XxMerlinxX
I am a leaf on the wind...
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2006
- Messages
- 366
Well, I decided that tonight I wanted to try something new, so I delved into the humidor and found this little number, an Ashton Virgin Sun Grown Tres Mystique. This is my first smoke from Ashton, and I've read that they're quite good and similar to Padron, so I'm looking forward to it. Unfortunately I have no man cave, so I don some cold weather clothes and banish myself to the front porch. Thankfully South Carolina doesn't have the coldest weather, I think I can deal with 56 degrees for a good smoke.
The Tres Mystique itself is a smaller cigar, weighing in at only 4 3/8" long by 44 ring gauge, which is perfect for me since I'm something of a slow smoker and don't want to spend 2-3 hours out in the cold. It sports a somewhat darker brown Ecuadorian wrapper, showing very little tooth at all, and contains aged Dominican long filler. The construction is quite good, no soft spots, very symmetrical, and the draw proves to be perfect once punched. I can't wait, so I whip out my Colibri triple jet and fire away.
Upon initial lighting, I first taste an earthiness, some coffee, and a bit of leather with hints of pepper and woodiness. I'd have to rate this as being a medium to medium-full smoke. The smoke volume itself is quite large for such a small stick and it coats the mouth easily, giving a great mouth-feel. I have to restrain myself from puffing on it too much, as it's easy to overheat the cigar, which puts that pepper more at the forefront of my tongue. The burn is looking pretty even as I settle in for what seems to be a great smoke.
Getting into the second third of the cigar now and the coffee flavor has diminished, leaving me with the nutty, earthy, leather flavor tasted before. The spice has also subsided somewhat and now only very faintly lingers at the back of my mouth on the finish, which is quite smooth and long. This tobacco seems to be very well aged and is very enjoyable. The burn continues to be even and I have to compliment whoever rolled this, as the construction truly seems to be perfect.
As I begin into the last third of the cigar, the burn is still as straight as a razor, however the ash has finally dropped off into my lap.
The spice has picked up a bit along with the leather and woodiness, losing the coffee and nutty flavor entirely. There's something else there that I can't quite put my finger on, a kind of sweetness, that for the moment I'm just going to have to describe as well aged tobacco. I'm going to finally put this one down with a little less than an inch left.Overall, I think that this was a great smoke, and one I may return to again if I can find it. I can't really say that this is in line with a Padron, having smoked a 2000 just the other night, I think that the VSG probably has tobacco in it that has been aged longer than the x000 series. The flavor profile also seems to be deeper, or darker, if that makes any sense, there's simply a lot more cocoa and sweetness to the x000. Anyway, I would suggest this to anyone who wanted a complex smoke in a somewhat shorter amount of time.
