Anyone smoke those JR alternatives?...

Yes. It depends on the cigar. When I first started smoking regular Ashtons about eight years ago, my first one tasted like extremely dry champagne. Tantalizing, completely flavorless, but bubbly smoke, intriguing, light, airy, smooth as deerskin, effervescent and crisp, like a cold winter's day after a two foot snow fall. A few have tasted like that since. Most are anywhere from good to great, but only a few have tasted like that.

When you're dealing with things like cigars, particularly Non-Cubans, consistency can be a problem. Unfortunately, these days, regular Ashtons, now referred to by their maker as Ashton Classic's are too expensive for me. I look forward to more someday. The best flavorless cigar I've ever tried, and worth almost every penny you'll pay for one.

Today seems the day to dig up old threads, so I'm in. I've smoked a few JR Alternatives and found them to be pretty good. It's been so long, I can't remember what they were with the exception of the alternate to the most recent Fuente Canone. Big cigar, not bad, but I think the real thing must be better. I still have a couple of them.