Klaro has teamed up with Caldwell Cigars to pack our portfolio with a fistful of fantastic boutique cigar blends ahead of the holidays, and dammit if we aren't excited. Not only because Caldwell cranks out some absolutely spectacular smokes, but because we have secured some of the brand's more unique offerings.
About half of these stogies come straight out of Caldwell's "Lost and Found" collection, a cigar "recycling program" of sorts that has proved to be quite the successful little side project for the boutique brand. According to company founder, Robert Caldwell, these blends "...are cigars sitting in aging rooms as overrun limited editions, discontinued shapes and sizes and blends (How many people make Coronas and Piramides these days?), or color-sorted stock that has been set aside. What they all have in common is that they are special….and aged."
And while the instantly recognizable and highly reviewed Long Live The King and its rich, chocolate-forward The King Is Dead brethren retain their place as staples of the Klaro portfolio, they are now joined by eight fresh faces. And yes, per usual we made sure that our choices included something for everyone, including some milder and wilder options.
Caldwell "Lost and Found" Pepper Cream Soda
[Buy 5-Pack]
Up first is Pepper Cream Soda from Caldwell's "Lost and Found" project. Like all of the cigars in this re-released project, very little is known about the manufacturer behind the blend save for the country of its origin and the types of leaf used to make the blend a reality.
For this example, you get a combination of peppery spice and creamy sweetness, reminiscent of a traditional cream soda with various spices infused into its ingredient list. Aromas of cedar, leather, and faint undertones of chocolate emerge as you go, and the finish is both long and smooth.
Caldwell "Lost and Found" Just the Tip
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Say what you will about the name of this cigar, but just the Tip is anything but scandalous. Habano wrapped, Sumatran bound, and Nicaraguan and Dominican filled, this stubby vitola comes laden with notes of oak, cocoa, coffee, and graham cracker. This is a great short smoke for those looking for a quickie, and aren't interested in going all-in for the "full effect." Can we say that? I think we just did.
Caldwell "Lost and Found" Forever Fresh Shorty
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A unique addition to the "Lost & Found" portfolio, Forever Fresh was not a "recycled stick," but was actually commissioned by Robert Caldwell and then produced by Oliva. Rocking a dark and oily Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper and Cuban-seed Nicaraguan binder, as well as a powerful filler tobacco blend, this earthy and spice-heavy smoke is one of those stubby smokes that packs plenty of power.
Caldwell "Lost and Found" Cream Machine
[Buy 5-Pack]
Yes, this blend tastes the way it sounds. Creamy as all hell. By combining an Indonesian binder with a milky, lighter habano wrapper, and then adding a trifecta of Dominican fillers to the center of the cigar, this repurposed stick achieves its goal. For the filler, sources close to the project tell us that they include Havana Vuelta Abajo (HVA), Corojo, and Criollo '98. According to our notes, this combo helps create much of the cigar's aromatics, which include the distinct scent of espresso foam, creamy vanilla bean, and almond skins.
Caldwell The T.
[Buy 5-Pack]
Caldwell’s The T stands for "The Truth" and is the result of a collaboration between all-round badass, Matt Booth, of Room 101 Cigars fame, His Lordship Robert Caldwell, and the tobacco blending braniac Abdel Fernandez, who plays a key role over at AJ Fernandez Cigar Company.
With fillers from AJ Fernandez's well-known Nicaraguan farms and a Mexican San Andrés Maduro wrapper covering the binder, this box-pressed blend boasts a robust, rich, medium-to-full-bodied darker flavor profile with loads of nutty notes.
Caldwell The Last Tsar
[Buy 5-Pack]
Released back in 2015 as the company’s first limited edition cigar, The Last Tsar is a nod to (Tsar) Nicholas II, who was the last emperor of Russia. The wrapper leaf is a really weird one too, and was more of an experiment to see what is possible. It's an Ecuador-grown Arapiraca Connecticut Shade Hybrid Maduro, and it is also used on Caldwell's Eastern Standard. But for The Tsar, this leaf is fermented differently, and it is aged for a bit longer.
As secretive as a Russian spy in a 007 flick, all that is known about this blend beyond its bizarre outer leaf is that it also bares a a very obscure Carbonell tobacco strain, while the rest remains undisclosed. From this concoction you can detect notes of natural tobacco, pepper (mostly white, but some black), and a tangerine-like citrus kiss toward the finish.
Caldwell Long Live the Queen
[Buy 5-Pack]
Caldwell "Crafted and Curated" Antoinette - Culebra
[Buy 5-Pack]
When it comes to cigar shenanigans and smoking excitement, Culebra cigars are just about as fun as it gets. First released in 2022 under Caldwell's "Crafted and Curated" series, this smoke takes unique blending and sizing experimentations to a whole other level.
Referred to as the Antoinette Culebra, this smoke twists together three skinny lancero cigars into a funky, gnarled taproot-looking cigar. Also produced by El Maestro, these cigars are rolled, or twisted shall we say, with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper and binder and filler leaves from the Dominican Republic.