Ashton VSG Torpedo Review

2026-10-04  Five-Pack · 3/4 My Money · by Eric

Filed under: Burn Issues · Dominican Republic · Ecuador · Figurados · Ligero / Seco / Viso · Nicotine · The Ash · Retrohale · Strength vs Body · Sumatra · The Nub · What Cigars Cost

Verdict: The Ashton VSG Torpedo is a Five-Pack (3/4) at about $18.75 street... sweet cream, leather, and coffee from the light to the nub with a creamy smoke the whole way, held out of a box by a burn that needed four touch-ups and a little earth in the final third. It's a very good cigar. It's just not one you get to stop thinking about.

Brand

Ashton

Line

VSG (Virgin Sun Grown)

Vitola

Torpedo

Size

6 1/2 x 55

Wrapper

Ecuadorian Sumatra

Binder

Dominican

Filler

Dominican

Made in

Dominican Republic

Factory

Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cía, Santiago

Street price

$18.75

VSG stands for Virgin Sun Grown. It's Ashton's fuller line, an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over Dominican binder and filler, made by the Fuente family in Santiago, and it's been around since 1999. The Torpedo is 6 1/2 x 55.

The Setup

• Cigar: Ashton VSG (Virgin Sun Grown) Torpedo, 6 1/2 x 55. Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over Dominican binder and filler, made at Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cía in Santiago, Dominican Republic.
• Street price: about $18.75 a single online. Neptune and Holt's both had singles at $18.75 the day I checked, which is Ashton's MSRP, Holt's five-pack works out to $17.80 a stick, and Atlantic had the box of 24 on sale at $405.
• What I paid: about $19 at a local shop, as best I remember. My own money.
• Storage: the Herf coolidor at 69% RH, with over a year of rest.
• When/where: toasted at 1:35 in the afternoon on the back deck. 73°, feels like 72, 80% humidity, zero wind, overcast.
• Smoke time: about an hour and forty minutes. I set it down at 3:16.
• Food beforehand: a couple of beef and cheese burritos a little over an hour before, then a handful of water crackers and some San Pellegrino about fifteen minutes before lighting to clean the palate.
• First cigar of the day, paired with water. Cut with the Xikar XO, clean cut, lit with the Guevara single torch.

Light Up and First Third

It's a nice-looking cigar. It looks rolled very well, with a compact foot and a clean wrapper that's very, very lightly toothy... you can just see tiny bumps across the surface. There's a slight box press to it. Definitely not round, but not a firm press either. The cut was clean and the cold draw was good, lightly sweet, with a little spice when I licked my lips afterward. I was looking forward to this one.

The toast gave me a light sweetness, nuttiness, and chocolate. The first draws were a light nuttiness, a very mild sweetness I couldn't place, and a little spice. Single draw and double draw were about the same, with a touch of leather and a little cream. Mild sweetness, not sweet sweet. The retrohale had a mild white pepper, not unpleasant at all, just enough to let you know it's there, then a sweet leather and cream on the finish. Good draw, very good smoke production. Blowing the smoke out of my mouth, sweet creamy leather was the main tone. This was starting out really good, and I liked it right away.

The burn was wonky early. I wasn't sure if that was me on the light, but I didn't think it was. Around half an inch in I touched it up to give it its best chance, and not long after it was crooked again, so it wasn't the light. I decided to leave it alone until the end of the first third.

This was good enough that I had to look up the price. Holt's had a single at $18.75, so now I knew what I was judging it against.

A little more than half an inch in, the profile was still that sweet, creamy leather with a touch of coffee, and a little bitterness showed up on the long finish for the first time. The retrohale is where this cigar got really good: the mild white pepper, then sweet creamy leather, then a sweet cream right behind it that takes over the palate and lingers. Very, very good. Strength-wise I'd put it right around a medium.

By the end of the first third it was burning poorly, more than a quarter inch of difference from one corner to the opposite corner, like half the cigar was burning at one rate and the other half much slower. The flavor was still good. Single draw: sweet cream, leather, a little coffee, and a tinge of bitterness on the finish. Double draw: heavy sweet cream, leather, coffee, and that same tinge of bitterness, maybe even a little less. On the retrohale the white pepper hadn't climbed at all. Leather came in first and was overtaken by sweet cream, and as the cream faded the leather came back with a little coffee and the cream just sat on the palate with them for the finish.

I ashed it and the ash fell off whole into the ashtray. Then I touched it up a second time to even it out. Usually a crooked burn hurts the flavor, and I didn't know if it was hurting this one. If it was, this cigar would be even better, and it was already pretty good.

