Ashton - Estate Sun Grown (ESG)

Ashton- Estate Sun Grown (ESG) - I'm not a big fan of Ashton's regular cigars - but I absolutely love their special efforts.  The VSG series, The San Cristobals are favorites of mine.  So its been a long time coming that I get a hold of an ESG to smoke.  I've been intrigued by the series, and being a VSG lover, the ESG is a smoke I've been dying to get my hands on.  I've heard good things and thanks to my friends at CigarsDirect I'm finally getting that opportunity.
This particular cigar is named the "22-Year-Salute".  It is a Torpedo vitola and weighs in at 6" by a 52 ring; it could almost pass for a Belicoso. The label itself is awesome; covered in ornate design and a little gold foil to give it a top of the line appearance. 
Blended by Carlos Fuente Jr. on Ashton's behalf, this series is a limited edition line, featuring a new vitola each year until they reach the 25th Anniversary of Ashton's business.  The original ESG is a Churchill vitola, and came out on the 20th Anniversary of Ashton's business - that cigar is named the "20-Year-Salute".   See the pattern?.....

Ashton VSG - Belicoso

Ashton VSG - This Cigar is hailed as the best in the Ashton line. Blended from Dominican tobacco aged 4-5 years, and wrapped with an Ecuadorian sun-grown leaf this stick is a beauty. The line carries enough sizes to fill a travel humidor - all of them around $10 to $15. This Cigar is a top pick of a lot smokers out there and has scored above a 90 in tons of publications.

I've reviewed the Torpedo VSG - Torpedo Review - and was impressed with the overall construction and burn.  The flavors were a bit strong and the smoke left me a little dizzy.  Since then I've smoked some of the Belicoso size and thought the flavors and balance made for a much better smoke.

Ashton VSG Torpedo

Ashton VSG- This Cigar is hailed as the best in the Ashton line. Blended from Dominican tobacco aged 4-5 years, and wrapped with an Ecuadorian leaf this stick is a beauty. The line carries enough sizes to fill a travel humidor - all of them over $10 or $11. This Cigar is a top pick of a lot smokers out there and has scored above a 90 in tons of publications.

Prelight - The construction looks solid and the wrapper is slightly veiny with straight seams. As a said before - beautiful. I snipped about 1/2" off the torpedo end and the prelight draw was sweet as hell. The cigar itself even has a sweet, coffee aroma. I'm excited to smoke this cigar.

Sparking it- With a torch lit, I spark the VSG. I'm happy to find the sweet flavor from the prelight comes with the first few drags. The flavor is complex and full, but no where near overpowering. Straight-up smooth is a good way to describe the flavor. I kick back and start enjoying the smoke. As I relax, I get a little disturbed that the cigar is running on one side and burning a little uneven. The flame seems to be following a vein trail - so I decide to give it the chance to even out.

Smoking it- The uneven burn requires a little attention after all but nothing that took away from the smoking experience. The ash is solid as a rock. At an 1 and 1/2" I decided it was a good time to end my experiment on ash strength (I don't want it on me and the floor). I go to ash and I actually have to roll the cigar with a little force before this brick of an ash breaks off. Wow, nice construction. The flavor is great too. Just like I like it; sweet, full and complex. Not so much creamy as it is smooth. Really a good smoke. At the $14 I paid, I'll keep this smoke for special events and depressing times, but I will go back to the VSG.

Overall- A-