I haven't heard of the Spanish cedar weeping sap, but I do know that regular cedar will weep with thermal cycling, maybe when the cedar was aged, some of the sap remained, and you're tasting it in the cigar. The cedar sap will give a bitter flavor if too much is present when burnt. As you can tell, most boxes do not have a cedar sap problem. JMHO, good luck.
First Impression: When I opened the box the first time I could smell an overwhelming cedar smell. I was rather suprised, so I grabbed my box of 10 (now 4) and there was only a smell of good tobacco.
Appearance: firmly wrapped, beautiful wrapper, wrapper slightly lighter than I expected and lighter than many other VSGs I have smoked. smelled of tobacco, cognac, and hints of cedar. Tasted like a VSG, but had a faint hint of sweetness and a lingering sensation on the palate.
Pre-light draw: very nice. Not tight at all. I can taste/smell the VSG better now. Lights well, except for my lighter is running out of fuel.
Flavor: The cigar seems to have a bitter overtone to it. The cigar out of the box still smells of cedar when held to my nose. As I smoke it I can taste some of the traditional tobacco and congac subtleties in the cigar, but there is a distinct bitter aftertaste. It is sort of numbing on the inside of my lips and top of my palate. It reminds me a little of when I first started using my smoker and produced a bitter, benzine like taste that numbed the palate. As I progressed into the cigar the initial cedar smell faded but the bitter numbness continued. I feel compelled to try the cigar to the end, but am getting extremely discouraged. I don't hate the cigar, but if this was my first experience with a VSG I would never pick one up again.
It made me wonder if maybe my palate had changed and that I could possibly not care for the VSGs anymore, but this has never been my experience previously. I smoked a VSG robusto on the road last week and it was great. I definitely think these are off. It very well could be the box they are stored in. One thing I noticed is that in my box, it has a paper liner on the inside which your box seems to be lacking. I don't think this would be the cause since the entire box smells really strongly of cedar. I would recommend you giving them a second shot, maybe picking up a single at a B&M that didn't have that smell to get a better idea of what they can taste like.
I give this cigar a 4.5 / 10. I'm pretty suprised with it. Maybe I'll send them back to Ashton and see if they will replace them. I wouldn't say they are worth taking what little time I enjoy smoking to waste on these again. Take solace that your intuition was right.
