The gloves come off! -- ESG vs ER

[pnutbutrsangwich]

A few years back when the rumors first began to circulate about Ashton's latest release, the Estate Sun Grown, there was much buzz about the similarities in provenance to the Virgin Sun Grown Estate Reserve which was released in a one time, limited edition run of 20,000 cigars (100 cigars x 200 humidors) in 2001. These ERs were met with mixed reviews upon initial release, however they have achieved an almost cult following among the collectors of rare cigars. Since they were only available in a small number of very expensive humidors (MSRP $4,999 on release), few were given an opportunity to sample them. In recent years, it has become apparent that these have aged quite nicely into some very special smokes with a unique combination of a Rosado wrapper similar to that used on the Opus X and the rich filler of the regular Virgin Sun Grown. News from Ashton of a similarly blended cigar that would be released annually was obviously quite encouraging. Unfortunately, those seeking the experience on a budget will most likely balk at the $18 MSRP of the new ESGs, but considering the fact that the ERs are very difficult to find and also very expensive, the price is not completely outrageous.

I was quite excited about the news of their release when I heard about it in 2004 and I went out on the first day of their release to pick one up at Holt’s in Philadelphia. As soon as I got it, I decided to see if I could procure one of the original ERs to do a comparison review. Since we, as a uniquely generous community of cigar smokes, are always willing to help out fellow BOTLs, my search did not go on very long before I attained one of these rare cigars. The particular cigar that I got was the Special Size #2 which is 8” x 49. Within the last month, I have smoked both of this and the ESG, so without further rambling, I’d like to present my findings to the curious.

Ashton Estate Sun Grown

While I had wanted to smoke the ER first, I couldn’t resist the temptation to smoke this one before I had heard any reviews (in fact I intentionally avoided reading any threads with opinions of them).

Construction: This is an absolutely beautiful Churchill. The wrapper was a mottled, dark, reddish marbly color that looked good enough to eat. While this was a pretty hard cigar, the consistency was the same throughout and in fact, it provided a nearly perfect draw.

Prelight: I clipped the cap with my Palio and took a few draws. Very interesting flavors of bananas and other dried fruits predominated. I was surprised since I thought this was going to be a fairly spicy smoke. I lit it up with my torch and was rewarded with huge volumes of smoke.

Smoke: Upon lighting, the flavors were very spicy with notes of black pepper. This mellowed out almost immediately and gave way to light black tea flavors with an extremely creamy texture. The burn was way funky to begin with and was difficult to even out despite a consistent, slow smoking technique and numerous touchups with my lighter. As the first inch progressed, milk chocolate flavors gave way to sweet baking spices. I noticed at this point that the smoke was somewhat dry on my palate and I kept needing to sip on some cold water. From this point, the flavors changed a lot more slowly. Most of the sweetness faded away as a toasty, mild peppery flavor came though with a very creamy body. The burn at this point went haywire. It needed a massive correction and when I turned the ash, I actually noticed a spot of wrapper that never burned. It was weird… like a little island in the ash. By the second third, creamy coffee flavors dominated. These continued to the end where sweet cedary flavors and a lot of leather finished it off.

Overall: I was expecting something more out of this, but it didn’t fall terribly short of my expectations. It was pretty expensive, so I expected better burn and construction, but the flavors were very interesting.

Ashton Virgin Sun Grown Estate Reserve

Construction: This particular cigar is huge (8x49). Despite a nasty tear at the foot to about ¾ inch up, it was gorgeous with a beautiful Rosado wrapper that was very similar to an Opus X (I wonder why????). Unfortunately the draw was very loose, but it hardly detracted from the wonderful smoking experience.

Prelight: Again, not much on the prelight draws perhaps due in part to the very loose draw.

Smoke: The first inch was cedary and light in body, probably a product of the vitola’s great length. The smoke was creamy and smooth as silk. It was also remarkably cool on the palate. By the third inch, the spiciness of white pepper was present, but not without the sweetness of cinnamon sugar and nutmeg in the background. The sweetness fades away at this point, but comes back at about the 5th inch after some strong leathery notes. The 6th inch into the end brings a review of almost every interesting flavor note that could be detected from earlier in the cigar. Very strange, but incredibly enjoyable. The end was very powerful, but not at all harsh.

Overall: This was one of the most interesting cigars I have ever smoked. It was simply incredible and I was at a loss for words concerning the experience. It is too bad that the ESGs are not the same as this cigar.

Comparison: It was painfully obvious which of these two cigars was the winner of my little battle. The ER won handily, though it may have had an advantage being about 5 years older. Fuente made a big deal of holding on to the ESGs since he said that they needed more age before they were ready for market. Unfortunately, I think that Carlito went against his own standard and may have “rushed the hands of time” just a little bit. I have a couple more ESGs in the humi and they’re going to get a lot more age before I torch one up again.