Ashton VSG Cigar Rights of America Special Edition
Here we have another one of those Cigar Rights of America Special Edition cigars. So far I have not been disappointed. Heck, to be honest, joining CRA is enough for me – the cigar sampler is just icing on the cake (Is there a cigar-related analogy that can be substituted for that? I don’t think so!).
This particular cigar is the Ashton VSG, Virgin Sun Grown. It has a dark wrapper, a slight box press and it feels a little loosely packed. There aren’t any serious veins and the ones that are there are very few indeed. It is an oily cigar.
Even though the pre-light draw was a little tight the draw after being lit is just fine. Even more, there is a lot of flavor coming through. But before I start describing the flavors of burning tobacco in a colorful way I need to mention that this is a dry cigar from the get go. It’s a good dryness though.
I think the best way to describe the flavor profile of this cigar is to compare it to beef jerky, perhaps even the best beef jerky you have ever had. It’s meaty, has a good mixture of spice and has a distinctly smoky flavor to it. There is also a slight cherry flavor underneath.
It starts out as a more full bodied cigar then settles down nicely in the low full bodied range, maybe even medium-full bodied. The flavors are pretty consistent, which I’m thankful for. Love these flavors. The burn is even and the draw is very nice.
After the halfway point the flavor profile does begin to change. The meatiness of the first half begins to fade away and is replaced by a smoked woody flavor. Still an excellent cigar.
I know that there are some people out there who absolutely love Ashton cigars but I cannot honestly claim to be one of those people. They are very good cigars though and well worth smoking.
As is the case with all of the Cigar Rights of America sampler cigars that I have smoked I will refrain from giving this one a score.
Man O’ War Torpedo – Cigar Review
This is a thick, maduro cigar. Supposedly, it is supposed to be very strong – I don’t know. Just because it is a maduro does not mean it is going to be a strong cigar. Well, we’ll see. To tell you the truth I am not expecting that much from this cigar. I’ve been wrong before and hopefully I am wrong here as well.
The Flame!
Actually, at first it is a strong cigar. There are toast and nutty flavors for this cigar. The draw is great as well. It is not burning evenly though but I do like the flavors. So far so good and I am pleasantly surprised so far.
Alright, now I have smoked it down nearly an inch. Some of the strength that was present at first has gone away. The flavors have changed a bit and I am getting a meaty, almost jerky-like flavor coming through. It smells earthy now too.
There is no way I can say that this is one of my favorite cigars. I like the flavors, mostly, but they seem to be competing with each other. You could call it a complex cigar, kind of like a grade school marching band is complex. There are a ton of different things going on but they do not come together at all.
But it’s not all bad. Not at all really. It is a fairly strong cigar, it is standing up rather well to my Wild Turkey, which doesn’t always happen. And while the flavors are all over the place I can tell that with some aging this cigar will be much better. Heck, even as it stands now it isn’t a bad cigar.
Personally speaking, I would give this cigar another month or two in the humidor. It isn’t too far off from being a really good cigar. I think it even has potential to be a 90 point cigar. Right now, however, it isn’t.
87 points
