Size: 5″ x 50
Vitola: Robusto
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Origin: Nicaragua
The Benchmade cigar is a new from Ashton by Don Pepin Garcia (what isn’t he making?) that is created to set the benchmark for inexpensive cigars. That crown has been held by Oliva (the Flor de Oliva bundles) for quite some time. We’ll see.
The pigtail head is loosely tied so that when you punch it or clip it, it kinda begins to unravel on you. It has a nice easy draw as I expect out of a mixed filler (some short filler and long filler) cigar, but often times as a result of underfilling the cigar, see evidence below.
The flavors are straightforward Pepin, medium-bodied and strength with a little bit of pepper and earth with a hint of cocoa. The ash is flaky, decent smoke volume, but the cigar does begin to heat up halfway through. And of course being a mixed filler, there is no complexity.
I guess I can’t really expect much from a mixed filler and this does nothing for me to reward it the new king of the cheapo stogie, that still belongs to Oliva.
Rating: 80 (B-)
