My smoke tonight was a "grad student special." The reading material was a 50-page chunk of a 500-page book on early childhood development. The beverage of choice was tea, Lipton in a bag. The snack of choice was Entenmann's mini chocolate dipped donuts. And the cigar was an Ashton Aged Maduro #20. Nicely sized for trouble-free smoking while reading and note taking.
Prelight: This was a hard cigar. It just felt solid. Not tightly packed, just strangely rocklike. The wrapper was dark and a bit veiny. It wasn't supple like a PAM, more like the wrapper on a Sancho Panza DM.
Early stage: The stick took to lighting pretty well. The burn was fairly straight with a solid white ash. The draw was medium, just right. Initial impression was of a medium to medium-full body with a decently rich taste and texture. Not to knock your socks off, but reasonable given the appearance of the wrapper. Not being a silver palate, I can say that it had nice toasty notes with a satisfying dry leatheriness. I prefer earthy, beany smokes and this one was not quite there but good nonetheless.
Late stage: The burn started to wander a bit on two sides. Quick hits with the Blazer only helped temporarily. Flavor seemed to dry out more and the balance shifted to woodiness. Seemed to lose the "maduro" characteristic. It started to become slightly harsh at 60% and this kept building until the end. Unlike some smokes that take well to getting warmer as you smoke it down, this one became less friendly.
Overall: A decent smoke. For my money, there are better maduros. On the up side, the PAM's. On the down side, the Sancho Panza DM (which I prefer to this and is a better value). I just bought this stick tonight so it got no equilibration time. However, I did pick up several other maddies and will be back to report on those soon.
Wilkey
Prelight: This was a hard cigar. It just felt solid. Not tightly packed, just strangely rocklike. The wrapper was dark and a bit veiny. It wasn't supple like a PAM, more like the wrapper on a Sancho Panza DM.
Early stage: The stick took to lighting pretty well. The burn was fairly straight with a solid white ash. The draw was medium, just right. Initial impression was of a medium to medium-full body with a decently rich taste and texture. Not to knock your socks off, but reasonable given the appearance of the wrapper. Not being a silver palate, I can say that it had nice toasty notes with a satisfying dry leatheriness. I prefer earthy, beany smokes and this one was not quite there but good nonetheless.
Late stage: The burn started to wander a bit on two sides. Quick hits with the Blazer only helped temporarily. Flavor seemed to dry out more and the balance shifted to woodiness. Seemed to lose the "maduro" characteristic. It started to become slightly harsh at 60% and this kept building until the end. Unlike some smokes that take well to getting warmer as you smoke it down, this one became less friendly.
Overall: A decent smoke. For my money, there are better maduros. On the up side, the PAM's. On the down side, the Sancho Panza DM (which I prefer to this and is a better value). I just bought this stick tonight so it got no equilibration time. However, I did pick up several other maddies and will be back to report on those soon.
Wilkey
