Cigar Review: Asylum 13 Connecticut

• Vitola: Robusto
• 5” x 50 ring gauge
• $6.49
• Purchased at Burns Tobacconist

Background

Asylum Cigars debuted around the middle of 2012 with the Asylum 13 being their fullest-bodied stick. The others that debuted at the same timeworn the “Asylum” and the “Schizo,” two blends that I haven’t heard much about since that launch period. “13,” though, has become a very popular line in the shop I work in, and around the country, from what I’ve heard. The original Asylum 13 was a Nicaraguan puro, wrapped in a Habano leaf. It was followed by a Honduran puro version wrapped in a Corojo leaf and the famous Ogre, wrapped in a barber pole of Habano and Candela leaves.

To those three blends, Asylum has now added the Asylum 13 Connecticut, blended by Christian Eiroa and Tom Lazuka. It uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper over Honduran binder and filler leaves and is intended to be a milder cigar using the Asylum 13 branding, although the blend is nothing like the original. Another Asylum release, the Insidious, also uses Connecticut Shade wrapper leaf, but is also a sweetened cap cigar, intended for a different audience. To my knowledge, the Asylum 13 Connecticut is the first time a major, widely-distributed release has used a Shade leaf on a 7×70 cigar. Though, it certainly isn’t the last as the Room101 Big Payback Connecticut was slated to arrive at almost the same time as the Asylum 13 Connecticut.

Besides the 7×70, Asylum is releasing this 13 Connecticut in 6×60 and 5×50 vitolas. Because Robusto is about the biggest size I care to smoke, I chose the 5×50 for this review. I bought it at Burns Tobacconist and this review is based on my first sample of the blend. (Some background information from Cigar-Coop.)

Prelight

The banding of the Asylum 13 Connecticut is a bright red and gold foil that is virtually identical in design to the black, white and red version found on the original Asylum 13 (and Ogre). It’s also very similar to what I remember seeing not he 13 Corojo, but not identical. The Corojo version has a red foil background—which may be a little darker than this red foil—and all the design and lettering in white. In all, it does differentiate itself from the standard release while still keeping the “family” appearance.

The wrapper of the Asylum 13 Conny was a dirty gold color with some darker smudging in places and a couple larger veins in evidence. Basically, the wrapper wouldn’t have stood the QC test for a $13+ cigar, but we are talking something that’s half that price, so there’s a lot of leeway in judging it. The color wasn’t even, but the leaf did appear free of any overt flaws or repairs, and it did appear to be applied with care and skill. There was a smooth and slightly oily feel to the leaf and a rich grassiness to the aroma from it. The foot had more grassy notes, as well as some milder earth and wood aromas. The cold draw was sweet and grassy, with touches of earth and natural tobacco flavors.

Flavor

The cigar lit up easily and evenly, opening with flavors of cedar and hay mostly, along with a fairly good dose of pepper spice. That was followed by some earthy notes and a touch of anise. The retrohale was strongly spicy at the outset. The Asylum 13 Connecticut started off on the high end of mild-bodied and featured a creamy smoke. Five minutes in, the hay and grass notes started to wear off a bit and I got a stronger wood note with no change in the pepper spice.

As I got into the second third, I got a continued cedar flavor with some underlying earth and slightly diminished pepper. The amount of pepper in the mix made me wonder if the Honduran leaf in the filler and binder contained a good amount of Honduran Corojo, which is well-known for its spice.

The last third was mostly the same…more cedar, more pepper, a bit of a return of the grassy notes.

Construction

I had nearly perfect construction on this stick: great draw, very even burn line, and solid ash.

Value

The price tag is very reasonable and the experience was very good, so I’d say great value.

Conclusions

I found the Asylum 13 Connecticut to be a very fine mild-to-medium bodied cigar with a pleasing flavor profile, although it lacked some of the complexity of some other Connys I enjoy. I still find it to be a very good addition to the Asylum lineup and the price is hard to beat. If you enjoy milder cigars and Connecticut Shade wrapper, then this is one to put on your list.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10