Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is dark brown and carries a couple of slightly raised veins. The seams are smooth and hardly visible. The head appears to be finished off with a deep single cap that is finished off with a twist although the little flag at the end never made it out of the cello on the sample I smoked. There are two bands with the primary being what I think is the standard Long Live the King design but with a royal blue and gold color combination. The second band carries the same colors and designates the line. The aroma from the wrapper is wood and chocolate while the foot brings more wood along with some sweet hay. The pre-light draw consists of wood, black tea and a mild spiciness on my lips.

Pre-light Experience

The Caldwell Long Live the King MAD MF Corona is well constructed. It has a nice tailed cap and the bands really pop off the wrapper. It is not “beautiful” in appearance, but it has a solid wrapper. It is well constructed, firm throughout and a nicely applied cap. There are few veins noticeable in the wrapper and they are small in size. The coloring is this dark Natural, light Maduro and it is smooth in texture. The aroma at the foot is of spices, rich earth and stone fruit while the wrapper is giving off sweet spices, hay, wood and earth.

Pre-light Experience

The Caldwell Long Live the King MAD MF Corona has a primary and secondary band. The primary band is gold, grey and white. The secondary band is gold on blue identifying the cigar as the ‘MAD MF’. The cigar itself has a curly head cap, and the wrapper is dark brown. The aroma on the wrapper is light leather and barnyard. In the foot, I’m getting a light sweetness.

Pre-light Experience

The Caldwell Long Live the King MAD MF Corona has an espresso bean brown Colorado Maduro wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the taped down flared head is finished off with a thick wrap. Aromas from the wrapper give hay, cedar and nuts. Aromas from the foot tell white pepper, cedar and slight barnyard. Cold draw gives cedar and hay.

First Third

The cigar begins with an interesting mix of cedar and musty baking spice. At a half inch in, the cedar becomes a bit toasty to go along with the unique musty baking spice. At three quarters of an inch in, the mustiness increases as the baking spice slightly decreases. At an inch in, a slight meatiness joins the profile. The retrohale is quite potent with a full baking spice up front and some mustiness in the background. As the third comes to a close, the profile now consists of toasted cedar, musty baking spice, meatiness and a light cocoa. The strength in this third was right at medium.

First Third

The first third is a flavor bomb and I am picking up sweet earth notes with some soft spices, sour stone fruit and dry hay. The finish is of dry sweet cocoa and it really reminds me of Nestle Nesquik cereal. I would classify the cigar as being medium in terms of strength and body and this is a complex smoke in terms of flavor.

First Third

The first third has initial flavors of wood, and a spice that I can’t put my finger on, possibly tarragon. The retrohale has an intensified herbal and spice combination, with chocolate developing underneath as the cigar progresses. As the first third settles in, some pepper is lingering at the end of the draw and carrying into the post draw. Some honey develops at the end of the draw with a short finish. The post draw lingering pepper is taking on a habanero pepper character. Cocoa defines the profile at the bottom half of the first third.

First Third

The initial inch or so of the cigar is all grit filled earth/dirt, cedar and soft white pepper. Past that mark, the cigar picks up a nice dry red pepper and cocoa. Retrohaling gives an as expected increase in spice. The finish is dominantly earthy providing cedar and dirt. Strength is a tad above medium and body is medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the profile continues from the first minus the cocoa. The retrohale is now the toasted cedar along with musty baking spice. At three quarters of an inch in, the meatiness increases while all the other notes maintain their levels. At an inch and a quarter, the meatiness has dropped out as the toasted cedar is up front and the mustiness is in the background with some faint baking spice. As the third comes to a close, the profile is musty and toasted cedar with a faint baking spice in the background. The strength remains at medium.

Second Third

When I get into the second third of the cigar, I find that it begins with those sweet cocoa cereal flavors and with that are some sweet spice notes, soft earth and stone fruit qualities. It is still complex, but not as much so as it was in the first third. The strength and body of the cigar have increased from the first third and it is no longer at that medium level but more at a soft medium-full.

Second Third

The wood and cocoa from the first third combine here carrying into the second third. The post draw pepper is all but gone and is replaced with a light plus sweet cedar. The herbal profile is still present but it’s now under the cocoa and sweet cedar, and comes across very light and nuanced.

