Cigar Review: Caldwell Holy Braille

Caldwell Holy BrailleVitola: Robusto
Size: 5″ x 50 ring gauge
Price $45.00/3 pack
Obtained From SmallBatchCigar.com

Background

I think I had seen some info on the internet about these cigars being released but didn’t know when or what they would be.  This is one of five small releases that Caldwell just did.  Each one of them is a different blend and has a different “story” behind them.  This cigar is named for a Jay-Z song called Holy Grail.  Part of the lyrics are on the pack.  According to the packaging this cigar is comprised of a tobacco filler, a tobacco binder and a Ecuadorian Habano wrapper.  There is a total production of 999 of these cigars.  This was the first one I smoked.

Prelight

The wrapper on this sample was nice even medium brown in color with a slightly reddish tint.  There were a few very light green spots that were difficult to see so they didn’t detract from the cigar.  I do wish it had a band on it so if they came out of the paper wrapper I’d have an idea what they were in my humidor.  There were some oils to the wrapper and a good amount of tooth.  There were some fine and a couple medium veins to the wrapper too.  There was a slight amount of give when I gave it a squeeze but there were no soft spots to the cigar.  When I put my nose to the wrapper I got a light leather, with some barnyard coming from the foot.  After clipping it and taking a cold draw on I got a slightly sweet and salty flavor with a good draw.

Flavor

It starts off with a good amount of spice on the tongue and retrohale.  After a few puffs I could taste some leather, cream and wood.  As I got about .5″ in the spice toned down but didn’t go away.  Towards the end of the first third I started to note a slightly salty and fairly sweet finish.  The cigar started off medium strength.  When I moved into the second third I tasted a more intense leather and cream with a very sweet finish.  By the end of this third I started to get a bit of cinnamon flavors from it as well.  The spice did build up a bit as well.  The cigar moved in the the medium-full range by the end of this third.  The flavors didn’t really change as I finished off the cigar.  The cigar stayed medium-full as well.

Construction

The draw and burn on this cigar was pretty much perfect throughout.  The cigar produced a large amount of smoke with each puff.  The perfect construction was in spite of it being a little bit windy and rainy while I was out smoking.

Value

To me the $15 is a little too high.  I know they are a limited edition but it didn’t wow me that much.

Conclusions

I did enjoy this cigar.  In spite of the fact that it didn’t change a whole lot in the flavor department I wasn’t bored.  The flavors that were there were enjoyable.  The perfect construction helped my enjoyment of it as well.  I can recommend it in spite of it being slightly overpriced.  Unfortunately you might have some problems finding them.  SmallBatchCigar.com sold out of all of their Impromptu cigars in less than 5 minutes.  You might look around to see if you can find it available out there.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8.5/10

Keith Hollar

Keith has been a cigar enthusiast since 2003 and it's rumored that he remembers details about every single cigar he's ever smoked. He wrote for Tiki Bar Online for four years before co-founding Leaf Enthusiast. Twitter: @Keith1911

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13 Responses

  1. Mark VanSledright says:

    The flavor profile sounds incredible. You made me want one despite the price. Caldwell and B/C/S are doing some incredible things!

  2. Texican says:

    Finding them is def the hardest part. They sound pretty good despite the price tag.

  3. dale427 says:

    Maybe I’m the odd man out but I want a band as well and I want the band to tell me everything about the cigar. At least the cigar companies could give more detailed info on their websites.

  4. David Selph says:

    Caldwell’s entire line intrigues me. Thanks for the review.

  5. Chris Adkins says:

    Big fan of Caldwell

  6. Shay Clay says:

    Caldwell does good but $15 is a bit high. Good write up.

  7. Swede214 says:

    This sounds like it might be a good smoke, with it being a limited and might be hard to fine, I will pass on this one. Good review.

  8. curt pickens says:

    Looks like an interesting stick. But yes. 15 bills ? far to much hype these days. And folks buy into it

  9. Craig says:

    Sounds decent, but not at that price. Question for you…how do you keep track of unlabeled cigars in your humidor.

  10. atllogix says:

    Nice review. I would want to try this but I don’t think I’d pay the price for admission.

  11. Christopher Brose says:

    Been seeing the hype of these all over FB. Something to add to a collection but I don’t know about smoking.

  1. March 25, 2015

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