The 3rd cigar I will be smoking as part of my cigar challenge is from the Ashton cigar family. I will be trying the Virgin Sun Grown Robusto.
Ashton cigars are described as “crafted by hand in the Dominican Republic using only the finest quality and well matured tobaccos”.
The stats:
Length: 5 1/2″
Ring Gauge: 52
Strength: Medium to Full
Country of origin: Dominican Republic
Cost: £20.99

Ashton Virgin Sun Grown Robusto
Ashton cigars appear to be a fairly newer type of cigar, first in production from 1985 onwards. I say new… compared to some of the older cigar factories from the early 1900’s and those with long deep histories. You can read more about the Ashton brand here.

The brand founder was Robert Levin, a nice interview with him can be found on Cigar Aficionado. Robert now works with his son Satya Levin.

My experience:
The thing that first struck me about this cigar is the band, well designed full of incredible detail. A small piece of art.

The VSG Robusto is a dark leafed cigar, which I believe should mean it is sweet and strong in flavour.

The cigar itself was a good smoke, I tried hard to sense any flavours that came out of the cigar, there was something. Maybe oak. But I really struggle trying to describe what I can taste (which probably isn’t very good for someone trying to write a blog post about their cigar experience’s).
I do sometimes wonder whether all this talk about the flavours that a cigar has is just a marketing thing?! I probably just don’t have any taste buds. If someone know’s the secret to tasting flavours, do let me know!
Anyway… this guy from Cigar Obsession does a much better job than me at describing this cigar…
My rating: 5 out of 10
Whilst it was a nice smoke I don’t think the cigar is worth the amount of money I paid for it. I didn’t enjoy the cigar as much as the other two.
Next up… the Avo.