Ashton Winding Road

This Aston Blend does not get a lot of respect nor high ratings but for the life of me i don't know why, other than the fact that most likely previous reviewers smoked it right out of the tin and not drying it out some. It does come too moist in the tin, but with a little dry time, it becomes a very tasty smoke, mostly a citrusy VA flavor with the caramel just making an appearance andthe apricots just adding to a very nice room aroma. I find it to be quite enjoyable to smoke, it burns very well and dry, and smokes down to a fine grey ash with no gunk or moisute at the bottom of my pipe. It is an all brown tobacco cut in a rought ribbon cut and was very easy to load and pack in the pipe. But it must be dry to enjoy. Dry it will not bite at all, and while you can stove it into a fireball if you puff too fast, smoked slow and proper, it is very tame and tasteful. It is a great blend for smaller pipes. I am smoking it in a small L Peretti cherrywood and I am totally enjoying it. This belnd should get more repect than it does, and I do recommend giving it a try.

I hadn't tried an Ashton blend before but liked the description of this one, being somewhere between an English and an Aromatic. Let's be clear though, this has very little in common with an English mixture, it's simply an aromatic with more tobacco taste then most aros.

Upon opening the tin i was met with a very distinct scent of apricot, much like the description on the tin says. I can't really say it was that inviting though, as it was a rather overpowering scent which blocked any other nuances and that I feared would perhaps also dominate the taste.

Not to worry, after drying the tobacco a little (it was very damp straight out if the tin, which probably contributed to the smell) it lightened up easily enough and I set to work on it. It turned out to be a very mellow and pleasent smoke, very much dominated by the sweetness of the Virginias, with just a hint of a citrus taste to it as well, but not in any way overpowering or artificial as I initially feared. The taste was also consistent throughout the bowl.

I had no problem keeping it lit all the way through and it in no way burnt hot or gave me any tongue-bite as some reviewers have experienced.

I've since smoked about half the tin and my initial thoughts and feelings have not changed: A solid choice for aromatic fans who like to taste the tobacco and not just the casing.

Edit: I'm now well into my second tin and I've decided to upgrade to 4 stars. This one is obviously not for everyone, but I enjoy it more and more with each bowl. The focus is more on the VA's then the BC which is perhaps slightly unusual for an aromatic and that might be what's throwing people off. For me that's turning out to be a good thing though, probably as I've been trying and very much enjoying some pure VA blends lately.

Ashton - Winding Road.

This has an excellent aroma, I get a solid Virginia with a delicate sweet/fruity topping. The content of this blend appears to be mostly Virginia, it's about 15% Cav' to 85% Virginia. I can't find anything to moan about with the hydration level, it's not dry, not damp but right on the money!

I get this one lit with no difficulty whatsoever, I'm using my jet flame lighter today but it would be more than reasonable to use just an old school match; a jet is maybe "to much power" for Winding Road! The taste is very reminiscent of the un-lit aroma, in the fact that this too is delicate! The aromatics seem to be quite light, a slight zingy note from the apricot along with a creamy sweetness from the caramel, but I do personally find the caramel to be the more discernible of the two. The burn's good quality and the smoke's free from bite.

Nicotine: mild to medium. Room-note: lovely.

No problem awarding this four:

Highly recommended.

This is a great blend if you're transitioning from aromatics to Virginians. The Cavendish in it provides a sweet smell which dominates the tin and room notes, but doesn't overpower the naturally sweet taste of the Virginia leaf, making the whole affair taste very much like apricots (like it says on the tin). A great beginners smoke that can also be enjoyed by long time pipers.

First off I'd like to say I don't like tons of aromatics as I prefer that taste of the tobacco itself. This, however is one of my favorites. Right as you open the tin it smells of fruit and to my inexperienced palate somehow smells like an oatmeal cookie. But that fruit note does not dominate the blend, I can definitely smell the Virginia's and all of the components.

The cut on this one is a ribbon which is perfect for packing, and I had no issue with the mechanics of lighting it and keeping it lit.

Now, to the meat of the matter. In my experience whenever I smoke an aro I either have a hard time tasting the topping or I find it a little overpowering with a chemically taste. Every now and then I find a golden medium and this is one of those. You aren't run down by the citrus and apricot flavours, and the underlying tobaccos shine through. They add a very pleasant uplift to the experience, smoothing out the rough edges in the blend. In a churchwarden I find the fruit flavors to be more pronounced, but also more delicate and as a result this has become for me one of my Nightcap tobaccos. It's perfect after a meal or otherwise before bed. All in all, if you are looking for an aro that lets the tobacco shine through this is my recommendation, if you are looking for something with a bold fruit sort of note, this won't be for you.

I almost like this one. It has a very pleasant citrusy casing that tries to assert itself, but it's too subtle and gets lost in the too-bright high tones of the virginias which screech more than they coo. As it is, it doesn't seem to know what it is: it feels like a promising rough draft that would have benefited from more editing.

