Ashton Gold Rush

I love Virginia tobacco and this one is nice. Mild is the key word here. When I opened the tin, I got the distinct smell of raisins. It lights easily, stays lit, and has a nice texture to the smoke. It also has a pleasant smell in the room. If you like Virginia, this one is good. I agree that with some age, this one could be great.

Is Gold Rush a sleeping giant? No, probably not. But, it is just what it is - a fairly mild and pleasant Virginia of good quality. It's not a complex blend, and stays mostly monochromatic. It's... nice. There. That's what this is. Given a few years of aging, this will be better. It's still a touch immature. Enjoy it now for what it is, and expect no more. We'll revisit it later, and see how it behaves when the sugars mature. Three stars.

Tin note: whiff of citrus, otherwise smells like a virginia.

Packs well and smokes well. I could taste some of the citrus in the beginning, with a virginia on the grassy side. Hay tones and breads.

Flavorings are almost undetectable. It is a nice blend, but not my cup of tea.

Tin note of sugar, spices and mild citrus. Tobacco is a ribbon/broken flake of yellowish tan, brown and a tiny bit of dark brown. Moisture content is ok, some may prefer to dry it a bit. Larger flakes may need to be rubbed out. Burns moderate with few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. Flavoring is mild to medium, with notes of honey and lemon. Both are up front in the beginning. Honey dissipates to nothing as the lemon fades to the background fairly quickly where it remains. Taste is mild to medium and mostly consistent, with notes of citrus, lemon grass, sugar sweet, bread, wood, spices, spicy/acidic, earth, floral, dry hay, orange peel/zest, mildly bitter, mildly savory, a vinegary sour fermented fruit background note, and a peppery retro. Virginias are leading with Flavoring supporting. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is good.

Okay, straight Virginia is not everybody's cup of tea, but i do think that a couple bad reviews bring the overall score of this tobacco artificially low. This tobacco is typical of a straight Virginia where the flavors are more nuanced than pronounced. With that being said. this may not be my favorite straight Virginia, but it it a good example of a "non`blend" of straight flue cured tobacco and shouldn't be confused with blends that are overly flavored or heavy on the burly or Cavendish side. This smokes cool and clean with no bite or moisture, but I would avoid smoking this from the tin....Gold Rush is what you should expect from a quality, straight Virginia pie tobacco. I give it a 3 .

Tin note is sweet, citrusy, fresh virginia with a bit of grass.

Although it’s 3 years old, the moisture level is quite high and needs good drying time.

A bright virginia with medium to long ribbons, some which are even too wide for a ribbon but I like that. It’s a bit irregular so I’d rather call it a coarse cut than a ribbon.

The smoking experience is very nice. It delivers a cool smoke, doesn’t bite, doesn’t get hot. Tastewise, the flavoring is very mild and the taste is mild to medium. Some enough sweetness, but not really a taste of honey. It’s indeed citrusy, with lemon notes. Has a refreshing taste.

Not one of the best virginias you will find, but good enough. Could be an all day smoke for a straight virginia lover.

Ashton Gold…it’s like smoking a cool breeze in the sun while walking through a citrus grove. These are my impressions from my first bowl. I’ll update and refine my thoughts as time goes on.