Swissy
Livin' the retired life!
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2005
- Messages
- 4,612
Well, for a nice 'day after Thanksgiving' smoke, I took the doggies for a hike in the new snow- no WAY I was going to go anywhere today with all the crazies out shopping!
Setting: Fresh powdery snow, about a foot. Temps were around 14 degrees, and the sun was poking in and out of the clouds. Not a soul on the trails, no footprints and nothing but (shhhhh...) quiet. The mountains I was hiking at the base of were spectacular- tons of fresh, white snow shining in the sun and they were standing proud today!
I took an aged (not sure how long- but very well aged I was told!) Ashton VSG Torpedo, bought from a BOTL here this summer. It smelled wonderful and the clip was flawless. Pre-light draw proved the same.. perfect! In looking at the cigar, construction was very nice... one vein that looked a little big but overall very pleasing.
Toasting the end went great, and the first draw provided tons of smoke... TONS. I have had these before, but never aged. This was more smoke than I ever remember. And the flavor...WoW! it started rather mellow... nice and smooth with not a stong taste of any one thing. but everything combined was awesome. As always, I cannot 'name' the flavor, but I liked it... alot. More than the non-aged VSG I have had. And the further down the cigar I went, the more it was enjoyable. Again, a good arguement for the setting! Having the dogs off chasing squirrels, the sun poking out, deep snow (it was past knee deep in the woods) making me work a little, and this cigar just put a smile on my face you couldn't wipe off if you tried. Crap, my wife DID try - she called me, as I forgot to turn off my cell. But I told her I was busy and I'd call her back - and promptly turned off my phone! :laugh:
I got the earthy flavor I remember, but a stronger note of a 'peppery' or spicy flavor I don't rememeber... veeeery nice... very nice indeed. and it intesified the further I smoked it.
the burn was flawless for the entire cigar- right to the nub I smoked it to. Never had to tend the burn once, the ash was a very even mid-grey color and stayed on well, even with the serious walking I was doing in the woods- ducking under branches, dodging a cranky moose, and the snow that was falling off the trees (required gear- wide brimmed hat!
) The draw never wavered from perfect, and I only got more and more smoke with each draw.
And the smoke... wow. very aromatic. Almost had a vanilla-ish 'flavor' to it... but as I said, I'm not one to pick out flavors. But I do know this- at one point I just sat down in the snow an enjoyed the cigar while the dogs were off and running. But as soon as I did, Porter noticed and ran right over to me- and would NOT leave me alone! he's a cigar hound, but he really liked this one- he was bugging me so much that I had to stand up again, or he was going to known me over and take it from me (and he's big enough to do it...!). His reaction was the same as when I enjoyed a Padron Serie 26 on the deck a bit ago...
I smoked this thing right to the very end. So much so that the ice buildup on my moustache melted and tried to put it out! :thumbs:
All in all, a great expirence. So much so that I'm going to get some more of these and try to age them myself... dunno if I'll be successful at it, but I'm going to try!
An A+ in my book...
(typical spelling edit...)
Setting: Fresh powdery snow, about a foot. Temps were around 14 degrees, and the sun was poking in and out of the clouds. Not a soul on the trails, no footprints and nothing but (shhhhh...) quiet. The mountains I was hiking at the base of were spectacular- tons of fresh, white snow shining in the sun and they were standing proud today!
I took an aged (not sure how long- but very well aged I was told!) Ashton VSG Torpedo, bought from a BOTL here this summer. It smelled wonderful and the clip was flawless. Pre-light draw proved the same.. perfect! In looking at the cigar, construction was very nice... one vein that looked a little big but overall very pleasing.
Toasting the end went great, and the first draw provided tons of smoke... TONS. I have had these before, but never aged. This was more smoke than I ever remember. And the flavor...WoW! it started rather mellow... nice and smooth with not a stong taste of any one thing. but everything combined was awesome. As always, I cannot 'name' the flavor, but I liked it... alot. More than the non-aged VSG I have had. And the further down the cigar I went, the more it was enjoyable. Again, a good arguement for the setting! Having the dogs off chasing squirrels, the sun poking out, deep snow (it was past knee deep in the woods) making me work a little, and this cigar just put a smile on my face you couldn't wipe off if you tried. Crap, my wife DID try - she called me, as I forgot to turn off my cell. But I told her I was busy and I'd call her back - and promptly turned off my phone! :laugh:
I got the earthy flavor I remember, but a stronger note of a 'peppery' or spicy flavor I don't rememeber... veeeery nice... very nice indeed. and it intesified the further I smoked it.
the burn was flawless for the entire cigar- right to the nub I smoked it to. Never had to tend the burn once, the ash was a very even mid-grey color and stayed on well, even with the serious walking I was doing in the woods- ducking under branches, dodging a cranky moose, and the snow that was falling off the trees (required gear- wide brimmed hat!
) The draw never wavered from perfect, and I only got more and more smoke with each draw.And the smoke... wow. very aromatic. Almost had a vanilla-ish 'flavor' to it... but as I said, I'm not one to pick out flavors. But I do know this- at one point I just sat down in the snow an enjoyed the cigar while the dogs were off and running. But as soon as I did, Porter noticed and ran right over to me- and would NOT leave me alone! he's a cigar hound, but he really liked this one- he was bugging me so much that I had to stand up again, or he was going to known me over and take it from me (and he's big enough to do it...!). His reaction was the same as when I enjoyed a Padron Serie 26 on the deck a bit ago...
I smoked this thing right to the very end. So much so that the ice buildup on my moustache melted and tried to put it out! :thumbs:
All in all, a great expirence. So much so that I'm going to get some more of these and try to age them myself... dunno if I'll be successful at it, but I'm going to try!
An A+ in my book...
(typical spelling edit...)