Plus it burns hot as hades.

If it were balanced with some darker leaves and had just a tad more of the topping come through it would have been a nice aro. I can see what others may appreciate in this one, but like so many aro virginias this one is way too high-key for me, so I'll be discarding the rest of the tin.

UPDATE 10/19/10: Well, it's more than ten months later, and my opinion of this has changed a lot; or, more precisely, my initial impression has been positively confirmed and supplanted my negative impressions.

Whether my tastes changed, or the blend mellowed as it matured, it's now a very pleasant smoke. That pleasant citrusy casing I refer to is now more present, and if smoked very slowly the promise comes through. I can even detect that apricot/caramel composite Ashton suggests is there. strongirish is probably correct -- give this one time to breathe and dry out a bit.

I'm really glad I give blends a second chance. This is one time where that second chance paid off: I've gone from 1 star to 3. Indeed Winding Road just might enter my rotation -- I think it may be the best blend I've had when there's a chill in the air, maybe the lower temperatures bringing the citrusy/sweet flavors out more.

On another note, I experimented with blending this with a darker blend (McClelland's RCS) as I suggested above, and it really worked beautifully as a blending component.

And, like renwardhoop says, it's a great name for a blend. I believe that's what compelled me to buy it originally. I'm glad I stayed on the road: there's more to this blend than meets the tastebuds at first. I knew there was something good going on in this blend even when I didn't like it at first. In fact I'd suggest this could be a relative of Grousemoor -- maybe a distant second cousin or step-aunt. Worth sticking with.

The sweet, fruity scent in the tin carries over when smoked. I find nothing to complain about, save the fact that I can't buy it in bulk. An excellent "social tobacco."

Fool me once (Ashton Smooth Sailing); shame on you, fool me twice (why did I buy another Ashton tin?); shame on me.

The initial aroma began well enough with a sour, rotting fruit smell (think brown apples below the tree), which sounds like I'm making a jab here, but is something I don't mind in fruit Aromatics. The advertised Caramel flavoring didn't seem present however, with not much in the way of a sweet topping, which is also OK since I don't always want to be smoking candy.

The slightly damp, bouncy, mostly thin tan ribbons (Virginia forward?), packed and sparked well enough, but the horrors began after the match. The smoke was acrid and wasn't savory in comparison to its Danish, rougher cut, Cavendish forward counterpart (looking at you Stanwell Melange), rather I was squatting in a chemical camp.

The experience just felt cheap, which was odd, since I normally approve of most Kohlhase & Kopp products.

My series of Ashton reviews continues with Winding Road. I gotta say, after the pretty disappointing experience that was Smooth Sailing (which was the first aromatic I've sampled from Ashton), I approached this one with a bit of trepidation. But I'm always willing to give every single tobacco its chance to impress me, its chance to offer me something to enjoy. So how did this one fare?

It's interesting that they've described this as a "mixture designed to bridge the gap between aromatic and English style blends". This has nothing in common with English blends, but it's not your typical aromatic either. Opening the tin and taking a look at the tobacco inside, it's obvious that this one is not as heavy in Black Cavendish as many other aromatics. In fact, the amount of BC is so low that you can almost ignore it. The tin note has a very familiar smell of Virginia. It's sweet, though not overpowering, with a nice note of caramel and honey, completed by a mild, fruity bouquet. Sweet and not too artificial. Comes a little moist, but not as moist as many other aromatics.

Now, for the mechanics. As it's pretty moist, requires a bit of drying (50 minutes in my case). But once you get it to the proper moisture content, then you won't have any problems with this one. Packs well, lights well, requires an average amount of relights, doesn't bite, smokes pretty cool and dry; didn't leave any type of moisture in the bowl.

What about the taste? Well, if I'm to describe this blend in a single word, that would be "innocent". It knows what it is and doesn't try to offer you more than it can. It's a mild and tasty blend, pretty delicate in casing. The VA comes in the front, accompanied by a subtle, tempered taste of mostly caramel, with a fruity hint in the background. The topping never takes away the enjoyment of the actual tobacco taste. Rather, it gives it a more pleasant character. And that's what impressed me most about this blend. It's not a pure aromatic, but more of a crossover mixture between aromatic and a straight Virginia, albeit more on the aromatic side, though not too unbalanced.

To wrap it up, I was actually pretty impressed with this one. I have to commend Ashton for using the BC sparingly, and also for not going wild on the casing. I will approach the next bowl much more comfortably and, while I may not include it in my rotation, I will keep it in my collection, with no restraints in smoking (and enjoying) it from time to time, maybe once a week.

It smells alright, but that's where the good parts end.

Bites something fierce.

It might be good in a Scentsy. One of the few I couldn't actually finish.

Not for me, not should it be for anyone else, I figure.