Second Third

Right after the ash and the touch-up, single draw, double draw, and retrohale were all the exact same profile. It wasn't drying at all on the palate. If anything it was making me salivate. The sweet cream was very strong. A really delicious cigar.

About a quarter inch into the second third it was burning better but still wavy, and a minerality showed up that just sat on the palate as the leather came in. Single draw: sweet cream, leather, then that minerality. Double draw: sweet cream, leather, coffee, a tinge of bitterness, and the minerality hanging out after. The retrohale's white pepper had increased a little, not a bunch, and sweet cream and leather were about equal in strength. I hadn't had much water at all, so I took a sip to make sure the minerality wasn't just left over on my palate. It wasn't. It was there on the retrohale, less than on a regular draw, but definitely there.

The ash isn't a pretty one, though I'd touched it up a decent amount by then, so I'm not sure how much of that was the touch-ups and how much was the ash itself. The two slightly thinner sides of the press were burning slow and the top and bottom were burning faster, and a couple of flyers came off that I tapped into the ashtray. The ash itself was solid and held on well. On a single draw the smoke was a little thin, on a double draw it was above average, and either way the texture was creamy on the single, the double, and the retrohale.

Then a nuttiness came in on the double draw along with the cream, leather, and coffee. Not overpowering, but you don't have to search for it either. It's a nice change-up. Still not drying at all. Somewhere in there the bitterness had left... it may have been replaced by the minerality, I just hadn't called it when it switched. A little later the nuttiness was right up front mixed in with the cream.

By then three sides of the cigar were burning at the same rate, and one side had a quarter-inch finger, about a third of the cigar, that wasn't catching up even with that side on the bottom. From the end of the ash it looked like the wrap on that quarter was tighter. On the retrohale the pepper was almost gone, very, very mild, then sweet cream up front, the nuttiness right behind it, leather mixed with the cream on the finish, and the minerality showing up at the very end. Not overpowering, but most definitely there.

I touched up the finger, the third touch-up. I always hate doing it, burning tobacco off with a torch, but it wasn't going to catch up without it. And right after, I could tell the finger had been affecting the flavor and adding to the minerality. The first few draws after the touch-up had almost no minerality on either a regular draw or the retrohale. The retrohale was heavy sweet cream first. No bitterness at all. Strength was up to medium plus.

I tried to think of another cigar I've had recently with this much sweet cream in the profile. I won't say this one has more than anything else, but it's definitely up there.

Final Third

At the end of the second third the ash still wasn't pretty, and it was cracking on one side, which wasn't the side I'd been touching up. I ashed it. The burn was slightly wavy, and it was consistently that same side, so I touched it up again. That was the fourth one.

Looking at the foot, the ligero was slightly off center toward the side that kept burning slow, and I think that's the reason, that and what looked like a tighter wrap on that side. I wish it would burn right. But flavor-wise it didn't seem to be affecting it much beyond that minerality. Smoke production was excellent by now, even on a single draw. Great draw. I was loving that sweet cream. It still wasn't drying the palate at all, and I'd barely had any water. I hadn't needed it except during the minerality stretch.

On a single draw the sweet cream dissipates pretty quick, then leather and some coffee, and the minerality on the long finish. On a double draw there was a little dustiness: sweet cream, the dustiness, leather, a little coffee, then the minerality. The retrohale was very light white pepper, still a white pepper, leather and cream mixed together, coffee on the finish, and only a hint of the minerality.

The band was sliding under my fingers by this point, so I knew it would come off clean. The draw got slightly tighter, noticeably but not much. It had been basically perfect the whole way, and this was just a little snugger. I had the draw tool sitting right there and never felt like grabbing it.

Strength was definitely medium-full now, maybe slightly closer to full than medium.

About half an inch into the final third I got my first hint of earth in the entire cigar. Not overpowering, a minor note. Sweet cream, leather, coffee, a little earth, and on the long finish the minerality just poked its head up. The retrohale had just enough white pepper to let you know it's there, still very mild, then cream, leather, and a little coffee, with no earth at all. I said out loud that this was a very good cigar and that I'd very much enjoyed it. I don't love earthiness, but when it's a minor note like that it's enjoyable for me, and I wouldn't have called it a dip.

The dustiness was gone by then. And keeping that slow side on the bottom finally kept the burn pretty even. Not razor sharp, but only slightly wavy instead of very noticeably off. The smoke had kept that creamy texture the whole time, single draw, double draw, or retrohale.

