Caldwell Cigar Co. Gibraltar Robusto Review

Size: Corona 5" x 50
Wrapper: Dominican Habano
Binder: unknown
Filler: unknown
Price: MSRP ~$6.00

Initial Impression/Prelight
The habano leaf wrapper on the Gibraltar was a fairly flat brown, and almost papery-textured. It had a thin spiderwebbing of veins but nothing really substantial. It was wrapped well with no soft spots and barely visible seams. I got some red pepper and leather aroma from the wrapper, and a hint of sweetness on the otherwise mild cold draw.

I'd had this cigar in the humidor at 64-65% for about 6 weeks prior to smoking. I haven't done a review in a couple months, so here we go.

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1st Third
The first section was surprisingly peppery given the mildness of the cold draw, and I got some oaky woody flavors also with a touch of bitterness. There was some of the light sweetness from the prelight, but honestly more bitterness. The wrapper split slightly but didn't affect smoking, and the smoke output was pretty average, while strength and body were medium.

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2nd Third
I picked up a touch of a more definable brown sugar sweetness in this part, but the flavor was mostly woody with an acorn-like bitterness. It wasn't overpowering, but just not terribly pleasant. I got a decent amount of black pepper, especially on the retrohale. This section also needed several retouches to keep the burnline straight.

http://i1329.photobucket.com/albums/...psgy5mlb04.jpg

Final Third
The profile stayed dry, with continued wood and some strong black tea flavors. That dry tea part reminded me a little of the Padron X000 series, which I know just about everyone on Puff likes but isn't one of my preferred smokes. The cigar ended pretty much med/med on flavor and strength for me.

http://i1329.photobucket.com/albums/...psw9qhlpqr.jpg

Overall Impression
This was my least favorite of the Caldwell offerings so far, and I won't buy any more. Caldwell calls the Gibraltar (along with the Murcias and Sevillana) one of their "Junior Varsity" line and is marketed more as an everyday smoke vs. the higher priced Eastern Standard, Long Live The King, and The King Is Dead. So yes, the price is a couple bucks lower than those other lines, but I'd rather pay up for any of them.

The other piece is that at ~$6 there's so much competition, and I can think of a lot of cigars I'd prefer over this one at that price. It's no secret I've been a huge Caldwell fan so far, to the point of buying boxes of the LLTK and TKID, and I would have bought a box of Eastern Standard a couple weeks back if they'd been in stock. I've tried all but the Sevillana, and needless to say this is my least favorite of the Caldwell cigars so far.

I'd pass on this one.

http://i1329.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7qhq1cpf.jpg