A straight cut was used to commence the smoking experience of the Ashton aged Maduro #10. Once the cap was removed it was on to the pre-light draw phase. The dry draw delivered a nice mix of earth, cedar, classic wood, and light cocoa notes. This was a satisfactory pre-light draw and I moved on to lighting up the Ashton aged Maduro #10 and entering the smoking stage of this cigar. The Ashton aged maduro #10 kicked off with notes of coffee, cocoa, and classic wood. Sometimes coffee and cocoa notes can form a fusion that I will refer to as “mocha”, but in this case the notes were distinct. Early on the coffee and cedar notes moved into the forefront. The classic wood settled in the background. Meanwhile, the retro-hale delivered additional layers of spice, coffee and wood. The retro-hale also had some black pepper mixed in. During the second third of the cigar, some black pepper notes surfaced on the tongue which was not my favorite. There was a gradual increase in the pepper notes from behind. The classic wood and cocoa notes also remained. Toward the end of the second third, the pepper made its way into the forefront and that put me off a bit. The final third saw a very spicy profile from the black pepper and cedar notes. This was slightly rounded out by the classic wood, cocoa, and coffee notes but not by much at all. Those coffee notes turned pretty bitter with that black pepper. Overall it was good cigar, good burn, construction but the final 3rd did it in for me so for this stick I give it 3 1/2 stars.
