Anastasia Opera by Caldwell Cigars (6 x 52)

Video review HERE.

(Description taken from Cigar Aficionado website)

Caldwell has joined forces with Ernesto Perez-Carrillo of EPC Cigar Co. to create Anastasia, the follow-up project to The Last Tsar, a Caldwell cigar brand that depicts Nicolas II, the last Tsar of Russia on its band artwork. The new cigar shows an image of Princess Anastasia, the long lost daughter of Nicolas II, on its band. 

Anastasia has shipped to a small group of retailers in the United States and Europe and is available in four sizes: 

Caspia, at 5 3/4 by 43 ($12.50)

Kartel, 5 by 49 ($13.30)

Mercure 7 by 47 ($14.00)

Opera, 6 by 52 ($14.70) REVIEWED TODAY

The cigar ships in 20-count boxes and is rolled at Perez-Carrillo's Tabacalera La Alianza S.A., located in the Dominican Republic.

Caldwell Cigar Co. has declined to release full blend details of its new cigars at this time. 

The cigar is a light-medium brown color and well made. It has a slightly above average feel in the hand.

The test draw after cutting the cap was very good. The initial flavors at light up were a sweet whipping cream and apricot mix. The pepper was a white pepper rated at a 7 1/2. There were also some light coffee notes at the base.

One inch in and the flavors are changing bit time. There are now mango/apricot notes, brown sugar, and black pepper rated at an 8 1/2. Yes, the white pepper changed to a large amount of black pepper in one inch. The finish is a brown sugar laden cream with a nice amount of lingering black pepper. The change was major but nice. The mango and apricot flavors are quite unique but I like them!

Close to the midpoint the flavors are about the same. The black pepper remains very good. There is a touch of sweet, creamy butter attached to the front end flavors. The cigar is medium bodied. The finish is about the same.

At the end I still had the mango/apricot flavor with some buttery notes and black pepper. The cigar hit medium to full bodied. The finish was unchanged. If this cigar had an abundance of richness this could easily be my cigar of the year but it lacked significance richness. Caldwell Cigars has a very good cigar here and the added touch of the Carillo's really helps this cigar stand out. It will do well for Caldwell. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Score: 92