The last visit from my friend Alton Otto to the Stogie Press lounge, he presented me with a cigar that he said I need to review. The cigar was the “Daughters Of The Wind” by Casdagli Cigars. Now you may recognize the name “Daughters Of The Wind”, it was a cigar brand from Bespoke Cigars a company that was founded by Jeremy Casdagli. Those in the US may know “Bespoke” as an Alec Bradley Cigars name and you would be right. So to clear up any confusion, Jeremy sat down with Alec Bradley late last year and settled the naming dispute in the US and changed the name in the US to Casdagli Cigars.
So what about the Daughters Of The Wind? It has been such a big seller in the Middle East that the company relaunched the brand in 2018. This makes sense as the name and story behind the brand has roots in the Middle East as explained by Casdagli Cigars:
” ‘The Daughters of the Wind’ is a famous Arabian poem written in the 6th century inspired by the beauty of Bedouin horses. In the early 1900s Demy & Alick Casdagli purchased the Sheikh Obeyd stables just outside Cairo and became celebrated breeders of Arabian race horses. They gaining particular success with breeding the Dahman strain with a famous mare called Bint Bint Durra. The Dahman is a very rare breed famed for its strength , elegance and refinement. We wanted to celebrate this with the launching of a small production of cigars with these attributes. “
In December of 2018, Casdagli released the Robusto vitola for the line, but there is an important note about the Robusto. It uses a different blend than the other 4 vitolas in the line up. The relaunched vitolas have a blend made up of a HVA Ecuadorian Wrapper with a Costa Rican Binder, and Fillers from Peru and the Dominican Republic.
However, the Robusto has a blend described as:
- Wrapper: HVA Ecuador
- Binder: Criollo 98 Ecuador
- Filler: NIcaraguan, Ecuadorian, Dominican
The Daughters Of The Wind Robusto is a 5 x 50 vitola and is packaged in 15-count cabinet style boxes with an MSRP of $9.25/cigar. The Robusto is also the first to use the new Casdagli Cigars logo on the box. The band on this cigar has also been updated.
Pre-Light Examination
The Casdagli Cigars Daughters Of The Wind Robusto is gorgeous dark brown and oily cigar that has a closed foot and a small twist cap. The cigar is silky smooth to the touch and has all but invisible seams and veins are not to be found.
A single band adorns the cigar using an eastern motif, with lots of peacocks throughout the design and a center green circle with a golden horse head. The name “Daughters Of The Wind” is printed on the bottom of the band. It should be noted, the peacock is a symbol of royalty and also resurrection and life after death.
As I ran the Daughters Of The Wind Robusto along the nose I picked up a delightful curing barn aroma that reminded me of the numerous barns on the tobacco fields I have visited. If you have ever been on a tobacco plantation tour you know what I am talking about.
I sliced the cap straight and I made note of the some real dark leaf in the filler.
As I took in some cold draw puffs, it was obviously restricted from the closed foot and offered an array of notes including – malt, sweetness, pepper, and butter. There is a lot going on and I rolled it about some more savoring the pre-light notes.
After a few minutes of cold puffing, it was time to hit it with the flame. A dual flame torch did the trick, holding it away from the closed foot, the leaf took to the flame and quickly I was being treated to notes of butter and exotic spice.
Cigar Review Notes
- First light offered notes of butter and exotic spice.
- Touch of mineral and earth adds to the profile
- Refreshing mint notes join the mix early
- Medium volume of smoke production
- Medium grey ash forms resting on thick and wavy char line
- The complexity continues to grow as rich citrus, sweetness, and a sprinkle of salt fills out the early profile
- Wow that was a mouth full of notes!
- Moving toward the second third, there is a coffee note that graces the palate along with a mild nut aroma
- Draw is still offering a medium volume of smoke
- Citrus maintains keeping it refreshing on the palate
- Ash fell with a well centered burn cone
- Hint of wood enters midway
- Mineral notes enter again
- Spice notes break though especially on the retro-hale deep in second third
- Woodiness grows with a bit of sweetness down through the final
- Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 20 minutes
Overall, the Casdagli Daughters Of The Wind Robusto was a an extremely complex cigar, in fact the most complex I have smoked in quite some time. It hit the palate in all dimensions. It had butter and spice, citrus and sweet, salt and nut, coffee, mint, earth, mineral, and wood. It is not every day I pick up so many notes in cigar with a smooth smoke. It did have some wave in the burn and just a medium volume of smoke throughout the journey. The oils on the wrapper were oozing throughout the journey. This is a cigar I would say is box worthy. I rate this a 94.
Point Deductions: (-1) Wave In Burn; (-1) Medium Volume of Smoke; (-1) Medium Grey Ash; (-1) Mineral Notes at start and end
Bonus Points: (+1) Intense Oils; (+1) Buy a Box
A different site published a review on this cigar, many months prior to your review or of my smoking it, but my experience has been pretty much aligned with this review. Tasting notes have been pretty close, I am getting a pronounced chocolate in between spice, vanilla, citrus, and cinnamon (also a spice) but different from the other spice I’m experiencing. I remember tasting citrus a lot in some of the earlier Bespoke (Casdagli) cigars when they first jumped on the scene some years back, but this isn’t made at the same factory as those. Anyway this far a damn good smoke.