Caldwell Crafted & Curated Louis The Last

Caldwell Crafted & Curated Louis The Last corona is the follow up to The Last Tzar. Dominican tobacco is covered in a rustic, sandpaper-feel coffee brown hybrid Connecticut/Arpiraca Maduro wrapper In typical Caldwell style, I can’t find “disclosure” on the binder and filler in usual Caldwell style. Caldwell supposedly used the same wrapper, binder and filler tobacco from The Last Tsar for this blend but tweaked the fermentation process.

Louis The Last sports 3 cigar bands – a white footer with the name Caldwell and logo, a middle band with handwritten words that are difficult to read. It may say “Last Is Everywhere.” The primary band features a portrait of Louis with the words “May 1868” and “The Last Tsar.” The cigar was released as a limited edition. I am informed that this is only one of 5,000 Louis The Lasts in the world. Lucky me? We’ll see. It has a pigtail and you know where I stand on that. Out comes the V cutter and the torch.

The flavor that comes charging out of the gate is charred wood (cedar?) with a musty, mossy aroma. If I taste it at all, I typically don’t taste citrus until well into the smoke, but it’s there right from the start with this cigar. The wood and citrus (orange) are joined by spice, toast, butter, roasted almonds, mild pepper, cinnamon/honey, leather, earthy vegetal notes and hints of cocoa that transition into full blown chocolate with berries melding with the citrus by the second third. Whatever it is, there’s fruit there beyond the berries.

There’s quite an array of pronounced flavors. Nothing seems to be in the background – at least for long. Most of the time all of the flavors are front and center, transitioning with each moving forward then receding for a puff only to return in full – always present and account for. The wood I initially branded as cedar now has an aroma reminiscent of model airplanes – balsa? I’m really reaching in the deep recesses of my memory for that one. Balanced. Complex. But it’s so much more. Words escape me.

The retrohale features pepper and cedar (or balsa) – not overwhelming. This is a unique and very interesting cigar. It has me intrigued and has my full attention. It’s medium-full bodied, medium-full strength.

If I seem to be rambling on, I apologize, but there is so much going on with this cigar. I’m trying to put all of what I taste into words. Excuse my lack of brevity…or blame Robert Caldwell for crafting such an interesting cigar.

No waves in the burn line - only one touchup necessary. Initially this stick is giving off smoke like a chimney. We must be violating a few EPA rules and regulations. The smoke output diminishes as the first third progresses, but it’s still churning out an amble supply. The draw was a shade on the tight side but loosened up with a toothpick stab.

Louis The Last brings another high score to the Caldwell Crafted & Curated series. This is a well made cigar that earns the moniker Crafted. Well done, Mr. Caldwell.

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