I took the band off and it slid straight off. It wasn't attached to the wrapper, and there were no issues under it. The retrohale got even milder on the white pepper than its mildest point earlier, with sweet cream and leather together, a little coffee, and a tiny bit of earth on the finish.

Further into the final third the sweet cream was still the primary note, but the leather and coffee were stronger, and the earth on the finish was stronger and more pronounced. Not bad. Because it was mixed in with everything else I'd call it a little bit of a dip, not a hard drop or a fall-off. Still very pleasant. A touch of bitterness showed up on the long finish too, a tinge sitting on the two sides of my tongue. On the retrohale it was cream and leather together up front, coffee right behind, a light earthiness on the finish with a tinge of minerality, and a white pepper that had increased a little but was still very mild.

I ashed it again. It came off clean and stayed together, and the burn line was serviceable enough that it didn't need a touch-up. The smoke texture was still very creamy. After the ash, a single draw put leather first, then coffee, light cream, and a little earth on the finish. On a double draw the sweet cream came back to the front with leather, coffee, a little earth, and just a touch of that minerality on the long finish. The retrohale was sweet cream and leather, the tiniest amount of white pepper, and coffee and earth on the finish. The bitterness on the sides of my tongue was already gone.

Strength was on the full side of medium-full by then. Not full yet, but leaning that way. This is a cigar I'd make sure to eat something before. I wouldn't smoke it on an empty stomach. Still not drying.

Getting down near the nub, the burn stayed serviceable with just some rotations through the last third. The profile was more leather and coffee with a tiny bit of cream and earth on the finish, and I was starting to get a touch of heat on the draw, on my lips, and on the retrohale. The retrohale pepper turned more toward black pepper, a little stronger but still mild. Leather was the prominent note, then cream, coffee, and very mild earth. No bitterness on the sides of my tongue on a regular draw or the retrohale. Holding it about a quarter inch behind the burn line was very comfortable. I could have held it there indefinitely.

The flavor stayed the same from there until I put it down at 3:16.

Construction

• Wrapper: clean-looking and very lightly toothy, tiny bumps across the surface. A slight box press, not round and not a firm press. Rolled well with a compact foot. No issues under the band.
• Draw: good on the cold draw and basically perfect most of the way, then slightly snugger in the final third. Never needed the draw tool.
• Burn: wonky from early on and the main problem with this cigar. Four touch-ups, about half an inch in, at the end of the first third, for a quarter-inch finger midway through the second third, and at the end of the second third. No relights. The slow side tracked with the ligero sitting off center and what looked like a tighter wrap on that side. Keeping the slow side down finally evened it out in the final third, and it stayed serviceable to the end with some rotations.
• Ash: not a pretty ash, with some flyers and a crack along one side late in the second third. Solid and held on well. The first ash fell off whole, and the one in the final third came off clean and stayed together.
• Smoke output: a little thin on a single draw early, above average on a double draw, and excellent even on a single draw by the end of the second third. Creamy texture the entire way.
• Band: not glued to the wrapper at all. Slid straight off.

Bottom Line

This is a sweet cream cigar. Sweet cream, leather, and coffee from the light to the nub, a creamy smoke texture on every kind of draw, and a sweet cream on the retrohale that takes over the palate and hangs there. It's up there with the most sweet cream I've had in any cigar. It never dried out my palate and I barely touched my water. The nuttiness in the middle was a nice change-up, the earth didn't show up until the final third and stayed a minor note until late, and the bitterness came and went. Strength built steadily, from medium in the first third to the full side of medium-full at the end, so eat first.

What keeps it from a box is the burn. Four touch-ups is a lot, and the minerality that ran through the middle got noticeably stronger while that finger was lagging and nearly disappeared right after I touched it up. So some of what I didn't love about this cigar was the burn talking. It's a very enjoyable cigar, just not one where you never have to think about the burn line. Add the earth that crept in through the final third, and it lands just short of a box.

Would I smoke it again? Five-Pack (3/4). Yes, and I'd keep a few in the humidor. It was very good from start to finish. The burn line and that bit of earthiness in the final third keep it just barely out of a Box Buy, but it's solidly a Five-Pack.

Best for: someone who loves a creamy, sweet profile and can handle medium-full strength, on a full stomach, with time to sit and give it some attention. Keep a torch close.

My scale, one question only... would I spend my own money on this again? 4 Box Buy (box on hand, always) / 3 Five-Pack (yes, a few live in the humidor) / 2 Hand-Me-One (wouldn't buy it, wouldn't turn one down) / 1 Not Even Free (I'd rather smoke nothing).

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