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Ashton Aged Maduro #20

Ginseng

Banned
Joined
Oct 2, 2005
Messages
8,802
My smoke tonight was a "grad student special." The reading material was a 50-page chunk of a 500-page book on early childhood development. The beverage of choice was tea, Lipton in a bag. The snack of choice was Entenmann's mini chocolate dipped donuts. And the cigar was an Ashton Aged Maduro #20. Nicely sized for trouble-free smoking while reading and note taking.

Prelight: This was a hard cigar. It just felt solid. Not tightly packed, just strangely rocklike. The wrapper was dark and a bit veiny. It wasn't supple like a PAM, more like the wrapper on a Sancho Panza DM.

Early stage: The stick took to lighting pretty well. The burn was fairly straight with a solid white ash. The draw was medium, just right. Initial impression was of a medium to medium-full body with a decently rich taste and texture. Not to knock your socks off, but reasonable given the appearance of the wrapper. Not being a silver palate, I can say that it had nice toasty notes with a satisfying dry leatheriness. I prefer earthy, beany smokes and this one was not quite there but good nonetheless.

Late stage: The burn started to wander a bit on two sides. Quick hits with the Blazer only helped temporarily. Flavor seemed to dry out more and the balance shifted to woodiness. Seemed to lose the "maduro" characteristic. It started to become slightly harsh at 60% and this kept building until the end. Unlike some smokes that take well to getting warmer as you smoke it down, this one became less friendly.

Overall: A decent smoke. For my money, there are better maduros. On the up side, the PAM's. On the down side, the Sancho Panza DM (which I prefer to this and is a better value). I just bought this stick tonight so it got no equilibration time. However, I did pick up several other maddies and will be back to report on those soon.

Wilkey
 
Wilkey,

Thanks for the review. I'm sorry to hear you were a little disappointed with this one. The Ashton Maduro is one of my favorite go-to smokes (in the larger sizes), and I've never experienced a burn problem or harshness.

I agree with you that this is not what I'd call an especially "earthy" smoke. Some vendors advertise it as "full" strength, but I'd call it consistently mild-to-medium.

I've never been fortunate enough to try a PAM, but I'm with you that the Sancho Panza is a decent smoke.

I hope you give the Ashton another shot; maybe it just needed a little downtime in the humi. And those little chocolate donuts are yummy, but I can't eat while I'm smoking--for me, the strong favors neutralize each other and my palate gets confused. ??? I ususally go with plain water of coffee.

Thanks again for the write-up.

SteveD.
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Hi Steve,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this cigar. The additional perspective is most helpful. I think I will grab another and leave it in the humi for awhile. My experience with Ashton is mixed as far as the non-VSG stuff. Maybe it just doesn't suit me for some reason. Same with the Fuente line. Aside from the OpusX, there's not much that really grabs me. Now Padron, everything they make agrees with me. The VSGs though, I could smoke those all day.

Before you try a PAM, pick up a regular line Padron 5000 or 6000 and see what you think. They're not PAMs but if you like them, then you can consider them the country-cousins of the PAM.

I usually drink coffee as well. Tea usually does not work well with me and cigars so perhaps on that basis alone, I should give it another whack.

Wilkey
 
Sorry to hear you didn't like that one Wilkey. I kind of like them when I'm looking for a milder maduro. Bring me the stump and I'll give you another one to try, though I can't imagine it's an inconsistency problem in the Ashton. Must have been the tea. :p

Missed you yesterday. Good show at Hockessin.

Gary
 
Hi Gary,

Yeah, I wa bummed about missing the opening. I had my to care for my daughter and I just couldn't get free. I think the stub is still on my windowsill. If it is, I'll bring it in. I am seriously thinking the tea gave it a bad shake. Tea seems to be a little better with lighter smokes. Maybe that was it.

BTW, tell me what I missed...even if it kills me. I'm sure the Hockessin store is nice, but the Peoples Plaza store is just so close, so inviting!

Wilkey
 
Ginseng said:
Hi Gary,

Yeah, I wa bummed about missing the opening. I had my to care for my daughter and I just couldn't get free. I think the stub is still on my windowsill. If it is, I'll bring it in. I am seriously thinking the tea gave it a bad shake. Tea seems to be a little better with lighter smokes. Maybe that was it.

BTW, tell me what I missed...even if it kills me. I'm sure the Hockessin store is nice, but the Peoples Plaza store is just so close, so inviting!

Wilkey
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Well, you missed about 120 guys smoking La Auroras that were rolled on the spot, and we didn't even set off the smoke alarm! :D

The Presidente beer was pretty good too, though we had one guy who hung around all afternoon for the free beer and never even smoked a cigar.

Rene put on a great show, and gave a lot of education to those in attendence. Eduardo was a fabulous roller, and you can just tell he takes great pride in his craft.

Maybe you can make the Perdomo event next month, but no cigars for you unless you bring the little treasure box cutie. :p
 
Ginseng,
How long had the Ashton been aged for? Sorry you had a not so pleasant experience, I've heard nothing but good things about them. Try again and let us know!
 
Hi Bursty,

I think I bought it the day before. At most, two days before. So it came straight out of their humidor into mine and sat for a day or two. I guess I'm saying it had no storage age while in my possession. I'll br bringing the stub to Gary and setting this one down for a month or so.

Wilkey
 
If over humidified Ashton Aged Maduros can get bitey towards the end. They are a mild to medium strength, very well made maduro that I smoke as a first cigar of the day with my morning coffee. I have found that drinking tea while smoking a cigar can lead to a bitter after taste. Now conversly smoking a pipe while drinking tea is a perfect combination.
 
Well,

I picked up another Ashton Aged Maduro #20 today at Cigar-ette City and will pu tit down for a while.

Couldn't resist. I also picked up a few more VSG Tres Mystique and LFD Chisel Nat/Mad. :D

Wilkey
 
Never had an Ashton Aged Maduro that wasn't absolutely tasty as hell. Definetly one of the better Maduros out there.
 
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