Second Third

The second third shifts to more gritty dirt/dry earth with a subtle white pepper spice and cedar mixture. Strength is still a little above medium and body is medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, some mintiness joins the profile of musty and toasted cedar while the baking spice has dropped out. At a half inch in, the cigar has warmed up a bit while the mintiness has mellowed some as the musty and toasty cedar still remains up front. The retrohale brings a lot of mustiness with the toasted cedar slightly behind. The cigar finishes out with this same profile. The strength in this third remained at medium.

Final Third

The final third delivers a floral experience that is paired with some soft cocoa and earth notes on top of sweet spices. There is this tangy stone fruit quality to the cigar as well, and it is a nice finish. It’s a finish that is showing depth and complexity, and one that makes you want to light up another. Like the second third, there is a slight increase in strength and body in this third and I find it smoking at a solid medium-full level.

Final Third

Cedar carries the profile in the final third, and carries into the post draw at a mild level. The herbal notes are only occasionally present on the retrohale.

Final Third

The last third is essentially the same as the second third such that it is still dominated by gritty dirt/dry earth but this time around, the spice increases nearing the rear palate. Strength and body is still for the most part medium.

Burn

The burn was razor sharp the whole way but the cigar went out on me twice in the second third requiring re-lights. The ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.

Burn

This cigar was constructed beautifully. The burn line was very even from start to finish and the cigar produced a firm charcoal ash. The ash held on well and it sported a nice charcoal coloring throughout. Very well made.

Burn

The burn on the Long Live the King MAD MF is razor straight, with one and a half inch ash. There’s some slight waviness in the second half and a minor touch-up before the second half is done.

Burn

Excellent burn performance. Even burn, solid ashes, good smoke production.

Draw

The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.

Overall

The cigar started with a unique profile of cedar and musty baking spice and added some meatiness. As the cigar progressed, the cedar gained a toasty note as the mustiness remained while the baking spice dropped out. The final third became less complex and enjoyable. Construction was really good aside from a couple of re-lights in the second third and strength was right at medium the whole way. This is a nice addition to the Long Live the King line. I’d be interested in revisiting this in hopes of the cigar not going out on me which might allow the cigar finishing better and scoring higher. I think if you’re a Caldwell, and especially LLtK fan, then this would be an easy cigar to pick up. I would have no problem smoking more of these.

Draw

Like the burn, the draw was fantastic. The draw was perfect for the corona and you really could enjoy the wrapper offering of the cigar and not have the draw get too hot. It smoked cool throughout and smoked slow. Well made corona!

Overall

The Caldwell Long Live the King MAD MF Corona is a really enjoyable cigar and a great new offering from Caldwell. Very different than the original Long Live the King. You can’t go into the cigar looking for similarities to the original. I liked how the Mexican wrapper smoked and it showed some great soft spice and stone fruit flavors. That soft cocoa cereal flavor at the beginning was awesome and the transitioning throughout was awesome. It has a nice increase in strength and body as the cigar progressed and it was complex in flavors as well. Just a great cigar all around and one I will come back to down the road.

Draw

The draw is 2 notches into the resistant spectrum, but doesn’t seem to impact smoke production.

Overall

The Caldwell Long Live the King MAD MF Corona is another blend from Robert Caldwell that shows the range of flavors he’s able to bring to a cigar. What I’ve come to enjoy from the Caldwell blends is unique experiences that don’t taste like anything else on the market.

Draw

The draw was perfect, delivering the ideal resistance.

Overall

I find the Caldwell Long Live the King MAD MF Corona to be an overall average experience. The cigar was too earth focused (gritty earth/dry dirt, cedar) with varying white pepper spice levels. When the cocoa showed, it helped with the heavy handed earthiness, but unfortunately it wasn’t consistent enough. Fans of heavier profiles will love this, but in my opinion it lacked depth and therefore led to the average experience.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.47

Cost/Point

$1.61

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

7.88

Cost/Point

$1.32

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

7.22

Cost/Point

$1.44

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$1.70

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Caldwell Long Live the King MAD MF Corona