Ashton ESG 24 Year Salute in a 3-way test. I was impressed by the flavour - in all three samples tested. Deep, dark, full-bodied flavours delight the tongue, palate and nose. However, I was not convinced by the rolling fault in all three samples tested. Corrected again and again with fire, the flavour is indeed very promising. Please read the details in the conclusion; there I also go into the interesting topic of acclimatisation.

About Ashton ESG 24 Year Salute

The text about the cigar comes from the Swiss importer The Royal Cigar Company: „To mark the success story and 20th anniversary of Ashton Cigars, Robert Levin and Carlos Fuente Junior have jointly developed the limited Ashton Estate Sun Grown line (ESG for short). It showcases the years of experience of master cigar maker Carlos Fuente Junior, who is familiar with the finest tobaccos in the world. The unique wrapper leaf comes from the „Chateau de la Fuente“ plantation in the Dominican Republic and has not yet been used for any other cigar. Due to the rare tobaccos used here, production is very limited.“

Fact sheet of this marvellous Ashton

Format: Perfecto (length: 168 / ring size: 48)
Tobacco:
- Wrapper, binder, filler: Dom. Republic
Price: CHF 26 / box of 25 CHF 650 (status February 2021)
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Personal impressions of enjoying the Ashton ESG 24 Year Salute

First half

Tongue, palate: Somewhat nutty and a little spicy / great cocoa (dark chocolate) / dark wood / slightly acidic
RetronasalPartly a little „fresh“ („citrus“) / spicy / dark cocoa / dark wood / coffee beans
R+ ZiZo vacuum technology: Spicy / incredibly dark roasted coffee beans / lots of dark and multi-layered wood
Umami: slightly juicy / grilled meat / some acidity
Strength 3/5

Second half

It develops stronger and fuller in all areas. Marvellous.
Around the beginning of the 2nd half, there is about 2 cm of tunnel burn and it becomes bitter at this point. After that, however, this is gone and it tastes normal.
Strength: 4/5

What is „retronasal“?

Retronasal cigar enjoyment enhances the flavour. What it is, why it works and how to do it please read here. Take a look at the ZiZo vacuum technology in particular. Incredible enhancement of cigar enjoyment!

What is the „R+ ZiZo vacuum technology“?

This is the consummate pleasure of a cigar. Hard to describe. I'll try. Here's an example: a baby sucking on a dummy. Try this technique with a cigar. Very little smoke gets into the mouth. But it passes over the tongue and goes straight through the nose. I tried it with about 10 cigars before I mastered it. Please be very careful with this technique when practising: the smoke hit the back of my larynx several times. That was really bad. But now that I can do it, it's a perfect technique for enjoying a cigar.

What is umami?

This means „savouriness“, „spicy“, „essence“, „meaty“. This mixture of taste sensations is perceived on the centre of the tongue. You can find a good article about this on Wikipedia.

Acclimatisation recommendation: 3 months in the humidor with cellophane.

Non Cuba cigars and the important acclimatisation process

The fact is: you don't know when the cigar was imported and how long it rested with the importer. You also don't know how long the resting phase was at the retailer. Cigars are in shock after being transported from the tropics to Europe. They have to acclimatise first. The industry is sales-orientated. The cigars have to be sold quickly. Therefore, they may not taste as they should. I recommend a general acclimatisation period in your humidor of at least 2 weeks after purchase. Depending on the brand and series, even longer, which I emphasise in this article.

If you buy single copies

Place the cigar with the cellophane in the humidor. If your cigar does not have cellophane: Put them in tubos and then in the humidor. Or you can put the individual cigars in a Zippo bag and put a small Boveda inside. You then seal it and place it in the humidor. Cigars that are stored open without cellophane or a box lose their flavour very quickly. This is demonstrated in this article with experiments.

Conclusion: Ashton ESG 24 Year Salute

Three points are noticeable in all three specimens: 1) Each copy increased in flavour at intervals of around three weeks. Acclimatisation seems to have been important for my specimens. At the first tasting, the cigars had arrived in Switzerland a few days earlier. The flavour got better and better over the course of the storage period.

2) The smoke was compact on the tongue (when compressed). You've probably already seen this: When a cigar connoisseur „chews“ the smoke in his mouth. Impressive. I rarely notice such a beautiful, compact smoke.

And Point 3: The tunnel fire, which became predominant from about the 2nd half, around 2 cm, giving the cigar a bitter flavour. After this phase, the tunnel burn disappeared and the bitter flavour dissipated. The cigar tasted the same as before.

All three specimens clearly had a rolling fault. The slowly smouldering tobacco had slipped far outwards. However, it should be rolled in the centre. Therefore, I often had to carefully help with the flame so that the target blend was effective in the flavour. If you leave the crooked burn for a long time, the flavour loses sight of the target.

This test shows impressively what acclimatisation and a rolling error can do. The flavour was very nice; dark, deep, multi-layered woody, cocoa, a pinch of freshness even, some acidity - a fantastic balance.

Buy recommendation: Yes, definitely. Because this cigar is made from 100% Dom. Rep. tobaccos. You can see that such tobaccos don't generally have to be light or boring. We have an excellent blend here. Allow the cigar to mature for around three months. Nevertheless, try one immediately after purchase and the others later. Take notes, so that you can compare the specimens. You might even be lucky and your specimens won't have any rolling faults. And if they do, bring a flame and you're good to go.

Ashton ESG 24 Year Salute Test