So I had a crappy day. A really crappy day; boss all up in my shit at work, wife – well, we won’t even get into that, and the baby screaming all night. Toss in rush hour traffic and a transmission that’s three clicks from death and I was really looking forward to sitting outside, on one of the few remaining warm evenings, and smoking my cigar.
We all have our personal favorite cigar or cigars, you know, the ones we turn to time after time, the consistent ones. Well, I grabbed one of my favorites, a strong Dominican brand with a rich sun-grown wrapper, a torpedo. I religiously clipped the head and toasted the foot gently before lighting. And it was good. Well, actually, it was good for about the first inch, and then it went all different ways of crazy. One side took off on a burn that threatened to cut the cigar in half. Canoeing is not a strong enough description of what this cigar was doing, the burn bordered on a wildfire. So much for my old “standby.”
Now I’d been thinking about that cigar the majority of the day so its failure was a real let down. But, as I reminded myself, cigars are after all handmade and even the very best have an occasional “oops.” So, rather than get upset, I made my way back to my humidor to pick a new stick. Rather than risk another let down, I decided to smoke a cigar I knew, positively, without a doubt, would not let me down.
On top of one of my humidors I keep my “expensive” cigars. These are my $10 plus cigars that I keep for special occasions. These are cigars I would share with cigar smoking friends with good taste and an appreciation of an outstanding cigar. Since none of my cigar smoking friends have good taste, I usually end up smoking these cigars myself, and this was the perfect time to do just that. From the top of the tray, I selected an Ashton VSG Robusto, a cigar I had purchased as one of a pair back in April from a local shop for $11.50 each. Mike’s Cigars happens to sell this same cigar for $10.05 for the record. Live and learn I guess.
Anyway, the Virgin Sun Grown started off with a smooth smoke that has a sweet aroma to it. There was a bit of cinnamon on the finish from the start that continued through the whole smoke. This cigar also got the “it isn’t stinky” nod of approval from the wife, for what that adds. The burn of the Ashton VSG was straight for most of the smoke, going just slightly crooked near the middle, but not so bad that I had to touch it up.
The VSG builds in strength from what I would call medium bodied to full as you smoke and more than once brought a slight tear to my eye, something not many cigars can do. But the best thing about the VSG is the aromas. There’s a hops like aroma that is very pleasant accompanied by a little bit of earth. And the finish is fantastic, again with a bit of cinnamon.
So, long story Short, the Ashton VSG Robusto is a great cigar. Not the cheapest stick on the market, but for the right occasion, more than worth the 10 bucks. Grab a couple, stuff them into your humi and hang on to them until you need them, they’ll wait.
