SSSS # 2

B

Beagle Boy

Lowland Gorilla
For those not involved in this blind tasting, we have 10 people who are trying 5 different cigars, one each week. I will reveal what the cigar is at the end of each week.

For those who are part of the tasting, this is NOT about guessing where the cigar is made or who the manufacturer is – so please no guessing in the threads! (you can PM me if you want) This is where you should post your review of Cigar #1. Following this basic layout:

The format of the review will be this:
Scale will be 1-10 (best)

Looks: describe the appearance, what color is the wrapper, is it oily, what kind of cap does it have – is it pretty

Construction: any soft spots, was it an easy clip, is the draw too tight or loose? How long is the ash holding on for, any burn issues?

Flavors and strength: try to describe the tastes & smells – not just "it's good" or "it's a dog rocket". How strong is the cigar

Overall rating: 1 (never want to see it again) to 10 (want to smoke it for the rest of my life, its perfect) and why did you give it this rating

Would you want it in your Humi: I want a box, it’s a good yard cigar, my brother-in-law likes to mooch


And remember everyone - have fun with it!
 
Stick Number two...

Look: Upon initial appearance, this cigar is by far a much prettier looking stick than the last. It has a uniformly colored, a medium tan almost brown color, and smooth wrapper leaf devoid of any unsightly veins. It appears to have a triple-seamed cap. I would not call this stick oily, but it does have a slight sheen to it. Appearance overall is quite nice...8/10

Construction: The construction on this cigar is very promising. It is devoid of any soft spots or looser feel. The cigar has uniform sides and a solid appearing cap. After cutting, I did notice a spot right inside the cap that made me worry about the overall performance of the cigar. A definite vein is visible right at the cap in the filler. The pre-light draw alleviated me of any real concerns though, the draw was not obstructed. The cigar lit up with no real issue, it only took two matches. The Ash holds on impressively well...2 inches before it fell. The burn remained razor sharp throughout the entirety of the stick. In the last inch and half of the cigar, the wrapper leaf popped and split wide open...that was the only construction issue....9/10

Flavor and Strength: The stick has a smell of both pepper and cedar before being lit. The cigar also had an odd berry like flavor right off the pre-light draw. The berry flavor disappeared right after the cigar was lit. Through the first inch, the pepper tastes have become a little muted and the cedar and now a leather note, have become very predominant. The pepper notes have disappeared a little more by the second half and now a definite cedar and tobacco flavor has developed. The cigar started out on the full side yet developed into a real rich medium. The last inch of the cigar began to get just a little bitter yet still very pleasant. The stick was a very good smoke....9/10

Overall Rating: As far as keeping this one around..maybe not, yet I did enjoy the cigar a lot. I would definitely pick these up on occasion, just not by the box....9/10...
 
I smoked this one several days ago, but didn't have the time to type up the review until now. SSSS #2!

Prelight Aroma & Flavor:
Almost none. Hints of leather

Look:

Wrapper is very dry looking, tan-brown, no oily sheen. It's a triple capped, I would describe it as rugged. I bit veiny, but by no means ugly.

Construction:

I like the feel of this cigar, the draw is quite loose and the entire stick has a firm but springy quality. Other than a vein verging on 'twig' in the middle of the filler this looks to have been expertly rolled cigar and was obviously very well maintained :)tu Mike, what's your prefered RH?).


Flavor:
The first few puffs of this cigar, made me think that it would be a medium bodied smoke, almost immediately though the strength gave way to a medium. The first third was dominated by cedar and leather. Towards the end of the first third I could tell the flavor was about to change as the cedar notes dropped off quickly.
The second third started with an old leathery flavor, which seemed to fit the cigars rustic appearance. As the third progressed it developed a light buttery tone, mixed with the leather; this was by far my favorite part of the cigar, had the initial flavors continued throughout it would have been a so-so cigar. The last third became extremely tart; I tried purging to no avail.

Strength:
Mid-mild, nicotine felt low.

Overall Rating:
5 - Not great, not bad just sort of a mid of the road kinda thing. If it was something I picked up in a B&M I'd buy another one to get a better feel for it.
 
Come on guys - it's Friday, where are the reviews?


I am heading out of town for the weekend, I will have the third thread up in a few minutes - and Bobb has agreed to post the reveal for this stick on Sunday (I'll post a few thoughts on it when I get back late Monday)
 
Looks: Light brown, couple of larger veins in the wrapper, cap looks decent. I guess this would be classed as a Toro size. - 7/10


Construction: There are no soft spots, looks like the tobacco is bunched evenly when viewed at the foot. It cut smoothly with my Palio and has perfect draw. Burns fairly even, stays lit even though I left it for a few minutes to watch the Celtics parade around Fenway Park. Ash holds well.– 8/10

Flavors and strength: Lights easily, mild flavor, notes of cedar with some sweetness, creamy aftertaste. Slight spice noted when I exhale through my nose, also on my tongue. Other aromatic woody flavors mix in. Last third the profile changes and the mild flavor becomes a little stronger, slight bitterness noted, also becomes a little spicier and woody. Overall this is a flavor profile I enjoy occasionally as a change of pace. I have two cigars that come to mind based on this flavor profile. Ironically, I smoked one of them last night. 7/10


Overall rating: I would give this smoke a – 7

Would you want it in your Humi: I would want one or two in my humi for those days when I want to smoke something different from my normal medium to stronger cigars.
 
I apologize for my tardiness in posting this review. This cigar exhibits excellent constrruction, firm throughout. I used a punch cutter for this corona shape that sported a light to medium brown wrapper. The initial light produced pleasant tobacco sweetness. In the first third, the initial sweetness was complimented by a slight tartness. The ash was a firm grey/white. The burn was consistent and even through the entire smoke. The smoke was mild to medium in body and mild in stength. These characteristics remained throughout the entire smoke. It was pleasant, but unremarkable. In the last third, a slight crack developed in the wrapper, but had no ill effect on the smoke. I liked it. I'd rate it a 7.75 out of 10.
 
