Once a Junior Varsity player in the Caldwell Cigars line up, the Gibraltar was brought up to the big leagues in 2015 and the blend was revamped. It is now known as the Gibraltar Extra and is part of the Iberian Express line produced at the companies new factory in the Dominican Republic. The other Seleccion Junior Varsity players – Selvillana and Muricas – were also brought up to the Iberian Express line.
While the original Gibraltar blend was non-disclosed other than the wrapper, the latest incarnation, the Gibraltar Extra, is described as:
- Wrapper -Ecuadoran
- Binder – Dominican Republic
- Fillers – Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and the United States
The Gibraltar Extra is available in 4 vitolas and packaged in boxes of 25:
- Gran Robusto – 5.5 x54
- Jamon Jamon (Corona) – 4.5 x 44
- Magnum (Gordo) – 6 x 60
- Torpedo – 6.2 x 52
MSRP ranges from $6.30 to $8.00
For this review I sampled the Torpedo which I won in a raffle at the Save The Leaf pre-party back in early August.
Cigar Review Notes
- Waxy bumpy dark brown wrapper
- Cocoa on foot
- Fermented tobacco aroma along the barrel
- Cold draw offers pepper, cocoa, and touch of raisin
- Once ignited – substantial pepper on the nose
- Butter lingering behind
- Fruit finally enters to round out the first inch
- Dark grey ash
- Butter morphs into a cream on top of the fruit
- Cocoa and spice pick up in second inch
- Burn is decent so far but ash is flaky
- Delicious syrupy aroma
- The cream and butter join into a delicious butter cream
- Touch of sea salt
- Solid medium strength end of first third
- Smoke volume is medium
- Strength creeping up the scale
- Burn gets crunchy end of second third
- Touch of flame fixes it up
- Gentle spice in the final third
- Ends medium to full
Overall the Caldwell Gibraltar Extra was a delicious cigar through the first 2 thirds, but the burn got crunchy in the final third making it difficult to discern much flavor.
Caldwell Gibraltar Extra