This past holiday weekend I really cut loose and and smoked two good cigars. I had my eye on the Ashton VSG Robusto that had been sitting in my humidor for a week or two, and just couldn’t wait any longer. The Diamond Crown Maximus was an unplanned follow up base on the recommendation of the local respected tobacconist.
Since I did enjoy both, I thought it might make for an interesting review to compare my experience with the two. I’ve never written a cigar review before, and I’m still learning the appropriate terminology to describe the flavors I enjoy. But I have been reading reviews for a while, and I’ve really been enjoying the video reviews on the Stogie Review website. (At first I didn’t know how video would add anything, but I’m impressed at how much more comprehensive a video review actually is.)
Without further ado, here’s my notes:
| Ashton VSG | Diamond Crown Maximus |
|---|---|
| The Burn | |
| Good burn, a bit faster than I would have liked, but it burned evenly. | I had a heck of a time keeping this cigar burning evenly. I was continually touching it up. |
| The Flavor | |
| A good rich, nutty flavor. | The first 3rd of it was enjoyably earthy. The flavor diminished afterward. |
| The Draw | |
| A great, satisfying volumne of smoke, very little effort required. | This always appeared visually to have a good quanitity of smoke, but I had to really work on it to get a comparable amount of smoke. I resorted to recutting and pinching the end to try to loosen the draw, but it didn’t work. |
| The Environment | |
| A warmer, but drafty location indoors. (May increased the burn rate.) | A colder location outdoors. (May have led to the perception of less smoke.) |
| The Winner | |
| Clearly Superior | I think this cigar may had some structural trouble that essentially ruined 2/3 of the smoke. I actually may get another one of these to give it a chance to improve its ranking. |
| Favorite Part | |
| I love the first half of this cigar. After about the first half, it got a bit stronger, and my head got a bit lighter. UPDATE: I tried the Torpedo size during my week off with a young tawny port wine. This really helped with both the light-headedness, and some of the roughness on the back of the throat. | The first 3rd of this cigar was really enjoyable, before the burn and draw trouble. My reason for wanting to try this cigar again is based on this experience. |
I encourage you to leave me a comment and tell me what you think. Did you like this cigar vs. cigar approach to reviewing? I’ve never seen it done before, but it seemed like it might be fun to do as well as read.
Oh yeah, and don’t take it personally if I don’t respond to your comments right away. I’ll be on vacation for about a week. But rest assured, I will read them, and I’ll try to check in a couple of times during my trip.
UPDATE: I’ve noticed that one of the Cigar related blogs I’ve been reading put up a 2007 Battle of Cigars based on reader votes. I’d like to think I inspired the cigar vs. cigar battle (it did come 4 days after I put this post up). 
Regardless of the source, I like the idea, and encourage you to try the cigar pairings listed and vote.
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