Ashton Majesty

I'm basking in the afterglow of an excellent cigar tasting, courtesy of our local cigar bar, Jake's Cigars & Spirits. Tonight's featured guest was Ashton Cigars' Bill Rectenwald, with a great lineup of Ashton cigars and some great pairing options of cheeses, nuts, and vodka. My cigar for the evening was the Ashton Majesty, upon the urging of a great friend, MMK, earlier in the day.

Now, I know what you might be thinking; "Jimbob, you don't really like shade-grown Connecticut wrapped, Dominican cigars." Aye, I usually take a pass on the blondes, but both MMK and Bill thought the Majesty was a must-try, so I gave it an introduction to my torch. I can say that I didn't regret it for a moment.

From what I was told, the Majesty is the fillers from an Ashton VSG, but with a shade-grown Connecticut wrapper, rather than the sun-grown variety. The substantial body and smooth and steady spice definitely backed up that claim. While most mild blends that sport shade-grown wrappers leave me with little but the sweet, grassy flavor of the wrapper, the Majesty was a much better balanced cigar. The first couple inches were mainly toasty tobacco and spice flavors, with just a little of the sweet-grassy tone from the wrapper.

At the mid-point of the cigar, I noshed a handful of nuts, and went back to the cigar to taste the difference. It was a remarkably different flavor, mostly an earthy, dry leather set of flavors, with the spice muted in the background. After another inch, I tried a cube of medium Cheddar cheese, and the flavors underwent another twist. After the cheese, the spice was almost gone, and I could single out the sweet grassy flavor of the wrapper.

Pulling into the nub, the great tobacco and spice flavors carried the cigar until the end. It was an outstanding smoke, as one would expect from a $12 cigar. Hats off to Ashton and Jake's for putting on a great tasting. The Ashton rep tells me that the Aged Maduro #56 is the same fillers, but with a maduro wrapper. I'm definitely going to scout for a couple of these next.

Black Band Cigar 'A', aka Camacho Connecticut

Yes, it seemed like an eternity for some of us, but here they are:



I'm not crazy about shade-grown Connecticut wrappers. I'm just not entranced by the sweet hay flavor that I get from them most of the time. Also, many blends that sport a shade-grown wrapper tend to be fairly mild, and some downright bland.

On the other hand, I have grown to love most of Camacho's cigars. Never shy, and most often bold, the Eiroa blending philosophy has tended to suit my palate well. So, when I heard that Camacho was doing a Connecticut shade wrapped cigar, I was willing to entertain the notion. Camacho with a shade-grown wrapper? Some influence from the recent Davidoff acquisition?



The tawny, shade-grown Connecticut wrapper had a couple obvious veins and gave a mild hay aroma with peppery spice on the lips. After cutting the cap, the draw was fairly free. While smoking the cigar had a fairly sharp burn line and mildly flaky silver ash. It seemed like the cigar burned a bit faster than other Camacho offerings, and then dropped ash after an inch and a half.

The initial puffs brought leather and hay flavors, with a present spice for the sinuses. Started medium, but pulled back to mild after the first inch. Occasional puffs brought a medium-bodied hay/leather flavor, but mostly mild, and the spice tailed off as well. The hay flavor was occasionally grassy.

To compare, Camacho's Connecticut seems a little milder and less earthy than Oliva's recent Connecticut release. Connecticut is till not my preference, but the blend had flavor, for those who like the grassier flavor profile. I imagine that it suits Mr. Coffee and Scones just fine.