Initial Thoughts
Honestly, I have smoked very few Ashton cigars in my smoking career. The ones that I have smoked I remember are very pleasant. However, I rarely reach for them in my local humidor because the price tag is typically out of the range that I prefer to pay. I know they’re great cigars just like Davidoffs but they are just a bit out of my comfort range for price. Needless to say I was excited to see this Ashton VSG Robusto show up in the Cigar Saveur box for this month. I opened it up and knew that I was going to smoke it right after the Sobremesa. (Don’t forget, we’re doing a Cigar Saveur Giveaway just click on this link)
A little bit of info on this Ashton VSG Robusto from Ashton’s website:
A private estate in Ecuador furnishes the proprietary wrapper of Ashton Virgin Sun Grown from high-grade Sumatra seeds. The region’s natural cloud cover serves as a delicate sunlight filter, slowly maturing the highest primings. Four- to five-year-aged Dominican tobaccos procured from the most fertile plants underscore a powerful cedar and espresso flavor against a vibrant, dark chocolate expanse. Prepare to ponder something serious, Ashton Virgin Sun Grown is the original declaration of bold, balanced determination.
What a great description for this cigar! That Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper looks exquisite and I’m super excited to see what’s in-store in terms of flavor. So let’s hop right in and see what we have going on.
Looks
We’re all adults here, I think we can admit that Ashton’s packaging is some of the best in the industry. It just has air about it, that is classy and sophisticated. Everything that they release seems to have bits of red and gold in it. Which to me speaks of class and elegance. I love that the band on this Ashton VSG Robusto is big and bold with the VSG right in the middle. There are also hints of red throughout. My favorite part is the two lions on either side of crown. Their tongues are painted red and it appears that they are licking the crown. I’m sure that is symbolic in some sort of way, I just don’t know why. I couldn’t find any info on their site as to what the story is behind the label.
The rest of this cigar looks phenomenal. The band, the construction, the wrapper all look flawless. So I’m eager to cut the head off this thing and get to smoking it.
Function
After nipping the cap I tested the cold draw and it was great. I was able to pick up a good dose of flavor throughout. Rolling the Ashton VSG Robusto through my fingers it felt solid and had a nice spongy feel to it. It also feels like this particular vitola was somewhat box pressed. Not sure if that’s how they all are or not, but this one definitely had some structured sides to it. Enough playing around lets get this thing lit and see how it smokes.
Smoking
I had to use about 5 matches to get this thing going. The foot seemed a little damp or just didn’t want to take to the flame. I’ve misplaced my lighter currently, so that’s not good news… I’ve had to resort to using matches which is fine, until the matches run out of course. Once the cigar took a hold of the flame it was fantastic. This thing produced a ton of smoke which I absolutely love. I love having the smoke swirl around my face. It lets you pick up on extra aromas that you might not have noticed. Not always, but in this case I was able to find some subtle tones out there which are always pleasant. The entire cigar lasted about 1.5 hrs and never had an issue nor had to touch it up which is always nice. Now it’s time to hop into the flavors and see what this Ashton VSG Robusto brings to the table.
Flavor
The first thing I notice right off the bat on this Ashton VSG Robusto is the aroma on the wrapper. Initially it gives off a very sweet aromatic tobacco and lots of molasses. The cold draw offered a nice sweet tobacco note as well.
Once the cigar got going it offered a good dose of strong black pepper that left a nice rich coating on the back of my throat. Throughout the cigar I didn’t pick up much change in the dynamic of the flavor profile either. It was consistently that black pepper with hints of toasted grain. Overall the cigar was a delight to smoke. Sometimes I’m not a huge fan of the cigar not changing profiles, but I was ok with this one. It offered a nice bit of balanced flavors throughout where the spice wasn’t overpowering which is always a delicate line to walk.
Would I Buy It Again?
Yes, I think so. It’s always hard to determine if I would spend this much per cigar, but I think I would go back to the well on it.
Is It an Every Day Smoke?
For me no.
Would I Buy a Box?
Potentially, I really enjoyed the cigar but I’m not sure I’m ready to drop $250 for a box just yet.
Conclusion
Overall this Ashton VSG Robusto is a great cigar. The flavor profile is consistent and definitely something that everyone should give a try. I’m glad I was able to get this one as part of this Cigar Saveur sampler box. So if you’re see some online or in your local shop for under $10 then certainly pick it up and give it a try to see if it hits your palate then you’ll know if you should pick up any more.
