Ashton Cabinet Selection #10
Orgin: Dominican Republic
Size: 7.5" x 52 ring
Price: $14.00(Based on price from Holt's, box of 20)
Total smoke time: approx 2-2.5 hours
I received two of these massive cigars when my Father in Law was in town during the holidays. Not long before I had snagged these for him from Xibbumbero at the CW Trading Post. My FIL had mentioned the last time I was at his house that he was getting low on Ashton's (the only NC he still keeps) so I let him know about these. Per X, they had been aging for at least 3 years in his cooler, so we are probably talking a 5 year old smoke here.
The wrapper on these is absolutely gorgeous for a natural wrapped cigar. Very light brown with no veining that just screams mellow. Like the Hemingway signatures, the Ashton Cabinets all have a tapered, "figurado" style foot. The cigar I chose to smoke today had some dark mottling on the wrapper from my FIL overfilling the humidification unit on his cigar caddy. Nothing that was really a problem, but it did marr some of the beauty of the cigar.
I have been storing these in my small humi at right at 65% RH for a couple of weeks and as the wife and I decided today was a do-nothing day this monster was a natural choice when trying to decide what I would smoke this afternoon. I've yet to smoke a churchill sized cigar, and can say now that there will not be many in my humidors on a regular basis. 2+ hours is just not an amount of time I usually have to devote to a cigar.
OK, so on to the review I hear you saying. After thoroughly examining this cigar I clipped the triple cap cleanly with my Xikar. A quick note on this cap. I tend to have trouble with some cigars as the caps don't descend very far down. This cap must have come down at least a 1/4 of an inch giving me all the confidence in the world that I would have no problems with the cigar unraveling. The foot, like most cigars with this type of foot, lit quickly with no problems. During the first couple of inches I was worried that the burn was going to be a problem, but after one or two touch ups, it settled down for a very even burn. The ash was a medium grey with lines. The taste of this cigar can be described very simply as mellow and creamy. There was no lack of smoke volume with this cigar and it was the kind of smoke you could feel filling your mouth. The tastes were nutty with some wood tones. Nothing that seemed to make me say WOW, but definately a good mild, mellow smoke. I much prefer the VSG I've had but wouldn't turn these down in smaller sizes for sure. Of course, at this price, I'd much rather invest in leaf from the south. :twisted:
Orgin: Dominican Republic
Size: 7.5" x 52 ring
Price: $14.00(Based on price from Holt's, box of 20)
Total smoke time: approx 2-2.5 hours
I received two of these massive cigars when my Father in Law was in town during the holidays. Not long before I had snagged these for him from Xibbumbero at the CW Trading Post. My FIL had mentioned the last time I was at his house that he was getting low on Ashton's (the only NC he still keeps) so I let him know about these. Per X, they had been aging for at least 3 years in his cooler, so we are probably talking a 5 year old smoke here.
The wrapper on these is absolutely gorgeous for a natural wrapped cigar. Very light brown with no veining that just screams mellow. Like the Hemingway signatures, the Ashton Cabinets all have a tapered, "figurado" style foot. The cigar I chose to smoke today had some dark mottling on the wrapper from my FIL overfilling the humidification unit on his cigar caddy. Nothing that was really a problem, but it did marr some of the beauty of the cigar.
I have been storing these in my small humi at right at 65% RH for a couple of weeks and as the wife and I decided today was a do-nothing day this monster was a natural choice when trying to decide what I would smoke this afternoon. I've yet to smoke a churchill sized cigar, and can say now that there will not be many in my humidors on a regular basis. 2+ hours is just not an amount of time I usually have to devote to a cigar.
OK, so on to the review I hear you saying. After thoroughly examining this cigar I clipped the triple cap cleanly with my Xikar. A quick note on this cap. I tend to have trouble with some cigars as the caps don't descend very far down. This cap must have come down at least a 1/4 of an inch giving me all the confidence in the world that I would have no problems with the cigar unraveling. The foot, like most cigars with this type of foot, lit quickly with no problems. During the first couple of inches I was worried that the burn was going to be a problem, but after one or two touch ups, it settled down for a very even burn. The ash was a medium grey with lines. The taste of this cigar can be described very simply as mellow and creamy. There was no lack of smoke volume with this cigar and it was the kind of smoke you could feel filling your mouth. The tastes were nutty with some wood tones. Nothing that seemed to make me say WOW, but definately a good mild, mellow smoke. I much prefer the VSG I've had but wouldn't turn these down in smaller sizes for sure. Of course, at this price, I'd much rather invest in leaf from the south. :twisted: