This Ashton ESG was sent over to us by our friends at Cigarsdirect.com. You can find the full listing of their ESG series here, the 22 Year Salute here, and the 20 Year Salute here. Cigars Direct was nice enough to send over both the 22 Year and the 20 Year for review. I smoked through both of them and did the write up on the 22 Year. The main difference between the two is the size. The 22 Year is a box-pressed Torpedo while the 20 Year is a a churchill. Both cigars retails on their site for about $33 -$34 ea. a single.

The Good Stuff: This is taken directly from Ashton’s website (www.ashtoncigar.com):

For twenty years, Ashton has worked tirelessly to produce one of the highest quality, most consistent cigars that are sold anywhere. To celebrate twenty consecutive years of increased sales and overall growth, Robert Levin and Carlos Fuente Jr. have teamed up to create the Ashton Estate Sun Grown, or ESG for short. Such a special occasion called for a very special cigar. The ESG uses a unique Dominican wrapper grown on the Chateau de la Fuente farm in the Dominican Republic. This wrapper has never been used on any other cigar. The blend is the creation of Carlos Fuente Jr. who is a master blender and has created the most sought after cigars in the world. With ESG the bar has been raised once again. 
 
Every year, Ashton will introduce one size of Ashton ESG for the next five years. In its debut year, a 6.75 x 49 size was introduced.  In the second year a 5.25 x 52 has been added along with the continued limited production of the first year. And so it will continue for three more years until 2010. From then on, all five sizes will be produced annually and made available to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Ashton. The rare tobaccos used in this spectacular cigar dictate that only extremely limited quantities can be produced.

Size: 6 x 52  –  Wrapper: Dominican Republic  –  Binder/Filler: Dominican Republic  –  Body: Medium/Full 
 

Prelight: The Ashton ESG 22 year Salute is a beautifully constructed box-press cigar leading up and tapering off into a perfectly rounded, sharp torpedo head. Much like A. Fuente’s Anejo Shark. The wrapper on the ESG is much lighter than the wrapper used on the Ashton VSG. It is a soft, consistent light brown with only a few darker spots around the foot. The ESG is very tightly packed and barely even gives when compressed between my fingers. I am hoping this doesn’t hinder the draw. There are absolutely no soft spots and only a few smaller veins running the length of the body. The band on the Ashton ESG has to be one of the most intricate, and beautifully designed bands I have ever seen. The front holds a dark blue sphere that is partially covered in cold embossed in by Ashton’s crest along with the “ESG” logo. Surrounded the sphere are pink roses and the words “ESG Estate Sun Grown”. The rest of the band is designed to represent a portrait of the farmland and of the Estate itself. The wrapper gives off a very sharp spice scent accompanied by sweet tobacco. The foot gives off a similar scent except the spice takes a backburner to the strong tobacco notes. The Ashton ESG cut with extreme ease using my Cuban Crafters double bladed cutter. The cold draw was a bit unexpected and produced almost nothing but an extremely earthy, almost bready type flavor.

First Smoke: I was pleasantly surprised with the ESG as I was expecting a very tight, semi-plugged draw but was introduced to the cigar with a massive, effortless draw. The first flavors were very spicy, earthy tobacco with a touch of almond. I know this is stretching it but this cigar tastes a lot like marzipan. The ESG only gives off a slight amount of heavily cedar-scented stationary smoke.The burnline is even for the most part with a few larger waves here and there. Not anything I’m too worried about. The burnline however was very clean leaving behind a very tightly compacted light grey ash. The ash looked extremely heavy and I anticipated it falling off very early into the smoke. So needles to say the Ashton ESG surprised me once again when the ash held steady for about an inch and a half before giving way. The ash that fell was like a log, producing a little “thunk” when hitting the ashtray.

Halfway There: There is no more of the pepper flavors into the second third of the Ashton VSG. The experience now consisted of a much more woodsy dominant flavor backed by a citrus, sweetness, and still a bit of nut. The retrohale is interesting too. It seem retrohaling is the only time I can still pick up the pepper, outside of that the retrohale coats with a very spicy, wood prime. The burnline is still very clean with only one major wave which is just running on its own, not really causing any problems. I can’t feel much nicotine yet, but the beer I paired this cigar with (read the “Pairing” section below) and the fact that I hadn’t eaten lunch is really starting to hit me.

