Caldwell Cigar Co. Long Live the King 'The Heater' (corona) Review

Cigar: Caldwell Cigar Co. Long Live the King
Size: The Heater (corona) 5.75" x 46
Wrapper: Dominican Corojo
Binder: Dominican Corojo
Filler: Nicaragua, Dominican, Peru
Price: MSRP ~$9.00

Initial Impression/Prelight
The Long Live the King is another looker from Caldwell Cigar Co. The 6 year old Dominican Corojo wrapper is a lovely deep caramel brown, with bronze highlights visible in the sun. The veins are small, construction is good, and the head is topped with a nice little pigtail cap.

I got a big red pepper aroma from the wrapper and foot, then the perfectly firm cold draw gave off more pepper, wood, and pumpkin spices. The band is very cool, with parts looking like a pencil sketch, but the shiny gold crown and filigree really catch the eye.

I smoked this cigar today thanks to @Tobias Lutz , who introduced me to this line. I've already purchased a box of The King is Dead cigars after smoking one, and now I'm excited to see what this one is like. This cigar has been in my humidor at 65% for about 3 months.

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1st Third
I got off to a great start, with mellow cedar and spicy red pepper as promised in the prelight. I also got a nice creaminess to balance those flavors out, along with a touch of salt and pumpkin pie spices. The smoke was thick and chewy from the very beginning, and promises to be awesome by the end of the cigar. I had to hold myself back from smoking too fast, it was that good.

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2nd Third
I still got lots of pleasant mellow cedar in the second section, though much of the spicy red pepper faded - at least until I retrohaled and almost cried..wow. There was a good black pepper zing in the back of the throat, along with flitting cream but more of a rich, buttered bread flavor. I can hardly overemphasize how much I enjoy a cigar that displays some pepper, but manages to stay rich and smooth, and this one is working that piece nicely. I'd call flavor and strength around medium+, and the strength maybe a tick higher. There's a nice long finish as well.

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Final Third
I got a big, well-used baseball mitt leather in the final section, one of my favorite flavors that I associate with good Corojo. Along with that the ever-present pepper, some toastiness, and that creamy/buttery smoke. Finally, towards the end I picked up some hints of caramel sweetness and suprisingly a faint touch of citrus. The strength climbed up near full, and flavors stayed medium-full.

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Overall Impression
Caldwell has another winner in my book.

I enjoy reading about exactly what's in the cigar. Apparently Caldwell Cigar Co. isn't hesitant about publishing the blend - 2008 Dominican Corojo wrapper, 2009 Dominican Corojo binder, and the filler is comprised of 2006 Dominican Corojo ligero, 2008 Peruvian Pelo de Oro, and 2007 Nicaraguan Habano ligero.
I found out last week that another of my favorite cigars sports some Pelo de Oro (Hair of Gold) leaf, the Room101 Daruma. I frankly didn't find a lot of similarities beyond a hint of citrus towards the end of this cigar, whereas I get a lot of that from the Daruma.
I just don't know the years on most other cigars leaves, so maybe 6-8 year old leaf is the norm. Whatever the case, the robust flavors balanced by a lovely smoothness were what I think aged cigars are supposed to taste like.
The smoke was consistently thick and rich, and coated my tongue for a long finish. There was a noticeable butteriness throughout the smoke too which just added to the goodness. I had an unusually still day, and was able to blow smoke rings to my hearts content.
Hopefully I'm not just enamored with something new, but the artwork on these Caldwell bands are already some of my favorites, still behind My Father, but very cool.


The Long Live the King had lots of complexity and plenty of strength - I wouldn't call this a morning cigar, that's for sure - but balanced out by creaminess and butter. The finish was great, and it burned like a champ too. If The King is Dead is box worthy, then this one is too. Truth is I've bought WAY too many cigars over the past 6 weeks, but I'll keep my good eye open and if a deal comes up this one would be tough to pass up. This smoke was an easy Top 5 cigars of the year for me so far.

Buy a box, you will not regret it.

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