Ashton Guilty Pleasure

European aromatics need to approached with caution. They tend to all taste more artificial than Captain Black cherry. the few exceptions are Dann Tobaccos and Karl Erik. This has a mango vanilla taste but is more like a very sweet artificial candy. It burned hot and left a bitter aftertaste. I tried to like it but I could not. You judge.

My tin was nicely sealed and I’d guess no more than a year or so old. The tobacco was barely moist and even seemed dry. The tin note was nice and I did detect a slight mango aroma. Unfortunately, the smoke delivered nothing in the way of flavor and barely anything in the room note. I am in the process of rehydrating the tobacco to try and bring back some flavor and aroma - How can a tobacco that many others say is “like candy” “very sweet taste”, etc. deliver nothing to me? Something is wrong and hopefully rehydration will help - But as of now, this tobacco had no flavor at all and only a slight mango tin note. If it comes back to life, I’ll edit this review.

A mild tobacco sweet . Smoke easy without relight. Similar to a older production of sunday fantasy but with a best cut. Good and persistent room note.

The tin was aged, a 2015 excise. When I opened it, at first I thought it was the same strawberry and cream as the 2011 Peterson Holiday Season, but after sniffing it, I realized that it didn't smell like strawberries, but mango. There was also vanilla and sweet citrus in the scent, but the nutty flavor of the burley was completely blocked by it all. The tobacco is extremely aromatic, you could even call it intrusive. Despite the ageing of tobacco, it was quite damp.

The color of the tobacco is heterogeneous, different varieties are easy to guess. The cut is mixed, sometimes there are pieces of leaf. There is no need to knead it. Perhaps the tobacco needs to rest a bit and weathered in the open.

The tobacco is very light, but at the same time the first couple of puffs unpleasantly burned my tongue. The flavor is smooth, sweet, and here with the sweetness came the nut. After a little bit of smoking I noticed that the tobacco has stopped biting, the excessive sweetness has disappeared, and the taste has become more harmonious. It's not hot, but it's quite moist. The ash is smooth, the tobacco in the pipe does not go out. The smoke is sweet vanilla and fruity, but not as with Nat Sherman #314, but a little stiffer and a little woody. The flavor is quite persistent.

What's the result? The feeling is strange: on the one hand I love light flavors as a dessert, on the other hand - this particular tobacco does not make me want to keep it in my collection (probably because I'm not very fond of mango). I'll have to try holding it in the air for a couple of hours to make the flavor less intrusive.

Opening the tin, you're greeted with a sweet smell, almost like medicine flavoring. The tobacco is dry enough to smoke right away - a nice plus. It smells really good upon first light, and I've gotten compliments from people about the initial smell. After that the first few puffs, though, the casing is entirely gone, and no sweetness remains.

That's really the problem with this tobacco - the flavor doesn't last. I bought it because I liked the Borkum Riff Cherry, but that was very early in my smoking journey. After having tried a few more, I've learned that the cherry casing isn't that appealing if the underlying tobacco isn't good, and well, this isn't that good.

It doesn't leave a lot of much at the bottom of the pipe, and it can smoke out of the tin, but that's not saying much.

This review is based on my notes from 2009. Tin aroma...very nice. Moisture content was just about right out of the tin. Taste...flat & bland. Where is that great smelling topping taste? Where is that very pleasant room note that an aromatic should emit? Where is the sweet Virginia and burley tobacco taste & strength? Smoked a large bowl and still felt the need for some Vitamin N. Didn't get much out of this stuff. The only other quality attributes this blend possesses, other than a pleasant tin aroma, is mildness & minimal tongue bite. I don't think quality tobacco was used in blending & feel the topping was lacking in flavor. Ashton would be well advised to improve on this blend. This tobacco is being judged on the basis of an aromatic blend only. That being said, GP IMHO, is worthy of no more than two stars.

A very different smoke. The tin has tons of sweet smells ozzing out of it but for me it stopped there. After the initial lite,I found like some of the other smokers that it burned very hot and was a handful to keep lit. I also will note that the room note/smoke seemed to dance off quite fast. Will be my last dance with this girl.