Finish: Very surprisingly the gigantic band on this ESG slid right off. That wasn’t the case on the Churchill I smoked. The churchill’s band took a good chunk of the wrapper along with it, but maybe due to the tapered head the band on this guy slid right off. This cigar finished off relatively smooth with only a bit of harshness into the one inch mark. The profile of the final third was actually quite a bit bland. It felt almost as if the ESG hit you with the good stuff early, then just couldn’t keep up. It finished with nothing more than just a creamy tobacco flavor. Nothing really distinct outside of that. On a plus side, the waves corrected themselves into the final third and there was no need to ever touch up or relight this cigar. Not to mention no real heat was felt off the head off this cigar even into the nub. Also, still no nic-kick.

Overview: The Ashton ESG was a heck of a cigar. Outside of the disappointing marks into the final third this cigar kept my attention and even threw a few surprises my way. The complexity is there, and quality is there, but what about the value? That seems to be the only thing this cigar is really lacking. It’s a pricey stick, and probably a bit far out of my budget to be in my everyday rotation. I’d much rather keep the ESG’s little sister the Ashton VSG, which usually retails about about $10 a stick. The flavor profiles are different, but they are similar enough to be a good substitution.

Pairing: This Ashton ESG 22 Year salute was paired with some of Bosteels Family Brewers Pauwel Kwak and I can honestly say I couldn’t think of a better beer pairing for this cigar. Pawel Kwak is a full bodied Belgium Specialty Ale. Amber in color with a slightly sweet, malt character. I’m not sure what a “specialty” ale is but this resembles a Saison of Farmhouse ale with the spice and sweetness. Paweul Kwak boasts an 8.4% ABV and the citrus spice that transitions into a creamy sweetness paired perfect with the almost identical flavor character in the Ashton ESG.

The post Ashton ESG Estate Sun Grown – 22 Year Salute appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Arturo Fuente was also sent to us by our good friends over at CigarsDirect.com, make sure to pay them a visit and check out their great selection of cigars. Also, you can click this link to be brought straight to their selection of Arturo Fuente Hemingway cigars. As I mentioned in my previous review, you can read a great description of the story behind the Hemingway line and learn more about them. To read more about the Arturo Fuente company, please visit their company over at www.cigarfamily.com

I always find that I’m seeking a good smaller vitola and they seem to be hard to come by. They can come in very handy in the cold winters, short drives home, or when you simply don’t have enough time to light up a Toro or Churchhill sized cigar. I have yet to find myself a real winner in the smaller vitolas, will this be the one? You’ll have to keep reading to find out…

Cigar: Arturo Fuente Hemingway “Short Story”
Drink: Unibroque Brewery – La Fin du Monde
Vitola: Perfecto (4.00 x 48)
Wrapper: Natural Cameroon
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Price: $149.95 for a box of 25 from CigarsDirect.com
Burn Time: Just over one hour if smoked slowly

Construction:
• A fine medium-brown wrapper that seems quite fragile to the touch
• Very clearly defined veins, one seems a bit large but the others are small but very visible
• The cigar seemed a little lopsided, possibly crushed a little bit somewhere in transit
• Very clean double cap, quite hard to see the lines of where it is
• A little firm near the head but the foot has a nice spring to it
• The tapered foot makes it impossible to tell if this is well packed or not
• Seems to be some glue from the band on a couple spots of the wrapper, you can see the slight shimmer in the right light
• Despite the tapered foot I’m still getting a great draw off of this cigar
• A little too much glue on the band caused a small tear in my wrapper

Burn:
• Easy toasting on the small tapered foot
• Needs a few extra draws to stay lit as the taper opens
• After the taper the burn has been razor sharp and doesn’t require any extra attention to stay lit
• This cigar burned for quite a while given it’s small vitola
• No touch-ups needed throughout the burn time

