Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Caldwell Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown is light brown with some lightly raised veins present. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. There are two bands, with the primary band being gold and white with the image of a woman and carrying the company name and the year 2013. The secondary band is white and gold and denotes the line name. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of cedar, hay and light earth while the foot brings a combination of wood and cereal. The pre-light draw brings a gritty, sweet cedar along with a mid-level spiciness on my lips.
Seth: Finished with a Colorado wrapper, the Caldwell Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown has some marbling to it. Antique brown with some red hues. Small to medium sized veins throughout. Firm cigar in hand. Aromas of tobacco, leather, spices and stone fruits.
John: The Caldwell Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown comes in cellophane, and does not have a UPC. There are two bands on the cigar with a primary Caldwell 2013 band, and a secondary ‘Long Live the Queen’ cursive style band in gold on cream. Aromas from the wrapper included mild barnyard and sweet wood. I wasn’t able to pick up anything unique from the foot.
Jiunn: The Caldwell Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown has a Colorado wrapper shade. The wrapper feels good as it gives off a semi-oily sheen with a fine leather texture. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Aromas from the wrapper tell of sweet hay and barnyard. Aromas from the foot tell of rich mixed nuts and a sharp white pepper spice. Cold draws reveal aged cedar and mixed roasted nuts.

Team Cigar Review: Caldwell Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with dry, lightly toasted cedar along with baking spice. At a quarter inch in, earth joins the profile. At a half inch in, a light mustiness joins the profile. The retrohale is toasted cedar and earth. At an inch and a quarter, the earth is now right behind the toasted cedar. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is slightly ahead of the earth, with baking spice a bit further behind and light mustiness in the background. The strength was slightly below medium.
Seth: The first third starts out with some distinct barnyard notes with cocoa powder, almonds and fruits. Peppery spices present as well. Slight bit of herbs and minerals with the spice. Medium in strength and body.
John: The first third gets started with sweet wood, graham cracker to follow with a mildly sharp wood on the finish. A delayed red pepper flake hits on the post draw after a few puffs. Some medium strength black pepper joins the finish as the first third settles in. As the cigar is approaching the halfway point, dry wood joins the post draw finish.
Jiunn: The first third shows a great mixture of balanced sweet and spicy. Sweetened brioche bread and layered dried red pepper spice a plenty. Retrohaling gives intensified notes of the same but also some nice baking spices. The finish is fairly clean with soft cedar. Strength is medium-full and body is medium.

Team Cigar Review: Caldwell Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, a light minerality joins the profile. At a quarter inch in, a light creaminess joins, which negates some of the dryness. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth and light minerality. At an inch in, the baking spice has transitioned to black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the creaminess has departed and the dryness has a decent hold on the profile. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar and earth are now even up front, with black pepper in the middle and minerality and mustiness in the background. The strength has bumped up to medium.
Seth: The second third continues to deliver this peppery spice quality that is paired with some soft mineral and herbal flavors. Barnyard notes present with some cocoa powder and almonds. Still medium in strength and body. Dryer finish.
John: Nutmeg, earth and mild pepper combine to start the second third, as cedar at medium strength finishes the flavor medley. Some hay moves into the center after a few puffs. Graham cracker and wood define the center of the retrohale as the cigar progresses to the halfway point.
Jiunn: The second third continues to impress. The profile is still a balanced delivery of sweet and spicy, with sweetened brioche bread and layered dried red pepper spice on the forefront. If I want it more intense, the retrohales are right there for me. Strength and body is still medium-full and medium, respectively.

Team Cigar Review: Caldwell Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the black pepper lightens up a bit. At a half inch in, the earth takes a slight lead over the toasted cedar. The retrohale remains toasted cedar, earth and light minerality. At an inch in, the minerality is now even with the black pepper. As the cigar wraps up, the earth is slightly ahead of the toasted cedar, with black pepper and minerality in the middle and light mustiness in the background. The strength bumped up to slightly above medium.
Seth: Dry finish in the end. Mineral and pepper spices with some herbal barnyard notes. Faint tobacco, almond and cocoa powder qualities on the finish. Medium in strength and body.
John: The last third greets me with with a wood forward profile. I find the center of the profile to be mildly earth and the post draw defined by dry wood. The last third remains largely consistent for the remainder of the review.
Jiunn: The final third is turned down a notch, primarily being dried red pepper spice and leather focused. Strength and body is still the same medium-full and medium, respectively.

Team Cigar Review: Caldwell Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight throughout and the ash held on in inch and a half increments.
Seth: Not a great burn. Little wavy.
John: The burn had some uneven points in the first third. The second third had a strip of wrapper not burning but it self corrected. No issues through the last third. As no intervention was required at any point, the burn rates as amazing.
Jiunn: Burn performance was good. A couple touch-ups and a complete re-light were two key points in which the burn fell short of perfection.

Team Cigar Review: Caldwell Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: Good draw throughout.
John: The burn was one notch towards the open spectrum, which still puts it in the range for an ideal draw.
Jiunn: Draw was perfect, giving the ideal air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with dry, lightly toasted cedar along with baking spice. Some earth joined in pretty quickly and some mustiness a bit later. The second third saw some minerality join in and then some creaminess for a bit before it departed. The final third saw the earth take the lead in the profile and the minerality increased. The construction was absolutely perfect. The Caldwell Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown had an average flavor profile throughout. There was a short time in the second third when things took a step up, but it was short lived. Overall, the profile was pretty dry and the combination of flavors never really created a profile that I felt was intriguing. Not a cigar I’d really see myself coming back to.
Seth: This Caldwell Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown was an average cigar, but it may have been the vitola we chose. To some extent, I do believe in “smoking the right vitola.” There are some companies where you see differences in how a blend smokes with each vitola in that line. Caldwell is a company where you see this throughout some of their lines. Long Live the King and Eastern Standard. That is due to those lines being made at Tabacalera William Ventura, which is a factory where you will find differences between vitolas. There are four vitolas in this line, and I imagine they are all different. Especially with one being box-pressed. Regarding this specific cigar, I found it a little flat. It wasn’t as complex as I would like with a profile of this nature. I think it needed more strength and body. Some richness. The Cameroons coming out of Nicaragua recently have really changed how many view cigars with Cameroon wrappers. We want stronger and richer Cameroons. This is blended in a more Dominican artistic, but conservative way. It is lacking some complexity and body. The Cameroon wrapper isn’t strong enough to carry this cigar, and the blend isn’t strong enough to support the wrapper.
John: I enjoyed the review experience of the Caldwell Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown, with the first and second thirds delivering the greatest variety and complexity of flavors. The last third was largely wood forward. The draw was perfect and the burn was perfect with no intervention required. I’d happily smoke a Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown again. If you’re a fan of Caldwell, I think this cigar would be a no brainer to pick up. My total smoking time was a leisurely 2 hours and 7 minutes.
Jiunn: This Caldwell Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown is the exact profile of Caldwell cigars that I enjoy. Cigars that are first and foremost undeniably full of flavors. The flavors in themselves meld well with the softer and spikier notes. The stronger strength is not typically there but the strength never took away from the focus of the flavors. Well done.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$2.61

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.15

Cost/Point

$2.91

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.82

Cost/Point

$2.20

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.62

Cost/Point

$2.27

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Caldwell Long Live The Queen Queen’s Crown