Casdagli 25th Anniversario has been a cigar I’ve wanted to smoke for a while but I would always hesitate at the price point. This is where Cigar of the Month clubs can be beneficial but more on that in a couple of months when I do a 6 month value check.
Casdagli Cigars was founded in 1997, but the family history starts in the 1800s when the Casdagli family started trading grain, tobacco, cotton, and breeding of Arabian horses. In 1997 the first Casdagli cigar was made in Cuba and hand rolled by master torcedor Carlos Valdez Mosquera. The whole production back then was 1,000 cigars a month at most exclusively for the London market.
When Carlos Mosquera announced retirement in 2013, Casdaglie cigars would turn to the Kelner family and the Belner Boutique Factory in the Dominican Republic.
According to their website, “This Casdagli 25th Anniversario celebrates Jeremy’s 25 years on the business and his 10 years partnership with the Master Blender Hendrik Kelner Jr of the Kelner Boutique Factory. Jeremy’s favourite cigar made for him by the Cuban Torcedor Carlos Valdez Mosquera was a Double Corona. On leaving the Cuban production behind him Jeremy met up with Hendrik Kelner Jr to try to get close to his original Cuban blends. So the Traditional Line was born in 2013. It seemed only natural that both the vitola and the Traditional Line blend was married together for this celebration.”
Today the brand is in 38 different countries.
Cigar Review: Casdagli 25th Anniversario
Size: 7.5 x 52
Wrapper: Ecuador
Binder: Dominican
Fillers: Dominican, Nicaragua, Peru, USA
Factory: Kelner Boutique Factory
Release Date: September 2023
Box Count: 10
The Cigar: The Casdagli 25th Anniversary needs a rebranding. If I saw this cigar on the shelf I would be hesitant to grab it because of the dated looking cigar band not really being up to par with the pricing of the cigar. Thankfully, I’ve been involved in the cigar industry long enough to know one should never judge a cigar by its look, or price for that matter. The green and gold band detracts from the gorgeous Ecuador wrapper that only has a vein of note hidden by the band. In the hand the cigar is well packed with no voids of tobacco.
The Taste: The cold draw is very much Kelner. There are some people that though even though KBF had Hendrik Kelner Jr. as the face of the company, his father Henke Kelner was really doing the blending. Especially when a cigar has this signature Kelner profile on the cold draw. There are notes of barnyard, hay, earth and cedar with a little bit of of a bite to it. The aroma serves up more cedar with a touch of cocoa and earth.
As we light up and smoke the first third there are notes of cashews, caramel and a very subtle pepper to start. The cigar is creamy and smooth and sees additional notes of hay, earth and a subtle mocha. The retrohale is incredibly refined with some Madagascar vanilla and a salty finish.
In the second third of this luxury smoke the cigar become spicier with notes of red pepper over a canvas of barnyard and cedar. In addition to the red pepper there are notes of dry hay, salted cashews and as we pass the half way point there is a well defined espresso finish.
The last third continues down the same rabbit hole with notes of red pepper, barnyard, dry hay and cedar. There are some continued salted cashews and more red pepper. The retrohale reveals mocha notes with additional salted cashews.
Conclusion: Because the cigar is made by the Kelner family and the price point you can’t help but compare it to a Davidoff although with a bit more strength. It’s not a bad cigar by any stretch of the imagination and if you like cigars like Davidoff and AVO this will be right in your wheelhouse. But therein lies the problem. If I want one of those aforementioned cigars, I am going to grab one of those instead of something that tastes similar and this cigar doesn’t do enough to create its own identity.
Score: 87
Price: $36.00 (Before any local or state taxes)
The Casdagli 25th Anniversary can be purchased at Small Batch Cigar and remember to use the coupon code BARRELBURNER to save 10%
