Smoked: Caldwell Lost & Found Cream Machine

Smoked at: West Chester, Ohio

Caldwell Lost & Found Cream Machine is a Dominican covered in a smooth, slightly oily Ecuador Brazilian-seed Arapiraca wrapper with almost invisible seams and veins.

It is creamy. I’ll give it that. It’s there from the start with spice (nutmeg/cinnamon), cedar and oak, earth, leather, grass/hay, vegetal & herbal notes, and background notes of cashews & peanuts, honeyed grain, ginger, citrus and a musty mossy taste. Toward the end of the first third, cocoa with malted notes and occasional hints of fresh brewed coffee intersperse. I wish all of these flavors remained, but they faded by the final third. The retrohale is earthy, mildly sweet and spicy.

The draw is tight from the get-go. Out comes the Perfect Draw. It helps a bit…for awhile. Had to use it twice and the draw was still not satisfactory. The burn line was not razor sharp, but perfectly circular through most of the smoke. The ash was flaky and fell off several times. The smoke production was fair to midland.

I liked the flavors for the first half of the smoke. The flavors dissipated to wood, earth, leather and hints of coffee by the final third for a rough finish. I give the Cream Machine a 4 for flavor and body for the first half and a 2 for the second half. I guess the defense made some adjustments at halftime. So we give it a 3 for an overall score.