Here it is...the moment you all have been waiting for...Drum roll please.

brrdrbrbrdbdrbrdrrbrbrrdrbrbrbrdrrbrdrr (<----worst drum roll ever)

cigar #2
Ashton Heritage Puro Sol Robusto
5.5 by 50
The Ashton Heritage Puro Sol was created to fill out the full line of Ashton cigars. It sits right between the mild to medium Ashton standard line, Ashton Maduro, Ashton Cabinet and the full bodied line of Ashton VSG cigars. The Ashton Heritage Puro Sol is wrapped in a medium bodied, spicy Cameroon wrapper.
 
Oh wow - that is a nice fit into their lineup. Definitely different than any Ashton I have smoked. Not something I would want a box of but I would want one or two available for something different. I was leaning toward an LGC as the marka.
 
I am sorry to have posted this report on the late side but the good news is I smoked it prior to reading what the cigar was. It was a nicely constructed cigar and the pre-lite aroma was pretty nice and somewhat mild. I used my Palio to cut the cigar and the cap stayed intact.

The initial light was very mild and somewhat sweet. I wasn't blown away by the flavors in the cigar but maybe this is because I lean more towards fuller bodied cigars. The cigar reached it's best state about 1/2 way through. The burn was excellent the whole way through. It was a pleasant smoke throughout but wouldn't put it on my "to buy" list as the flavor and strength just wasn't there. I would rate it a 6.5 overall, maybe a 7 as the construction was excellent.
 
I came straight to the bottom to post the review so I didn't even read the thread I know I am late and I am catching up life just does that sometimes, my apologies to BB for f'n things up. I shall try to make amends

#2

Appearance, good looking smoke, around a 48RG I would guess good construction if maybe a bit veiny, on the brown green side and very very firm, concerned it might be tight but we will see.

Cut and prelight, clipped it with the palio got a good looking cap on it prelight draw is pretty lifeless my guess is this will be a mile smoke perhaps a bit grassy, nothing really jumped out at me.

Toasted it nicely with my new Rhino, and took a puff, great amount of smoke but not a ton of flavour, very smooth but very very mild. On the second draw the wrapper split about an inch in but not too bad still mild, a bit sweet maybe (like sweet grass) and still smooth, none of that dryness that turned me off many NC so good that way.

Held its ash till about too inches not much change in flavor but very smooth this would be an awesome beginner gar I think, burn is a bit off but nothing worth correcting no further wrapper issues.

Second third some very light undertones of spice reminds me of the mulling spices my mother used for apple cidar. Burn is still slightly off in the same way.

at the end of the second third I gave it a good long purge to see if I could liven it up. Not really much to add, over all it was an ok smoke but nothing jumped up and said wow. Given my smoking preferences I probably wouldn't buy one but also wouldn't pitch it if given to me.

I would run it around a 6 personally and a 7 to 7.5 from a general perspective if that makes sense.
 
Hey all, sorry for the late reply to this, I should be on time from here on out. To be fair, I did abstain from smoking for 2 days to give this one a super fair shot and am giving a pictoral review somewhat... I have yet to read any of the other review or what the smoke was. So here it goes.

The weather: calm and 70
Setting: My friends 10th floor balcony with a view of the city
Company: few friends
Drink: water until 1/2 way then Glen Garioch 15 year scotch with 2 ice cubes
Light: Light toasting with a Ronson lighter, then finally a puff after the perfect light

Prelight: the Cigar was about 5x52 with a smooth Cameroon wrapper. Not oily but not so dry it was cracked. It had a pleasant aroma to which I couldn't place the match in my smelling vocabulary. Noticed a tripple cap, no distinct veins that stuck out, and a perfect pre-light draw

First 1/3: The cigar started off plesant with a smoke you could blow out your nose with no mal-effects. It was a soft smoke which I couldn't initially stick a finger to. It had a crisp effect on the tongue and somewhat nutty. The cigar had very white ash and I ashed after about 1" as I could see a crack in the ash.

2/3: The aromas continued with some added coco and still a plesant soft smoke. I think I started to smoke slightly faster as it started to get a bit warmer and harder to push through the nose, and became a bit spicer. Ash was still white as can be and holding strong

3/3: more spice, coco, and some nuttyness. Ash holding SUPER strong and white... see pics below. This cigar was so good that I would definately suggest BUY!!! BUY BUY BUY!! If I had to rate it I would give it 9/10 if not 9.5... the only reason it isn't a 10 is I have had better... my first opus, since then, nothing has lived up it its experience. But I would love to get my hand on some of these sticks... please enjoy the photos below...


A view of the Twin Cities from where I was smoking
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The U of MN's new stadium
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Doing some light reading
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Some Artsey BS
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On to the good stuff...
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Look at this ash!!!!
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I'm nubbin it!
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Thanks for the wonderful experience, hopefully my lateness is excused by my post.
 
got home from my weekend a couple of hours later than I thought - I meant to get on and post a comment last night... Anyways..

I have had this box for a about two years

I chose this cigar to be part of the tasting because I do think that this is a hidden gem of the Ashton line, especially at its price point - glad to see that it's been well received :D

I'll post a bit more tonight - including the average rating...got to get back to work and catch up
 
I have to admit that until now the only thing Ashton made that I have enjoyed is the VSG, it is nice to know there is a cheaper one that I can now enjoy!
 
Looks like we averaged about a 7.2 on this one - we do seem to have two people missing in action - no reviews and no response to the PM... Worse things could happen, so on we go
 
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