Cigar Reviews
Asylum Cigars – Asylum 2012
Tony has been picking up the slack for Daniel and I as we have been traveling around the country. Last week, my family and I visited my dad, step-mom, and grandma in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and then traveled down to the Chicago area to visit my wife’s brothers and our new niece. I was able to smoke a handful of cigars during my travels but never found time to sit down and write a review. Now that I have had a day to recover from the trip, I am back at it this week with a review of the Asylum.
This is what asylumcigars.com has to say about the company:
Asylum Cigars are ablaze in cigar shops nationwide. Tom Lazuka and Christian Eiroa, the dynamic co-founding duo, have introduced three lines—Asylum,—it’s sibling, Asylum 13-—and, Schizo. What many would say is a, “take no prisoners” approach, Asylum Cigars is breaking out with a diversity of taste profiles and formats at very approachable prices, achieving their goal of appealing to a broad cigar audience at every level.
Lazuka and Eiroa are proud that Asylum Cigars will provide customers a diversity of new experiences. Lazuka noted, “By partnering with Christian Eiroa and his company, Tabacaleras Unidas, we have a platform that gives us the ability to create full-body, high-palate-impact to truly flavorful medium bodied cigars and our formats range from 44 x 4 to 70 x 7, all rolled with the finest available Nicaragua tobacco reserves.
Tabacaleras Unidas is the parent company which holds Asylum, CLE, Wynwood, and Edgar Hoill Cigars. Additionally, Ayslum Cigars now has a fourth offering called The Ogre.
Asylum is available in four sizes: 4 by 44, 6 by 50, 6 by 54 (Torpedo), and 6 by 60. I will be smoking the 6 by 50 for this review.
The Facts
Price Paid: $6.85
Vitola: Toro
Size: 6 by 50
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Pairing: Water
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 35 Minutes
Pre-light
This is a great looking stick from the band design to the milk chocolate, rustic wrapper. The wrapper is covered with small and medium veins that web across the entire leaf and dark color imperfections are spotted across the wrapper. The usage of the skull, angel wings, and heart on the band reminds me of Ed Hardy’s clothing lines and accessories that also utilize similar imagery. The backside of the band has the year “2012” printed. It is my educated guess that I am smoking the 2012 release of this stick. Only one soft spot is on the cigar but it is a very noticeable soft spot located at the foot of the stick. The rest of the cigar is evenly and firmly filled.
The wrapper gives off a soft cedar sweetness, with an underlying pungency and barnyard aroma. Rich tobacco is found on the foot with additional woodsy notes in the background. The cap leaves me unsure if it is a triple cap or a quadruple cap. I guess the more cap the better? Clipping through the first layer of the cap, I am presented with a firm draw. Cinnamon and rich tobacco are on the cold draw, with a spice tingle remaining on my lips.
First Third
The sweet cedar that I picked up from the wrapper aroma is the first flavor I grab off of the Asylum. The sweetness is contrasting with a slight sourness and earthy, dirt notes. Just past an inch, the sour quality has faded. As the smoke comes across my palate, there is a creaminess to it but the finish leaves my palate somewhat dry. The retrohale highlights black pepper, along with earthy notes and brings out a richness in the smoke. A layered black and white ash is holding to an inch. The burn line started off a bit out of whack, but at a half inch in it has completely self-corrected.
Middle Third
Burning into the second third, I am beginning to feel some strength from the Asylum. The sweetness has evolved into a honey-like sweetness that is very clean on the palate. The honey flavor has a lightness to it, which is complementing the heavier notes of earth. Cocoa has arrived and the flavor profile has really found its groove with me. The draw still has a bit of resistance but a decent amount of smoke is being produced. With the burn line getting a bit too wavy for my liking, I performed a quick touch-up to get it back in line.
Final Third
The richness of the smoke has stepped up a notch with cocoa and cinnamon exciting my palate. I expected the cigar to be much richer throughout due to the rich cold draw but I am enjoying it even if it is only for the final third. A toastiness that was barely noticeable in the second third has come to the forefront of the flavor profile letting me know it is about time to put this stick to rest. At the close of this 6 by 50 Ayslum, the strength is in the high end of medium and flavor is right a medium.
Wrap-up
I am not sure how I feel about the Asylum 2012. The construction and burn were to par for a $7 cigar. There were some flavors in the Asylum that I enjoyed immensely, but they were short-lived with the heavier earth notes dominating the flavors and being the core of the profile throughout the cigar. The subtle, light sweetness in the middle and the rich cocoa and cinnamon at the close kept my interest in the stick, but was it enough to bring me back? If I came across this stick at a local shop, I would not hesitate to grab a stick or two to give it another go around but I won’t be hunting this stick down. If you have smoked the Asylum, let us know how your experience compared.
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