Ashtom VSG Tres Mystique Review

[bhudson57]

OK, I'm new at the review thing, so please don't beat me up for spelling it Ashtom instead of Ashton.

Ashton VSG Tres Mystique

Let me start out by saying, what a beautiful night. It is 62 degrees here at 10 pm in Delaware! Where is the winter? I decided to grab a good smoke to enjoy the warm weather. I've been hitting the cheaper ones when it's cold, so I don't feel as though I waste them if I force it or put it out early. The humidity is 97% as it rained earlier and there was a slight wind.

I complimented this cigar with a bottle of Michelob Amber Bock. Oh, and it's my second VSG. I though the first one was very bland.

Age: About 3-4 months that I've had it.

Burn:
I had some problems with the burn on this one. For the first half of the cigar it kept burning to the side. I kept trying to correct it, but wasn't seeming to have any luck. Also, the center leaves seemed to be burning much slower than the wrapper. After the half way point, and knocking off a little of the center, the burn issues were gone. It kinda reminded me of a regular Fuente the way it burned. Not great, but worth it nonetheless.

It was a little warm towards the end, but even despite this cigars smaller RG, it was much less than I expected.

Draw:
Perfect. Perfect throughout. I don't know how else to explain it. Probably a little on the loose side which is right where I like it. This cigar was guillotine cut.

Smoke:
Great aromatic smoke. Somewhat thick, but not as thick as some of the others I've had, but definitely on the thick side.

Taste:
WOW, this is going to be hard. I have a hard time explaining what the taste is, just if I like it or not, but here goes. This is a very complex cigar that changes throughout the smoke, so I'll divide it into three parts.

First 1/3 I wasn't overly thrilled with. It was on the mild side. I could taste slight cocoa and some spice. I'm not a big fan of spice, but it wasn't that much. It was certainly tolerable and didn't make it bad tasting to me. I was hoping for more, but it was soon to come. Maybe it was because I was fighting the burn issues that I didn't enjoy the first third that much. It was still good, but not worth the price yet.

Second third was fantastic. This is what I was waiting for! This cigar really lit up with a complex variety of flavors that are hard to describe. I was dizzy with the complexity of the flavors being thrown at me. I could taste a coffee to cocoa taste with a slight leathery undertone. Another description that comes to mind is a chocolate covered pretzel. The spice disappeared during this part. The flavors were twice as strong as the first third at this point. I could have probably even dealt with them being stronger because I kept wanting more!

The last third did not disappoint. The cocoa/coffee flavored toned down some and the leather stepped up a little. The last bit was a little milder than the middle and left me wanting more. I tasted a tar taste once, but never again. I smoked this down to the nub.

All in all, I will definitely smoke this again. I have a few bigger ones in the humidor, that I can't wait to try. I definitely recommend this one!

Rating 9.0 (out of 10) because of the burn issues, it would have been around a 9.2 to 9.3 if it burned better.


Bill

[Old Sailor]

Nice review, if you liked this one you should try the others, I find them great.

[TechMetalMan]

Argh! You are making me want to burn mine---but I must let it rest....a least a weekkkk....

[wharfrathoss]

tried the t.m. vsg not long ago-strange since i usually don't smoke less than a 48 rg-surprised me how much flavor, how full bodied, & how slow it burned-like you, will probably pick up some bustos to see how they are

[Boston_Dude05]

Can someone tell me the differences between the Tres Mystique and the other VSGs? If I liked the Tres Mystique, what is the bigger brother version of that in the VSG line?

[bhudson57]

Originally Posted by Boston_Dude05

Can someone tell me the differences between the Tres Mystique and the other VSGs? If I liked the Tres Mystique, what is the bigger brother version of that in the VSG line?

There are many sizes it comes in. Here's Ashton's website for the sizes:
http://www.ashtoncigar.com/Ashton-VSG.jsp

I've had a few more sizes now and just like any other cigar, there are slight differences in all of them, but most is with burn, temp, etc due to the different ring gauges. It all depends on how long you want to smoke for basically. They are all good (at least the ones I've tried)

[Bobb]

The Ashtom VSG's are great smokes

If you like the VSG's, you should try the Heritage Puro Sol. A step up from the VSG IMHO

[newcigarz]

Nice review. I have always been a fan of the VSG's

[stormin]

I smoked 2 of these cigars in the past month. Here is my review.

Beautiful looking cigar. Excellent construction. Very nice wrapper and an awesome looking band. This is a very visually appealing cigar. I am also a big fan of cigars of this size. They fit my smoking needs and life style. Pre-light draw was excellent on both. No burn problems to report.

So far everything about these cigars is excellent. Except the flavour. I don't know what it is about the flavour of these cigars, but they just don't do it for me. I really want to like them because they look so nice, but I don't. That's why I smoked another one within a few weeks of the first, just to see if it was an isolated incident. Considering the price of these babies ($$$) and the fact that I don't like the flavour I would have to say that these smokes get 2 thumbs down from me. These cigars are priced at a point where they need to compete with the Cubans. In order to do that, they need to do a lot better. In my opinion these smokes have a very short life cycle with the average cigar smoker. They are too expensive to attract a newbie. But by the time a cigar smoker discovers these, it is pretty close to the same time he/she discovers Cubans. Doesn't take the developing cigar lover long to figure out that you get a lot more bang for your buck from a similarly priced Cuban cigar. I would give it a 6/10 if it was cheaper. 3/10 considering the price.
I have one more in my humidor that was gifted to me last year. This particular one is slightly different as it was from a cab and the label reflects that. I think I will let it rest before trying these again.

[Fistville]

Great review, its impossible to go wrong with vsg.

[havana_lover]

the VSG perfecto is one of my favs I have a few of the other formats too, just waiting to try them... Thanks Bob

[Glacierman]

Originally Posted by havana_lover

the VSG perfecto is one of my favs I have a few of the other formats too, just waiting to try them... Thanks Bob

Yes, the Enchantment is superb. I grab 'em whenever I can and have never been disappointed.

[ScottishSmoker]

When the budget allows, this is a go to smoke...I love the spicy little cigar because it packs a huge punch for being such a little cigar...

[JGIORD]

Very nice review. Sounds yummy

[bhudson57]

I have noticed that some of the more recent one's I've had have been bland. Thankfully, my local B&M notices it as well and whenever I go in, he'll tell me if it's a good batch or not. Not sure why the inconsistency. Kind of a bummer considering the price. When these are on they are a great smoke!