Smoke & Ash:
• Nice full mouth of smoke right off the first draw
• Lots of resting smoke giving off a woodsy aroma
• Nice looking ash with minimal flaking
• So far it’s held past the 1 inch mark
• Ash fell gracefully into the ashtray at about 1.5 inches

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper aroma is very light, just a faint scent of a woodsy tobacco
• The tapered end makes it difficult to get the aroma of the filler, foot seems to have the same scent as the wrapper
• Pre-light draw offers an inviting flavor of cinnamon and nutmeg spice followed by some cedar notes
• Initial draws offer a mic of cedar, earthiness and a touch of toasted bread type of flavor
• Just past the taper I’m picking up light vanilla notes
• Retrohale is mostly cedar with a nice smooth finish
• Body has been mild at the beginning of this cigar
• A nice smooth finish on this cigar with very minimal dryness
• Around the halfway point the retrohale started picking up a small kick but still maintained it’s smooth cedar finish
• The body started to slowly creep up approaching the medium range around the halfway mark and the cinnamon and nutmeg flavors started making a more prominent appearance
• As I approach the last inch the body has just about arrived at medium but the flavors I’m left with are mostly just cedar
• Just a tiny bit of bitterness near the end but still worthy of burning my fingers to nub it

Final Thoughts:
As expected, this was another good cigar that followed a very similar profile to it’s bigger brother, the “Best Seller” which I reviewed not long ago. The price comes in a little lower for this vitola, selling at about $6 each making it a fairly affordable everyday cigar. There is a lot of competition in the budget market lately and some great cigars at larger vitolas can be found for the same price. This cigar has the advantage of great construction (minus the glue issues…) and great flavors. It’s going to be a personal opinion here, does it beat those similar priced cigars, even though it’s a much smaller vitola? Does the smaller vitola make it more attractable to you? Whichever way you lean, there’s no doubt it’s a good cigar and definitely worth trying.

Pairings:
I have yet another winner from the Unibroque Brewery in Quebec, Canada. This is a fantastic, triple fermented beer. It comes in a larger 2 pint bottle or your standard bottle size and clocks in at 9% alc./vol. The name “La Fin du Monde” means “The End of the World” in French. It seems to be the most widely available brew from Unibroque although their other offerings are fantastic as well. It has a smoky amber color to it and fills the palate with flavors oak, a bit of fruityness, a very mild bitterness and pure smoothness. You can’t even tell this is strong beer so be careful! It paired well with this cigar as well as any other mild or medium offering. Other great pairings for the Short Story could include coffee, diet soda, other amber beers or a nice glass of port. Tony, I know it’s the wrong glass but I’m just following your lead!

The post Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

So today we have a cigar I’ve wanted to try for awhile. It’s the Arturo Fuente Hemingway “Best Seller”. This Figurado shaped cigar was sent to us by our friends of at CigarsDirect.com. They carry a wide variety of the Hemingway line which can be seen at this link. The Cigars Direct link has a great explanation of how the Hemingway series came to be. They also have a wide variety of accessories available to compliment anyone’s collection.

I won’t get too much into the story of the Hemingway series since it’s available at the link above, but needless to say, literary aficionados should have an idea of where the names come from. You can also read more about the Arturo Fuente company and family by visiting their site The Hemingway series does include a wide variety of vitolas all with unique names and most are available in a maduro version. The “Best Seller” is one that is available in Maduro but the one being reviewed today is with a natural Cameroon wrapper.

