Ashton ESG 24 Year Salute Test

Ashton ESG 24 Year Salute in a 3-way test. I was impressed by the taste - of all three samples tested. Deep, dark, full-bodied aromas delighted 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 taste is indeed very promising. Please read the details in the conclusion; there I also go into the interesting topic of acclimatization.

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 Carlos Fuente Junior, a master craftsman 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 beautiful 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)
• Buy cigar: Google Search >

Personal impressions of enjoying the Ashton ESG 24 Year Salute

First half

• Tongue, palate: Slightly nutty and a little spicy / great cocoa (dark chocolate) / dark wood / slightly tart
• Retronasal: Partly 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. Wonderful.
• Around the beginning of the 2nd half, there is a tunnel burn of about 2 cm 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 taste. What it is and, why it works and how to do it please read here. Especially look at the ZiZo vacuum technology. Incredible increase in the enjoyment of the cigar!

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 pacifier. Try this technique with a cigar. Very little smoke enters the mouth. But this passes over the tongue and goes right through the nose. I tried it on about 10 cigars before I mastered it. Please be very careful with this technique when practicing: the smoke got to the back of my larynx several times when I did this. It was really bad. But now that I can do it, it's an accomplished technique for enjoying a cigar.

What is umami?

This means "savory", "spicy", "essence", "meaty". This blending of taste sensations is perceived in the middle of the tongue. You can find a good article about it on Wikipedia. 

Acclimatization recommendation: 3 months in the humidor with cellophane.

Non Cuba cigars and the important acclimatization

The fact is: You don't know when the cigar was imported and how long its resting period was at the importer. You also do not know how long the resting phase was at the dealer. The cigars have a shock after their transport from the tropics to us in Europe. They have to acclimatize first. The industry is sales-oriented. The cigars have to get to the retail market quickly. Therefore, they may not taste as they should. I recommend a general acclimation in your humidor of at least 2 weeks after purchase. Depending on the brand and series, even longer, which I highlight 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 single cigar in a Zippo bag and put a small Boveda in it. Then you put it closed in the humidor. Cigars that are stored open without cellophane or a box lose their flavor very quickly. This is proven in this article with experiments.

Conclusion: Ashton ESG 24 Year Salute

Three points are noticeable in all three specimens: 1) Each copy increased in taste at intervals of about three weeks. Acclimatization seems to have been important for my specimens. At the first tasting, the cigars had arrived in Switzerland a few days earlier. During the storage period, the taste improved more and more.

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 firewhich became predominant from about the 2nd half, around 2 cm, and the cigar acquired a bitter taste. After this phase, the tunnel burn disappeared and the bitter taste dissipated. The cigar tasted the same as before.

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

This test shows impressively what acclimatization and a rolling error can do. The taste 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 notesso that you can compare the specimens. You might even be lucky and your specimens won't have a rolling fault. And if they do: give them a flame and that's that.