The Goods:
The Cigar: Ashton VSG Enchantment
Vitola: Slight Box-Pressed Perfecto 4.375x60 (At the largest point)
Build: "Its wrapper grown on a private estate in Ecuador owned by the Oliva family where this proprietary wrapper leaf is grown for the Fuente Family exclusively for Ashton VSG." :shocked: That's a little confusing...
Wrapper, Filler, and Binder are all Dominican
Time in Cooler: Approximately 3 months
Pairing: Maker's Mark and Coke
Weather: Cool and Cloudy 70 Degrees
This is a beautiful cigar! I love perfecto shaped cigars and think it is so cool that this one has a slight box press to it. I don't know if it was intended or not, as I have seem some with it and some without, but I like it! The cigar has some small veins throughout it's delicious looking brown wrapper. Towards the foot, there is a bit of wrinkling in the wrapper, but no tears. There seem to be a little bit of oils popping through and the cigar has a wonderful tobacco smell.
I initially punched the cigar, however, after a few pre-light draws decided to cut it. I know the draws typically seem tight with the nearly closed foot perfectos, but after I lit it, I knew I made a good decision. The cap cut easily and I torched the small perfecto foot. It lit without a problem and I was met with a nice tobacco flavor. There seemed to be a bit of toasted nut to it, like a pine nut.
However, after a minute or two, just as the cherry was climbing up the perfecto to the widest part of the cigar, it went out. I tried to gently re-light, however the cigar was having none of it. I then basically flambed the cigar and once the perfecto foot dropped, I was left with a nice red glowing cherry.
After a few puffs, I was thankful I clipped the cap. This thing was like a smokestack! I love cigars that put out a good amount of smoke and this VSG fit the bill. The tobacco taste stayed along with a leathery spice. The Maker's and Coke I was drinking helped give it a bit of sweetness that it was lacking. The burn was good, but began to waver a bit, I think due to the slight wind that was blowing.
The tobacco taste remained dominant throughout the first half of the cigar. It wasn't a bad taste, it was actually quite good. Just nothing spectacular. Not surprisingly, this stick reminded me of the Fuente Work of Art. The slightly grey ash was holding on tight and cigar continued to have a nice firm feel.
The band became loose and was removed as I entered the second half. I also noticed that the flavor was beginning to shift as well. The predominant tobacco taste was fading and gave way to a smooth leathery flavor. I don't mean like chewing on your baseball glove leathery, more of the smell of a new jacket or wallet leathery. The smoke was still coming out and had a nice thickness to it. The burn will still constant with just a little wavering.
The Enchantment finally ashed itself for the first time, luckily I was near the ashtray. The smooth leather stayed and with the added heat, a woodsiness crept up. Oddly enough the flavor made me think of the woods, just ever so slightly though. As I puffed on, the ash began to grow again, just as firm as before. When I smoke, I like to keep a close eye on the ash, as I think of it as an indicator of build, age and storage conditions.
As I was getting to the nub, I had to bust out my handy nub tool.
This thing continued to smoke nice and smooth up until the very end. The leathery woods as I'm going to call it stayed around and kept the cigar pretty cool until I finally put it down. At the beginning I enjoyed the cigar but was a bit disappointed. Towards the end however, I fell in love. I'm glad I have a few more resting and I'm pretty sure a local B&M has a box of these in stock. I mean had...
The Cigar: Ashton VSG Enchantment
Vitola: Slight Box-Pressed Perfecto 4.375x60 (At the largest point)
Build: "Its wrapper grown on a private estate in Ecuador owned by the Oliva family where this proprietary wrapper leaf is grown for the Fuente Family exclusively for Ashton VSG." :shocked: That's a little confusing...
Wrapper, Filler, and Binder are all Dominican
Time in Cooler: Approximately 3 months
Pairing: Maker's Mark and Coke
Weather: Cool and Cloudy 70 Degrees
This is a beautiful cigar! I love perfecto shaped cigars and think it is so cool that this one has a slight box press to it. I don't know if it was intended or not, as I have seem some with it and some without, but I like it! The cigar has some small veins throughout it's delicious looking brown wrapper. Towards the foot, there is a bit of wrinkling in the wrapper, but no tears. There seem to be a little bit of oils popping through and the cigar has a wonderful tobacco smell.
I initially punched the cigar, however, after a few pre-light draws decided to cut it. I know the draws typically seem tight with the nearly closed foot perfectos, but after I lit it, I knew I made a good decision. The cap cut easily and I torched the small perfecto foot. It lit without a problem and I was met with a nice tobacco flavor. There seemed to be a bit of toasted nut to it, like a pine nut.
However, after a minute or two, just as the cherry was climbing up the perfecto to the widest part of the cigar, it went out. I tried to gently re-light, however the cigar was having none of it. I then basically flambed the cigar and once the perfecto foot dropped, I was left with a nice red glowing cherry.
After a few puffs, I was thankful I clipped the cap. This thing was like a smokestack! I love cigars that put out a good amount of smoke and this VSG fit the bill. The tobacco taste stayed along with a leathery spice. The Maker's and Coke I was drinking helped give it a bit of sweetness that it was lacking. The burn was good, but began to waver a bit, I think due to the slight wind that was blowing.
The tobacco taste remained dominant throughout the first half of the cigar. It wasn't a bad taste, it was actually quite good. Just nothing spectacular. Not surprisingly, this stick reminded me of the Fuente Work of Art. The slightly grey ash was holding on tight and cigar continued to have a nice firm feel.
The band became loose and was removed as I entered the second half. I also noticed that the flavor was beginning to shift as well. The predominant tobacco taste was fading and gave way to a smooth leathery flavor. I don't mean like chewing on your baseball glove leathery, more of the smell of a new jacket or wallet leathery. The smoke was still coming out and had a nice thickness to it. The burn will still constant with just a little wavering.
The Enchantment finally ashed itself for the first time, luckily I was near the ashtray. The smooth leather stayed and with the added heat, a woodsiness crept up. Oddly enough the flavor made me think of the woods, just ever so slightly though. As I puffed on, the ash began to grow again, just as firm as before. When I smoke, I like to keep a close eye on the ash, as I think of it as an indicator of build, age and storage conditions.
As I was getting to the nub, I had to bust out my handy nub tool.
This thing continued to smoke nice and smooth up until the very end. The leathery woods as I'm going to call it stayed around and kept the cigar pretty cool until I finally put it down. At the beginning I enjoyed the cigar but was a bit disappointed. Towards the end however, I fell in love. I'm glad I have a few more resting and I'm pretty sure a local B&M has a box of these in stock. I mean had...
