Ashton "Consummate Gentleman"

[Professor B]

I've been a fan of English blends for a long time but many of them are too strong, IMO. Finding a blend with jus the right amount of Latakia has been a challenge. Some blends overdo it. Others don't add enough.

Then I heard about Ashton's "Consummate Gentleman." The only other Ashton I recall smoking is their "Rainy Day" blend over a decade ago. I didn't hate it, but I don't remember being blown away by it. So when a friend told me to try their CG blend, I wasn't particularly moved one way or the other. Still, at his urging, I looked at some of the reviews. Not bad, I thought. So I bought a tin. It arrived last week. I promptly packed a bowl and lit up. Wow! Very nice. Very smooth. A subtle but definitive taste. No bite. Burns evenly. And just the right amount of latakia. I'm going to buy a few more tins and let them age a bit.

If you've wanted to move to English blends but have been either intimidated by too much latakia or put off by too small an amount, try this blend. Don't smoke it too fast. Sip it. Let it work on you. If your bowl goes out a few times, you're doing it right.

4 out of 4 stars, I say.

 

[mikestanley]

I really enjoy blends like Consummate Gentleman. I have a theory it's the addition of Burley as well as the lighter tough of latakia that makes it taste and smoke so good.

Mike S.

 

[bullet08]

CG is a good blend. But there are other mild English that does the same job. Been enjoying Presbyterian lately.

 

[virginialover]

This mixture is a diamond in the rough, quality at a good price. While Artisan's Blend tastes bad for me, Consummate Gentleman delivers in all departments for a Latakia mixture.

 

[Casual]

Good review. I like this genre too. Presbyterian, Red Raparee, John Cotton #1, Skiff Mixture, McConnell Oriental, they’re all in the same ballpark for me.

 

[kcghost]

CG is for the beginning Englishsmoker or those who simple cannot handle a lot of latakia. It is a good blend.

 

[Professor B]

CG is for the beginning Englishsmoker or those who simple cannot handle a lot of latakia. It is a good blend.

I would argue that the level of latakia in a blend, be it a lot or a little, depends on a pipe smoker's personal taste, regardless of how long he has been smoking. More latakia doesn't necessarily translate into greater experience. I've been smoking English blends for 16 years and I prefer this. Am I a beginner?

 

[chopper]

My tin of CG disappeared rather quickly. Nice smoke. Shame that it doesn't come in bulk.

My preference is for Latakia as a condiment.
Early Morning Pipe Match and Count Pulaski are two favourites. [Both have a light topping so are different to CG]

 

[wordheavy]

This was one of the first blends I ever tried. I like how balanced it is.

 

[anotherbob]

Yeah my Ashton experience was Rainy Day which I agree with you 100 percent it ain't bad but I don't have any craving for it though if you leave it in a ball jar for a couple months you can actually taste the tobacco and it becomes infinitely more interesting. Like what's there when you open the tin isn't bad but the first puff and last puff are the precisely same flavor profile. Then I tried Gold Rush which is great. It's a VA with lemon and honey topping which seems to be there more to enhance the tobacco then I tried Consumate Gentleman and it's just a great smoke very easy to burn through a tin of that stuff.

 

[Road To Pines]

Consummate Gentleman is indeed a refined and gentlemanly blend. It greets you warmly but it also has its waistcoat on and buttoned up.

I think these kinds of well balanced, mild, high quality tobacco blends are sometimes underrated by reviewers looking through a particular lens of flavor delivery. That the blends don't provide a certain boldness of flavor is regarded as a negative. What is missed is that they invite the pipe smoker to listen more closely, and they offer a different (but equally valid) experience because of it.

When one lets go of the expectation of strong, overt flavors, a new opportunity arises to notice subtle ones, as well as the skillful interplay drafted by the bender. It can be as if subtlety itself (or what I call the reserve or 'gentlemanly' nature of this blend) can be counted as an ingredient flavor, and enjoyed on its own merits.

You might not get blown away by a large volume of Latakia; but since other ingredients are also not shouting, the stray wisp of Latakia that does arrive can be all the more poignant, and its understated presence can be all the more seductive. The Gentleman doesn't need to rely on grand flourishes; a smaller gesture, expertly expressed, can do as much or more for those attuned to it.

Sometimes mildness tastes empty, and understandably provokes disappointment; but sometimes it provides space in which a more delicate skill can be perceived. To me, this is the case with, for example, Consummate Gentleman and the milder John Cotton's English blends; and there's even something to be said for very simple mild tobaccos like Prince Albert in this regard.

 

[anotherbob]

Consummate Gentleman is indeed a refined and gentlemanly blend. It greets you warmly but it also has its waistcoat on and buttoned up.

I think these kinds of well balanced, mild, high quality tobacco blends are sometimes underrated by reviewers looking through a particular lens of flavor delivery. That the blends don't provide a certain boldness of flavor is regarded as a negative. What is missed is that they invite the pipe smoker to listen more closely, and they offer a different (but equally valid) experience because of it.

When one lets go of the expectation of strong, overt flavors, a new opportunity arises to notice subtle ones, as well as the skillful interplay drafted by the bender. It can be as if subtlety itself (or what I call the reserve or 'gentlemanly' nature of this blend) can be counted as an ingredient flavor, and enjoyed on its own merits.

You might not get blown away by a large volume of Latakia; but since other ingredients are also not shouting, the stray wisp of Latakia that does arrive can be all the more poignant, and its understated presence can be all the more seductive. The Gentleman doesn't need to rely on grand flourishes; a smaller gesture, expertly expressed, can do as much or more for those attuned to it.

Sometimes mildness tastes empty, and understandably provokes disappointment; but sometimes it provides space in which a more delicate skill can be perceived. To me, this is the case with, for example, Consummate Gentleman and the milder John Cotton's English blends; and there's even something to be said for very simple mild tobaccos like Prince Albert in this regard.

I agree except about Prince Albert maybe cause I haven't smoked it in a few decades.

 

[Road To Pines]

I agree except about Prince Albert maybe cause I haven't smoked it in a few decades.

Thanks for mentioning it; I wasn't very clear in expressing that last point. I didn't mean that Prince Albert was an 'expertly blended' tobacco like the others, but rather that subtlety is part of its charm, or can be for some pipers.

 

[mikestanley]

I enjoy it. I tend to enjoy any Latakia blend that uses Burley for some reason. 536 being another example.

Mike S.