Caldwell is crazy. When I met him years ago, I was a bit scared of him. Because I had previously noticed his marketing communications about his cigars. I thought the guy wasn't right. But far from it: Robert Caldwell is a really nice guy and very down-to-earth. My fear receded and I knew: Caldwell is definitely not crazy. Here is my test of the Belicoso.

Here you can find his story, which is very impressiveDrugs, dropping out of school and the urge to master life.

A cigar test is subjective

Note: How a cigar tastes is influenced by personal taste preferences, taste memories, the form of the day, what you have eaten or drunk beforehand. Even the lighting in the room has an influence on the flavour you experience. The notes described here therefore do not necessarily correspond to your own impressions.

Caldwell Long Live The King Belicoso — Long live the king. Caldwell is crazy. No, he's not. 😉

Tasting notes

Fact sheet of this Caldwell cigar

Format: Belicoso (length: 127 mm / ring size: 52)
Tobacco:
- Wrapper leaf: Dom. Republic, Corojo
- Wrapper: Dom. Republic, Corojo
- Filler: Nicaragua Seco / Peru Pelode Oro / Dom. Rep. Corojo
Price: Status February 2021
- CHF 10.00 / box of 24 CHF 220.80
- EUR 11.00 / box of 24 EUR 256.08
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Personal impressions of enjoying the Caldwell Long Live The King Belicoso

First half

Tongue, palate: sweetish / nutty / slightly peppery / leather / cocoa (bittersweet) / tart
Retronasal: grassy / lots of pepper / leather / coffee beans / light wood
R+ ZiZo vacuum technology: grassy / lots of pepper / cocoa (bittersweet) / extreme amount of coffee beans / unbelievable amount of light wood, damn, HOLZSCHLAG! WATCH OUT!!! HOOLZSCHLAAAG!!!
Umami: juicy / somewhat astringent in the course of the smoke / meaty
Strength 3/5

Second half

Bang. Permanent increase in smoke.

What is „retronasal“?

Retronasal cigar enjoyment enhances the flavour. What it is, why it works and how to do it please read here. Take a look at the ZiZo vacuum technology in particular. Incredible enhancement of cigar enjoyment!

What is the „R+ ZiZo vacuum technology“?

This is the consummate pleasure of a cigar. Hard to describe. I'll try. Here's an example: a baby sucking on a dummy. Try this technique with a cigar. Very little smoke gets into the mouth. But it passes over the tongue and goes straight through the nose. I tried it with about 10 cigars before I mastered it. Please be very careful with this technique when practising: the smoke hit the back of my larynx several times. That was really bad. But now that I can do it, it's a perfect technique for enjoying a cigar.

What is umami?

This means „savouriness“, „spicy“, „essence“, „meaty“. This mixture of taste sensations is perceived on the centre of the tongue. You can find a good article about this on Wikipedia.

Non Cuba cigars and the important acclimatisation process

Acclimatisation recommendation: 2 weeks in the humidor with cellophane.

The fact is: you don't know when the cigar was imported and how long it rested with the importer. You also don't know how long the resting phase was at the retailer. Cigars are in shock after being transported from the tropics to Europe. They have to acclimatise first. The industry is sales-orientated. The cigars have to be sold quickly. Therefore, they may not taste as they should.

If you buy single copies

Place the cigar with the cellophane in the humidor. If your cigar does not have cellophane: Put them in tubos and then in the humidor. Or you can put the individual cigars in a Zippo bag and put a small Boveda inside. You then seal it and place it in the humidor. Cigars that are stored open without cellophane or a box lose their flavour very quickly. This is demonstrated in this article with experiments.

Conclusion of the Caldwell LLTK Belicoso

I tasted three specimens in December 20, January and February 21. Specimen 2 had a severe hole burn during the first half. It was a pain for about 1 cm, but lo and behold, it was over as quickly as it started. Ok, so I was lucky again. The flavour of the cigar didn't suffer at all before and after the hole burn. Exciting.

I really like this cigar. It has an acidity that is slightly dominant. But the light wood in the flavour, the cocoa, the nuts and coffee beans create a very good balance and soften the acidity. A very interesting tobacco blend that the king is serving us here.

Over an hour of enjoyable smoking lies behind me. The king is actually a bit daft because he's wearing a crown that's far too big. But to put it mildly, I couldn't care less. The main thing is that the cigar tastes good and I can enjoy Caldwell's somewhat crazy marketing communications. They are a bit crazy. That's for sure. But Robert Caldwell is not, that's for sure.