Ashton makes very fine quality smokes. So when Ashton introduced the ESG, saying it featured rare tobacco and a wrapper that has never been produced I was curious. I then learned that the Fuentes had an influence on this and looking at the wrapper it's familiar to the one the Opus has. Again Ashton was boasting they're rare premium line which no one saw before but I thought the cigar world was already familiar with. Long story short I'm led to believe this is the Ashton's answer to the Opus. So does this stick smoke like one?
SPECS-
Size- Robusto 5.25x52
Wrapper- Dominican
Binder-Dominican
Filler-Dominican
Smoke Time-55 mins.
Price-$17.50
Cut-V Cut
FIRST IMPRESSIONS-First things first. The band on this cigar is beautiful, its a work of art. All the delicate little intricacies are gorgeous. Second, the wrapper is flawless. The caramel sun grown is also a piece of art, no major stems or veins. The wrapper had no particular smell, other than being a dry smell of bagged black beans. The draw was close to perfect, being just a tad airy for my taste. The cold taste had a spicy taste of legumes. Nothing to be impressed by that but I keep my hopes up.
FIRST THIRD-With your first puff you're welcomed to a bunch of cedar flavored smoke. T
he first puffs are just this, once the spice settles on your palate its not to strong and leaves a almost minty experience on the roof of your mouth. Undertones of a very defined hazelnut taste and mocha are present. Its a pretty good flavor so far, everything is very well blended and rounded. Each flavored is defined and not one is stronger than the other. The airy draw is making this burn a little to quick for the $17 dollar price tag and its my only complaint thus far. It's no Opus but I don't care, comparing sticks to one another is a bad habit.
SECOND THIRD-The flavor profiles pick up a little better here. Along with the main b
ouquet of flavors, touches of honey are thrown in here and there. The smoke gets a little bit thicker and the mocha produces a second flavor of smooth and sweet coffee with cream, this so far is good. The nut flavor gets a little bit spicier but offers a saffron flavor to counter act the somewhat sharp spice. Construction is still flawless and the ash is holding up good, the cigar is a tad spongy now but its not something that ruins the overall experience. This is the better third of the cigar and almost justifies the price tag but the flavors wont knock your socks of, they're just a little to mild for my palate.
FINAL THIRD-Things go down hill here. In transition from thirds I got hints of carame
l that were good and I thought,"hmmm this isn't too bad of a stick". This is true, its not until the flavors get duller. Everything you experience in the last third almost disappear. There are no longer second flavors to contrast the main flavors. The mocha stays mocha,the nut turns just into regular ol' nuts, and the cedar is just cedar. There is nothing over the top anymore just a mild smoke. On any other regular stick I'd toss the smoke, but for $17 dollars I'm smoking this cigar to the nub, no matter how boring it gets. The ash help up well and the cigar got less spongy, the burn line was always straight and I never had to touch it up, and that was the only thing that made it possible for the stick to be smoked so low.
LAST IMPRESSIONS-When you read the review you might notice I throw around the price of this stick around alot. This is not to flaunt how much I spent on the cigar but how much I'm regretting such a price tag. You can't stop yourself from thinking;"Wow, did I really pay $17 dollars for this," and that is such a sour note for this overall good cigar. If it was cheaper it'd be a beautiful cigar, say around $9-11 dollars or so. The price really hinders your experience, it'd probably be a better cigar if you got as a gift and knew you didn't pay for the overall it your self. But to answer my first question, is this an Opus? Absolutely not, even if it "may" have the same wrapper this thing can't come close to the first true Dominican Puro.
RATING-85
Buy It Again? Not anytime soon.
Do I Recommend It? This is tough, if you're a Cigar band collector yes. It's worth a try maybe, if you can get these as gifts from someone or a trade also yes. But if you're gunna take $17 dollars out of your own pocket no.
SPECS-
Size- Robusto 5.25x52
Wrapper- Dominican
Binder-Dominican
Filler-Dominican
Smoke Time-55 mins.
Price-$17.50
Cut-V Cut
FIRST IMPRESSIONS-First things first. The band on this cigar is beautiful, its a work of art. All the delicate little intricacies are gorgeous. Second, the wrapper is flawless. The caramel sun grown is also a piece of art, no major stems or veins. The wrapper had no particular smell, other than being a dry smell of bagged black beans. The draw was close to perfect, being just a tad airy for my taste. The cold taste had a spicy taste of legumes. Nothing to be impressed by that but I keep my hopes up.
FIRST THIRD-With your first puff you're welcomed to a bunch of cedar flavored smoke. T
he first puffs are just this, once the spice settles on your palate its not to strong and leaves a almost minty experience on the roof of your mouth. Undertones of a very defined hazelnut taste and mocha are present. Its a pretty good flavor so far, everything is very well blended and rounded. Each flavored is defined and not one is stronger than the other. The airy draw is making this burn a little to quick for the $17 dollar price tag and its my only complaint thus far. It's no Opus but I don't care, comparing sticks to one another is a bad habit.SECOND THIRD-The flavor profiles pick up a little better here. Along with the main b
ouquet of flavors, touches of honey are thrown in here and there. The smoke gets a little bit thicker and the mocha produces a second flavor of smooth and sweet coffee with cream, this so far is good. The nut flavor gets a little bit spicier but offers a saffron flavor to counter act the somewhat sharp spice. Construction is still flawless and the ash is holding up good, the cigar is a tad spongy now but its not something that ruins the overall experience. This is the better third of the cigar and almost justifies the price tag but the flavors wont knock your socks of, they're just a little to mild for my palate.FINAL THIRD-Things go down hill here. In transition from thirds I got hints of carame
l that were good and I thought,"hmmm this isn't too bad of a stick". This is true, its not until the flavors get duller. Everything you experience in the last third almost disappear. There are no longer second flavors to contrast the main flavors. The mocha stays mocha,the nut turns just into regular ol' nuts, and the cedar is just cedar. There is nothing over the top anymore just a mild smoke. On any other regular stick I'd toss the smoke, but for $17 dollars I'm smoking this cigar to the nub, no matter how boring it gets. The ash help up well and the cigar got less spongy, the burn line was always straight and I never had to touch it up, and that was the only thing that made it possible for the stick to be smoked so low.LAST IMPRESSIONS-When you read the review you might notice I throw around the price of this stick around alot. This is not to flaunt how much I spent on the cigar but how much I'm regretting such a price tag. You can't stop yourself from thinking;"Wow, did I really pay $17 dollars for this," and that is such a sour note for this overall good cigar. If it was cheaper it'd be a beautiful cigar, say around $9-11 dollars or so. The price really hinders your experience, it'd probably be a better cigar if you got as a gift and knew you didn't pay for the overall it your self. But to answer my first question, is this an Opus? Absolutely not, even if it "may" have the same wrapper this thing can't come close to the first true Dominican Puro.
RATING-85
Buy It Again? Not anytime soon.
Do I Recommend It? This is tough, if you're a Cigar band collector yes. It's worth a try maybe, if you can get these as gifts from someone or a trade also yes. But if you're gunna take $17 dollars out of your own pocket no.
No comments:
Post a Comment