I recently had the opportunity to chat with Steve Mawby, Director of Sales, about the latest new addition to Caldwell Cigar Company's portfolio: Long Live the Queen Maduro. Learn more about this highly anticipated stick and what makes the blend so special, out now in five distinct sizes: Queen's Crest, Queen's Coronet, Queen's Chalice, Queen's Charge, and Wild Card.

[Tyler Caldwell]: Today we are incredibly excited to show you the newest offering from Caldwell Cigar Company: the Long Live the Queen Maduro. The original blend was an authentic African-grown Cameroon wrapper using the Indonesian Sumatran binder to go with it. And I believe it was Nicaraguan and Dominican filler.

[Steve Mawby]: Yes.

[TC]: Now this newer version of the blend here, the Maduro, uses a Mexican San Andrés Maduro wrapper, also an Indonesian and Sumatran binder, but Dominican and US-grown fillers on the inside there.

[SM]: Yeah, and this is the first new one of these that they made since that original run, like you said, 2022 into 2023. My first impressions here of the cigar is that it's fantastic, and the Maduro wrapper is definitely making a huge difference. There's a little bit more complexity and some more nuance here that you don't usually get out of Maduro.

[TC]: Oh, 100%. I'll say, right off the bat, this checks off everything that I look for in a cigar, especially for a Maduro. Normally I don't gravitate towards them, but this is ideally what I want in a Maduro.

[SM]: Yeah. It's got that quintessential Maduro essence to it, but there's some more balance to it. I could see somebody who really wasn't a big Maduro smoker, somebody who smokes Connecticuts or Habanos or something like that, really finding something to appreciate here. Last year, when we first had the original Long Live the Queen, it was I think number two in our top 20 Smokingpipes' year-end cigar countdown. And I've got to say, just in the first little impression here, this is right up there in terms of that quality.

[TC]: And I would also like to say, this is very unlike me, I'm the type of smoker where I have strict rules where I don't even like smoking the same cigar in the same day, let alone in the same week. I smoked two of these back to back yesterday. I smoked through the first one and I just wanted to perform a magic trick. I wanted it to grow back. I did not want to stop smoking it. So the answer to that was to cut and light up another one. It's very rare for me to do that. This cigar is going to go in my top 10 of the year.

[SM]: Yeah, I can definitely see that being the case. All the years that I've known you, I don't think I've ever seen you smoke the same cigar twice in a row.

[TC]: That's right.

[SM]: So that's saying something. And I even heard Robert Caldwell say that even though he's not a Maduro guy, typically he smoked five of the Coronas back to back.

[TC]: Rob is such a unique person in the best kinds of ways. He is very vocal and very transparent, and he will always tell you he is not a Maduro smoker. It's just never been in his wheelhouse. And kind of the idea behind this was to create something, not just that he enjoys, but to make more of a traditional Maduro as it should be. And, like I said, this is checking all the marks for me. And I think anyone who likes a good Maduro, once you get your hands on this, you're going to get your hands on even more of 'em. 'Cause it's going to become a favorite of yours.

[SM]: Yeah, I'm a Maduro smoker and this is hitting every point for me that I like in a cigar, but also it's not just a straight up Maduro with nothing else to it. There's nuance here. There's some spicy notes. I think I heard Rob say that this is like eating a steak with a chocolate bar on top and washing it down with a cup of Cuban coffee, and I think that's dead on. I'm getting that umami, I'm getting the chocolate molasses kind of notes that you get from Maduros. And then I'm also getting those coffee notes on the back end. So yeah, I think that's a perfect description for this, which sounds like all the best things in the world. So I'm all for it.

[TC]: And to be fair, like I said, I did smoke two of these back to back yesterday. And for me it was to kind of just focus on it and be able to give an honest opinion on what I'm thinking of the flavor, strength, body, all that. Speaking of flavor, you hit it right there with nuance. It's still complex and very smooth. I would say the best way I can describe it is that it is in the black coffee range. Cuban coffee is a great way to put it. I would even say that it's like freshly roasted, medium-roast coffee, but also like a nice, deeper, semi-sweet dark chocolate kind of mixing in there.

[SM]: Yeah, I'm definitely getting those not overly sweet but distinctly chocolate notes.

[TC]: I'm a very fast smoker, but the construction and the ash on this is absolutely incredible.

[SM]: Yeah, the ash is really perfect. This is just puffing beautifully. The draw on it is perfect. This is a very well-constructed cigar. And I think I heard that it took Rob a year-and-a-half of blending to get this right. So there's a lot of work and a lot of effort that went into this. This isn't just something they rolled out, and you can tell. You can really get an appreciation for the amount of effort and time that they put into this cigar.

[TC]: Absolutely. And I've got to say, you know, I always loved the artwork, the marketing aspects, and the way the color schemes add to the branding. They all make it memorable. With the original Long Live the Queen, I loved it on that white band with the white box. Now with these, I think it looks even better. The colors on this just pop out so much more with the black background on it.

[SM]: Yeah. Everything that Rob does, the artwork, the marketing, the aesthetic, the way everything is presented is always well done. And I think this is a perfect example of that. The visuals on this are great. Yeah, it's very well done all around.

[TC]: We are actually smoking the Queen's Crest here. It's a 5.5" by 46, kind of like your standard Corona. And it does come in four other sizes as well. You're going to have your more standard Robusto, which is the Queen's Coronet. You also have the box-pressed version, which is more like a standard Toro, the Wild Card. That's probably what I would smoke next because the size is very enticing to me. You have the more rounded, regular-size Toro in the Queen's Chalice, and this one's going to be a 6" by 54. And then there's the Queen's Charge. This is going to be more of your Magnum, your standard 6" by 60 size. So honestly, I'm probably going to get one of each size and just smoke through all of 'em and see what's distinctively different through them.

[SM]: Yeah. I'm looking forward to trying all the different sizes because there's so much nuance in here that I'm really interested to see how the different sizes and all that affects everything. But this Corona is just absolutely great right now.

[TC]: And the Corona is my go-to. If a cigar comes out in the Corona, I'm going to try it, but I'm really interested to see how these complement each other. I think what really separates this from Robert's other offerings in the Maduro is that this is very much different. Looking back at the Eastern Standard Midnight Express and the Mad MoFo, those were coming from the perspective of a guy who didn't like Maduro, but was attempting to make them with more of a Habano lover's mindset. But LLTQ Maduro is more leading into what the Maduro fan base is going to love.

[SM]: Yeah. I smoked all of the Midnight Express sizes and I liked them. But as more of a Maduro fan, they weren't really something that I got enthusiastic about. But I would talk to other people who smoked Habanos and things like that, and they really did appreciate them more than I did. This blend is something that I believe non-Maduro smokers will enjoy, but even as a Maduro smoker, this is really right up my alley.

So I know Robert's excited about this, and like you said, Robert is a straight shooter. He's not going to pull any punches. He's going to tell you what he likes and what he doesn't. So if he's really excited about this, it's definitely something worth checking out. I'm really excited about it. I know everybody that I've talked to around Smokingpipes, around here, is really enthusiastic about it. It's being very well received. So if it sounds like something that you're interested in, I would definitely recommend giving it a try.

[TC]: Absolutely. And definitely once you get your hands on these, feel free to reach out and let us know what you think of it also.