Cigar: Arturo Fuente Hemingway “Best Seller”
Drink: Havana Club Silver Dry Rum (Mixed with coke and on the rocks)
Vitola: Figurado (4.875 x 46/60)
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Price: $9.99 from Cigarsdirect.com
Burn Time: 1.25 Hours

Construction:
• Very neatly made with a perfect slow taper from the foot to the cap
• A quick taper also on the foot
• No major veins throughout the wrapper
• A nice medium cinnamon-brown tone to the wrapper
• Can’t really tell if the foot is packed well but the cigar is firm and even throughout with just a tiny spring
• Cleanly applied triple cap
• Cut was clean and even
• First couple of draws were tight due to the fast-tapered foot but it quickly opened up to a perfect draw
• Band slid off effortlessly

Burn:
• Toasting was even, quick and easy since I only had to light the small tapered end
• Burned through the tapered foot evenly and without any problems
• There was a small wave in the burn but it never got worse so I’m going to blame a slightly off lighting job on my part
• The wavy burn ended up correcting itself around the halfway mark and smoothly sailed to the nub after that
• The cigar is burning nice and slow without the need for extra attention, staying lit very easily
• Good burn time on this smaller vitola

Smoke & Ash:
• Started off with very little smoke but once I passed the tapered part of the foot I was getting bit mouthfuls of smoke
• A good amount of resting smoke the gives off a fresh cedar aroma
• The ash is nice and strong, holding well past the first inch, even with the weaker tapered foot holding on
• First ash held on for nearly 2 inches before gracefully falling off in the ash tray

Tasting Notes:
• Dry aroma is very woodsy and earthy with hints of cedar
• Foot is a little small to get a good aroma from, smells the same as the wrapper
• Pre-light draw is woodsy with some nutmeg and pepper spice on the lips
• Initial draws are very earthy and woodsy with a but of a dry finish
• Body is starting off fairly mild
• Retrohale has some interesting citrus flavor to it and an amazing finish, almost like inhaling the aroma off a fresh batch of vanilla sugar cookies
• After passing tapered foot the flavors opened up a bit more, I’m getting hints of vanilla and a cinnamon/nutmeg spice to compliment the cedar and earthy tones
• At about the halfway point the cigar started to slowly get more body to it coming up to a medium or so
• After the ash fell off, the woodsy/cedar and earthy tones really took prominence in the flavor department with some of the spices making an appearance here and there
• As I approach the last 1.5 inches, I’m getting some pepper spice in the flavor profile as well
• The retrohale has also made a big change, adding some bite and bringing the the cedar flavor, the sugar cookie finish is just about gone but damn it was a nice touch
• Only had to purge this cigar once near the nub and got very minimal harshness

Final Thoughts:
This was a really good cigar! I usually only retrohale ever 4 or 5 draws but the retrohale was so interesting on this one that I found myself doing it nearly every draw. If you don’t retrohale, I think you’d miss most of the complexity in this short vitola. I will caution you to smoke this cigar nice and slow and take your time. I found that taking too many draws made the cigar heat up too much and a lot of it’s flavor was lost. Burn, construction, ash, and flavor were all spot on in this cigar. Most of the Hemingway line is fairly pricey, this particular vitola comes in at a lower price and if you take your time smoking it and enjoy it you will definitely get your money’s worth. Tony had a problem with the band on his Arturo Fuente Opus X Perfecxion No. 5 but mine slid off easily and did not damage the wrapper at all.
Considering this is a fairly small vitola, the change in the flavor profile was pretty dramatic past the halfway mark and the body ramped up at a perfect rate. I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for more of these, I enjoyed i quite a bit.

Pairings:
Since I’ve been out of town on vacation seems I was a bit low on good beers, scotch and port. I decided to try something different. I’ve enjoyed a lot of different Rums but I always seem to go back to Havana club as my go to bottle. Don’t get me wrong though, there are some much better Rums out there, but for the price this one seems to hit the spot just right. I know a lot of people enjoy their cigars with Rum, either on the rocks or mixed with coke. I tried it both ways and with this cigar the mix with coke seemed to fit a bit better. I think this would go very well with a nice Amber ale or some port. A nice coffee or just diet soda would also go well here.

The post Arturo Fuente Hemingway Best Seller Natural appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: This stick was amongst a package sent over from out friend at Cigars Direct some time ago. They carry a large variety of Opus X with this stick at a price point of $19.95 a piece. I can’t think of a line that is anywhere near as hyped up as the Opus X due to price point, and rarity. The Opus X line, is one of the very few cigars blended perfectly enough to use Cuban seed tobacco grown exclusively in the Dominican Republic. After being rolled, the cigars are then cured in rum barrels, and then aged for at least a year before being packaged and shipped.

