Caldwell Savages is the latest from Caldwell Cigar Co's premium line, billed as an extension to the Long Live the King series according to Halfwheel. The unique styling of Savages comes to us from the Italian stylings of PixelPancho.
Wrapper: Dominican Habano
Binder: Undisclosed
Filler: Undisclosed
Vitola: Super Rothschild (4 3/4 x 52)
Factory: Tabacalera William Ventura
Production: Regular
Purchase Link: Caldwell Savages
Caldwell Savages Review from Wisconsin
Summary: This cigar brought the nuts. It also brought a lot of other flavors, but it kept a really delicious nutty core throughout. It gave me notes of earth, oak, leather, peanut, cedar, pine, water chestnut, caramel, gingerbread, spiciness, and cream. The finish on the first half made my tongue tingle nicely with spice. That got creamier in the second half, finishing a little mellower near the end.
These flavors worked really, really well together for me, keeping me both interested and satisfied.
One drawback was that it needed several touch-ups along the way. I'll happily trade that flaw for flavors that hit just right.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: If you like nuts and a bit of spice, you'll dig this.
Pairing Suggestion: A nut-brown ale or cream soda would pair interestingly.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: I'd roll with a box of these.
Caldwell Savages Review from California
Summary: Draw is a bit snug. First few puffs and I'm getting slightly spicy Honey Nut Cheerios. Delicious.
There are flashes of floral notes on the retrohale. This cigar is like the crust of a pizza: not rich and saucy but delicious in a more delicate sense (if you don't eat your pizza crust, maybe try living a little?).
Ok this cigar just went full on Power Puff Girls Flower Power. Burn is wavy but the ash is pretty solid.
Entering the second third and it's getting Sweet-Tarts-sweet with a touch of hot chocolate powder. Should have maybe saved this one for Halloween night.
Final third is the same as the second but slightly less sweet and a touch more bitter. Aaaaaaaand I thought I was done but then peanuts came out of nowhere for a few puffs. All in all, the first third was great but it quickly turned into a cigar that just wasn't for my palate.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: If you like this you probably like sampling the simple syrup for "quality control" before pouring it into the hummingbird feeder.
Pairing Suggestion: Pair this with a dry martini. I think the cigar's sweet/floral notes would add some bomb complexity to a gin-based cocktail.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Fiver. I think this would be a great smoke to share with friends who are new to cigars.
Caldwell Savages Review from Oregon
Summary: This chubby looking Robusto had an oily wrapper with a neat pigtail cap. The scents from the wrapper and foot seemed rather generic to me with only a very mild spice and dry hay presenting. The cold draw was quite loose on the cigar as well.
After torching the foot, the first inch of cigar had a myriad of flavors. At varying times and with varying strengths flat cola, mild tobacco, sourdough bread, oak notes, and tealeaves all grouped together to make an interesting profile.
Then...it was like a great magic show disappearing act. After that first inch, many of the flavors just mutated into generic tobacco notes and dry leaves. The loose draw opened up even more and while smoke production was good and construction appeared fine, the cigar as a whole was underwhelming in the enjoyment department.
If You Like That, You Might Like This: If you like this then you like the scent of pencil shavings from the pencil sharpener.
Pairing Suggestion: I’d pair this with anything flavorful because the majority of this cigar had little to offer in the flavor category for me.
Purchase Recommendation to a Friend: Buy one. If this seems up your alley...I suppose buy another.
Participants in this blind review were completely unaware of the cigar they were evaluating until all submissions were received and processed. Each participant was asked to answer a summary paragraph, an if/than statement, a pairing suggestion, and a purchase suggestion. Cigars were provided by Small Batch with only the expectations of candid responses. All pictures, information, and formatting were completed by a Coordinator outside of the reviewing process.
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