After my Thanksgiving dinner, I was in dire need of a good smoke. The first two smokes prior to dinner were pretty much a disappointment. I want to end the holiday with a good dinner and a solid smoke. The pressure was on to pick the right cigar to make up for a day's worth of disappointing smokes. I reached into my humidor and pulled out an Ashton VSG Illusion. The Ashton brand has never disappointed and the VSG was a previous winner of a GoldenMonkey Award. The Ashton VSG was a great choice to end a wonderful Thanksgiving.

The Ashton VSG Illusion is a lonsdale size smoke measuring in at 6.5 x 44. This was not my typical size cigar, but it was provided by the CigarMonkey Review Sponsor, CigarsDirect. I have previously reviewed the Ashton VSG robusto, which won a GoldenMonkey Award for it's fine craftsmanship, taste and enjoyment. The Ashton VSG Illusion delivered the same experience. I was able to get a good solid ash going with an even burn. The draw was smooth and effortless. The taste was a cornucopia for flavor with leather and earth dominating that evening. The Ashton VSG is constructed of 5 year old aged blend of 6 Cuban-seed Dominican fillers. Also included is an extra rich Ligero leaf to keep things interesting. It is then box-pressed finished with an Ecuadorian wrapper. The Illusion did not disappoint and well made up for the other two smokes I had that afternoon.

The Ashton VSG is hard to find, but CigarsDirect has some Illusions in stock for the price of $241 for a box of 24. If you have every experienced an Ashton VSG, you may want to buy some while supplies last. If you have not tried a VSG, you do not know what you are missing.

MonkeyDan Rating: 94