Since 1985, Ashton Cigars have been a favorite of connoisseurs across the world for its exceptional luxury blends and unrivaled consistency. A persistent presence in retail and personal humidors alike, Ashton has grown to be one of the leading brands on the market today with a portfolio geared toward any manner of aficionado, especially those with a taste for the finer things.
Ashton Cigars is the result of a collaboration between the Levin family and the famous Fuente family. The Levins wanted to apply everything they have learned through the cigar retail side to the art of cigar making, and the Fuente family proved to be a worthwhile partner. Ever since Ashton Cigars were introduced in 1985, the brand has set the bar for what a luxury cigar should be.
While the 1980s saw some growth, the 1990s cigar boom catapulted Ashton Cigars to the national spotlight. Although only offering a couple of blends at the time, aficionados were enamored with the delicately smooth flavors that Ashton provided, and unlike many boom brands at the time, Ashton Cigars was able to maintain its consistency throughout the 1990s.
The first blend ever released by Ashton Cigars was the original Ashton. Still considered one of the finest Connecticut-style blends on the market, many aficionados had their first cigar experience with the Ashton.
Covering an expertly aged core of long fillers and binder from the Dominican Republic lies a genuine Connecticut Shade wrapper, leading to an undeniably smooth medley of coffee, roasted nuts, cedar, and cream. Ashton continues to be one of the most popular and favorite cigars of beginner and seasoned aficionados alike.
Following the original Ashton is the Ashton Aged Maduro, which is crafted with a deliciously dark maduro wrapper. A gorgeous and top-shelf Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper surrounds Ashton’s signature aged Dominican long fillers and binders, leading to an unexpectedly smooth yet flavorful and rich mellow-medium bodied smoke with notes of dark chocolate, pepper, nuts, and tobacco sweetness. Its approachable profile makes it an excellent introduction for beginners to richer maduro blends.
While Ashton excels with smooth, mellow blends, it is certainly more than capable of creating bold, full-bodied blends as well. Enter the Ashton VSG. Short for “Virgin Sun Grown,” the Ashton VSG was among the first truly full-bodied cigars to come from a cigar maker outside of Cuba. We cover the Top 5 Ashton brand cigars over on our Blending Room.
The Ashton VSG is built around high-priming long fillers and binder from the Dominican Republic that have been aged for 4-5 years to add to the robust flavor, joined by an extensively fermented Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper grown in Ecuador’s rich mountainous sunlight. The result is an incredibly rich yet undeniably smooth full-bodied tapestry of espresso, leather, peppery spices, oak, and sweet earth.
Released for the 20th anniversary of Ashton Cigars in 2006, the Ashton Estate Sun Grown is a display of the exceptional Dominican tobaccos that make up every Ashton cigar. The pinnacle of luxury in the Ashton lineup, Ashton Estate Grown cigars are made entirely with top-shelf Dominican tobaccos with a gorgeous sun-grown Dominican wrapper. Their complex medium-full bodied flavors of spices, roasted nuts, leather, earth, and sweet wood have earned the Ashton ESG a spot in the cigar hall of fame.
Available in singles, 5-packs, and in boxes, be sure to check out our Ashton buying guide before adding to your cigar collection.