Description:

The Alec Bradley Caribbean Cask comes in with a very light tan colored Connecticut wrapper, and a plain slightly sweet tobacco scent once removed from its cellophane. The cigar boasts premium long-fillers infused with Caribbean rum, and a sweetened tip.

Initial Impressions:

The Alec Bradley Caribbean Cask came to me with quite a firm almost stiff pack. Additionally, the cigar’s wrapper was quite papery dry and had some discoloration, but nothing that was cause for concern. As mentioned above, right out of the cellophane the cigar had a rather plain tobacco sweet smell; very on brand for a rum infused cigar. After cutting the cigar and giving it a dry pull you are hit with an enormous amount of sweet flavor and a very loose draw.

Smoking Notes:

On initial light up the only thing you can taste is the sweetened tip. It is very very sweet, no exaggeration, it is far sweeter than any other sweet tip cigar I had tasted. It is a pleasant sweetness, but very overwhelming. The initial light up did not go well. Despite my best efforts the cigar immediately started to burn unevenly and was not putting off good smoke. I eventually needed to just torch/burn the end to get it lit; flavors after this were just sweet and burnt for sometime after. The construction of the cigar was a little concerning as even following a torch light up it burnt unevenly, and was beginning to unravel a bit (won’t hold this against it as it was likely from the problematic start). Despite the visual construction issues and the troubled start once lit the cigar did have great smoke output and a beautifully loose draw. As the burnt end of the cigar started to fade the flavors you get in the first third of the cigar are really just sweetness. The tip remains overwhelmingly sweet and the notes behind that tip are very plain and too weak to overcome it. The sweetness persists on your lips for sometime after a draw. As the first third ends the sweet tip starts to wear off and the trues essence of the cigar comes out. I got some very pleasant sweet fruity notes from it, some honey like flavors, and a bit of creaminess which surprised me. I would basically agree that the cigar has some tropical notes to it. The notes are fleeting and despite some carryover sweetness from the tip most of them are long gone by the next draw. Flavors on the retrohale were much of the same, but with a bit of spice). By the band-point the sweetness is all gone from the tip and the same fruity, honey, creamy notes remain directly after the draw. The cigar was very pleasant, but sadly for me the construction issues returned right around the band. The cigar started to get that wet ashtray flavor common in cigars as they are going out, and the smoke output quickly declined before the cigar finally puttered out. I’ll definitely give one more of these a try as I likely just got a lemon on the construction.

Conclusions:

The Alec Bradley Caribbean Cask is worth a smoke if you are a lover of premium sweet infused cigars. If you are not a fan of these flavors you will be completely turned off by the sweetness of the cigar. Be wary of some construction issues if you are trying one for the first time, but don’t avoid trying just because of my experience. It is not uncommon to occasionally get a cigar that just doesn’t burn right and it is more often than not (especially with a brand like Alec Bradley) a fluke. As the branding suggests the cigar flavor wise is a great sweet smoke to kick up your feet and relax with, enjoy it with a few fingers of rum or just by itself.

Details:

Size: Toro (6.0 X 54) Cost: $3.50 (Purchased on CigarBid) Smoke Time: 1 hour 30 minutes Rating: 2/5