Caldwell
Long Live the King
WRAPPER: Dominican Corojo
BINDER: Dominican
FILLER: Peruvian, Nicaraguan
FORMAT: 5x52 "Lock Stock" Belicoso
ORIGIN: Caldwell Cigar Factory, DR
INTENSITY: Full
WEBSITE: caldwellcigars.com
The reasoning behind this redux is a switch from Corona to this 552 Belicoso format. The original Corona review can be read at: https://bit.ly/2KDvAS9 This 2d will not reference that 1t. You should read it anyway. It is superbly written. (From there you can also see my review of a Petite Corona expression of this blend.)
NOTES:
Chocolate fudge | Red pepper | Molasses
Lotsa chocolate, Death by Chocolate, lifted by its own scorched wine cask nethers. Red peppercorn braces up, down, sideways in a nicely built first-half structure; smoothed by a meaty umami saucy sauce. Molasses floods into the cracks, altho I'm not convinced there ever were any. Full, say.
Secondaries consist of a dusty pantry spice array w/ cayenne kicker, an erratically ebbing/flowing roasted cedar, and a whole silo-worth of dark grains that cut the molasses well. At the 1/2, espresso floods in to do here what molasses does in the primaries. Underbelly is beef stew poured into a compost heap. Who tf puts raisins in their stew? Morracans, maybe? Roasted orange hits the long-legged bittersweet savory finish.
Dense & plush so much so that complexities are beat-down or at least, hidden. I mean, I imagine they're there. Deeply nuanced, however -- & that seems what this murky yet somehow jovial* blend seems all about. Nicely balanced. Structure sags in the second-half tho, as pepper dials back and cedar fails, finally. *Gallows humor, say? Still substantial. Sating.
... tho not overly dependable. While the char-line is mainly even, the top-leaf wants to combust much more slowly than the already cool-burning innards. It smokes damp, drudgingly-so. Requires a re-light. Smoke-put is uneven but barely ever hits moderate. Room-note mainly fails to build beyond a muted Cavendish aroma. Draw is hesitant at times. Packing softens considerably. Inky & interesting, all told -- but also frustrating at times. Seems to step on its own foot more than once; clunky some. Plodding.
Chocolate fudge | Red pepper | Molasses
Lotsa chocolate, Death by Chocolate, lifted by its own scorched wine cask nethers. Red peppercorn braces up, down, sideways in a nicely built first-half structure; smoothed by a meaty umami saucy sauce. Molasses floods into the cracks, altho I'm not convinced there ever were any. Full, say.
Secondaries consist of a dusty pantry spice array w/ cayenne kicker, an erratically ebbing/flowing roasted cedar, and a whole silo-worth of dark grains that cut the molasses well. At the 1/2, espresso floods in to do here what molasses does in the primaries. Underbelly is beef stew poured into a compost heap. Who tf puts raisins in their stew? Morracans, maybe? Roasted orange hits the long-legged bittersweet savory finish.
Dense & plush so much so that complexities are beat-down or at least, hidden. I mean, I imagine they're there. Deeply nuanced, however -- & that seems what this murky yet somehow jovial* blend seems all about. Nicely balanced. Structure sags in the second-half tho, as pepper dials back and cedar fails, finally. *Gallows humor, say? Still substantial. Sating.
... tho not overly dependable. While the char-line is mainly even, the top-leaf wants to combust much more slowly than the already cool-burning innards. It smokes damp, drudgingly-so. Requires a re-light. Smoke-put is uneven but barely ever hits moderate. Room-note mainly fails to build beyond a muted Cavendish aroma. Draw is hesitant at times. Packing softens considerably. Inky & interesting, all told -- but also frustrating at times. Seems to step on its own foot more than once; clunky some. Plodding.
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59
::: very :::