Particularly when I'm watching sports, I like to drink a beer or three to help enhance the experience. I like my beer to taste like something other than water, and tend to choose ales. The darker, the better.
Beer and cigars aren't traditionally paired, but there's no reason why they can't be combined. Many cigars have flavors and qualities that lend themselves to accompanying a quality beer, and I'm seeing more and more events that specifically offer beer and cigar combinations. And fortunately for me, I find that darker beers are among the easiest to find a match for -- with one unfortunate exception.
I'm a big fan of the Ashton VSG with my six-pack, since I tend to like full-bodied cigars and they stand up to anything. But another brand that I've liked lately is the Rocky Patel Autumn Collection, another powerful smoke in a tasty Connecticut Shade wrapper.
Ashton VSG cigars can be hard to find. Not here. In fact, Thompson Cigar has recently added four new Ashton VSG cigars to its inventory, each of which is rated at 90 or above. The Ashton VSG Toro Sun Grown, the Ashton VSG Tres Mystique Sungrown Petite Corona, Ashton VSG Spellbound Sun Grown Presidente, and the Ashton VSG Torpedo Sun Grown are all premium smokes with tobacco blended by the legendary Carlos Fuente. The tobacco is between four and five years old, with a top-rate Ecuadorian wrapper that deserves a lot of the credit for imparting the superior flavor that have made these cigars so hard to find. This wrapper is sun-dried, and produces a rich taste that's hard for anyone else to replicate.
Thompson Cigar just got these in stock, and as popular as they are they're unlikely to be around for long. If you want to give these out as holiday gifts, you might want to order them now so you aren't shut out in December when cigar aficionados have bought out the lot.
All Ashton Cigars are well-respected by avid cigar smokers. But within this respected name stands one line that is getting even more attention than the rest. The only problem is there aren't a whole lot to go around.
These full-bodied, extremely difficult-to-come-by cigars were blended exclusively for Ashton by Carlos Fuente using small-batch Dominican long-fillers aged for up to five years and a wrapper more exclusive than an invitation to The White House, grown on a private, carefully controlled estate in Ecuador. While firmly entrenched in the hearts of a generation of aficionados, this cigar has never before been offered by Thompson because we simply couldn't get our hands on a large enough supply, until this past April when we unveiled the Ashton VSG to our cigar-greedy (but kind, of course) customers.
At Thompson Cigar, we've been fortunate enough to have some serious cigar celebs and cigar manufacturers visit us these past couple of weeks! We were able to add another one to our remarkable list on May 14th; Robert Levin and his son Sathya from Ashton Cigars! They were gracious enough to sit down for an exclusive interview and answer some questions that Ashton fans (like myself) have been asking! Hands down, the best Ashton is the Ashton Classic, perfectly constructed with a creamy Connecticut wrapper; It's one of my favorite weekend smokes!
Watch the video to find out if they will be coming out with a value-driven cigar under the Ashton name or if you can expect the Ashton VSG and ESG lines to be more available in stores. You may even hear about some secret items that could possibly be debuted at the 78th annual IPCPR (International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association) Trade Show!
Particularly when I'm watching sports, I like to drink a beer or three to help enhance the experience. I like my beer to taste like something other than water, and tend to choose ales. The darker, the better.