Size: 4.88 x 40  –  Wrapper: Dominican  –  Binder/Filler: Dominican  –  Body: Full

Prelight:The Opus X Perfecxion No. 5 is a nice box-pressed style petit corona. The wrapper is almost calico colored, spotted with orange and medium brown with lots of small darker brown spots. The wrapper is silky, and extremely shiny and almost sticky to the touch. The Perfecxion No. 5 is then topped off with a rounded triple cap (that was capped so cleanly it took a very close inspection to even figure out how many times it was wrapped) and branded with the standard Fuente Fuente Opus X signature gold and red band that demands the attention of just about anyone’s eyes. The Perfecxion No. 5 is extremely firm to the touch, with no soft spots and only one larger vein running through the body of the cigar. Perfectly constructed. The wrapper gives off an extremely pungent tobacco scent of notes of citrus and spice. The foot gives off a very similar scent, only with added grain and oat aromas. The Perfecxion No.5 clipped cleanly using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw produced very earthy flavors with hints of oats and leather.

First Smoke:The Opus X Perfecxion No .5 starts off very smooth and creamy with a small burst of pepper and spice backed by cedar, leather, cocoa, and tart plum. I was actually surprised how smooth this cigar started out as I was expecting something with a little more punch, not that I am complaining in anyway. The Perfecxion No. 5’s effortless draw kicks out a thick, cedar scented cloud of smoke while giving off very little to almost not stationary smoke. The burn line on this Opus X Perfecxion No. 5 is razor sharp and dead even producing a beautiful, tightly packed white and light grey ash that held on for about two inches before giving way.

Halfway There:Halfway into this Perfecxion No. 5 the Pepper flavors and the body really began to ramp up. The main flavors outside of the pepper are still very earthy and leathery with a bit of spice and sweetness. There is also a little bit of plum still in there but the sweet tobacco is starting to overpower it. The retrohale is a bit strong and spicy, but gives off a great cedar primer. The full body is really starting to make itself more apparent. The burn line has started to produce a few small waves, but nothing to be concerned about at this time.

Finish:I don’t know if it is just me, but I swear I taste some type of meat in this cigar. Beef maybe? Maybe I am just hungry. Who knows. The nicotine in this little cigar is starting to hit me like a ton of bricks. Very strong into the final third. Outside of the meaty flavor, the cedar and spice mixed with a bit of sweetness are the flavors taking center stage, with a ton of earthy notes to back it up. The burnline has corrected itself and is now burning dead even. The Perfection No. 5 burned pretty slow and actually took about 1.75 hours for me to smoke from start to finish.

One thing did irk the crap out of me. From the beginning I had wondered just how much glue is used to hold a band as large as the opus x band in place. The answer, too damn much. As you can see from the picture below when carefully removing the band I found that glue had seeped out of the band and on to wrapper destroying it upon removal. Not a good sign from such an expensive cigar.

Overview: After all is said and done the Opus X Perfection No. 5 is a damn good cigar. The complex, and plentiful flavors make for a great cigar experience. The body, and complexity is probably too much for the novice cigar smoker, but perfect for just about any enthusiast. The price point is the only thing that concerns me. $19.95 a piece from the Cigars Direct. I honestly think I’d much rather have a nice little Padron or even a Fuente Anejo over Opus X at that price point.

Pairing:I decided to change pace a little bit and pair this cigar with a glass of Sandeman’s Founder’s Reserve Tawny Port. This port is an extremely dry, powerful wine with strong black cherry, raspberry, cinnamon, and grape notes. It made a great pairing with the opus X, although at times I had to put it down and sip on water just to ensure myself that the citrus and plum flavors I was picking up in the cigar we not that of the wine itself. The Opus X Perfecxion No. 5 is a flavor bomb, just waiting to go off. You really want to be careful and pair this with something dry, of flavorless. Unsweetened tea, dry wine, water, or scotch make for a perfect combination.

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