked, is of the Dominican variety (sigh). I smoked this cigar with Wild Turkey and water.
Cigar Stats
Robusto
Length: 5 1/2″
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: USA/Connecticut
Binder: Dom. Rep.
Filler: Dom. Rep., Mexico
Price: $13.50
Da Light!
The draw is a little tight (can I catch a break?). It’s a medium bodied cigar without much flavor (due to the draw) being able to come through. What I am getting is spice, leather, dark chocolate and some sweetness.
The cigar’s draw gets better as I smoke it further. More spicy now and the flavors, in general, are coming through better now. This is a fine cigar that won’t offend anyone. There’s also an earthiness and saltiness to this cigar as I near halfway through.
A little over halfway through now and the draw is getting better. More spice and I’m beginning to think that this cigar is more medium-full than medium.
But then it tightens up again. Maybe for an inch it was very good but then the draw tightens up again. The cigar burns evenly but who really cares if you can’t get the flavors?
In the end all I can say is that I did like what this cigar could have been. Due to the draw I can’t give this cigar a great score and it knocked off at least a couple of points in my book.
87 points
Arturo Fuente Hemingway Signature – Cigar Review
This is the cigar I smoked Christmas night. Expecting a lot from this cigar I needlessly got my hopes up and, as you will see, they were dashed. In fact, it forced me to create a brand new rating category called unsmokable. Here’s my review:
I am smoking this cigar with Single Barrel Wild Turkey, which is quite smooth, and water. The construction of this cigar looks extremely difficult with a nipple on the foot, which is called a perfecto tip (a tapered end at the foot). It also has a lot of oil and it’s just a visually impressive cigar. Can’t wait!
Cigar Stats
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 47
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Price: $9.50
X-Mas Flame!
The draw is very tight at first. I hope it’s just because of the unique shape of this cigar. It is beginning to open up a little bit as the burn gets past the shoulder of the nipple. It’s sweet with some spice. Medium-full bodied.
Draw is just getting worse and the burn isn’t much better. This cigar is a pain. If it weren’t for the draw this would be a very good cigar. Unfortunately, the draw kills it.
Leather, spice, sweetness, but it just doesn’t draw. That means I can’t get much of those flavors from the cigar. It’s a damn shame because I was really looking forward to smoking this cigar. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.
UNSMOKABLE
New Rating – UNSMOKABLE
The bane of cigar smokers: an unsmokable cigar. These cigars have draws so bad that you can’t even get any smoke out of them. No flavor, no anything. You get them lit and then… not much.
It’s happened to me before. Actually, it was with my favorite cigar, the Arturo Fuente Cameroon Churchill. Out of a box of 25 one of them was just plugged. Oh well, it happens.
But then it happened to me on Christmas night. ON CHRISTMAS! And it was with an Arturo Fuente Hemingway Signature. UGHH! It completely ruined Friday, the day after Christmas, and it has somewhat shaken my confidence in Fuentes (well, not really, but it is a pain nonetheless).
Still, this thing happens with all cigars, I am told. Sometimes they get plugged up and for that reason you really can’t give them a score. From what I got from that Fuente on Christmas I thought it had the potential to be a 90+ point cigar. But it was unsmokable.
That’s why I will be adding an “unsmokable” category to my rating system. Unless a cigar has multiple unsmokable scores then I cannot look poorly on a cigar for what might just be one bad apple. Unsmokable isn’t really a score, it’s more like a false start in a race.
I’m going to give the Arturo Fuente Hemingway Signature another shot and, hopefully, the next one will actually be smokable. If not, then we will have problems.
