Casdagli Daughters of the Wind Pony Express

Size: 6″ x 48
Origin: Costa Rica
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Costa Rican Puriscal & Nicaraguan
Filler: Dominican Oscuro Ligero & Peruvian
Smoking Time: 75 minutes
Body: Mild building to medium
Strength: Mild building to medium
Price: $17

I picked up a few of these cigars recently from https://www.smallbatchcigar.com/. It was my first time ordering from this site and I definitely can recommend them. Shipping was very fast and the packaging job by them was outstanding.

Casdagli Cigars, originally known as Bespoke Cigars, was founded in 1997 by Jeremy Casdagli. However, the family’s involvement in luxury goods dates back to the 1800s when they traded grain, tobacco, cotton, and bred Arabian horses.

The brand initially produced cigars in Cuba, hand-rolled by master torcedor Carlos Valdez Mosquera. After Carlos’s retirement in 2013, production moved to the Kelner Boutique Factory in the Dominican Republic, leading to the development of several cigar lines.

Casdagli Cigars rebranded from Bespoke Cigars in 2018 to reflect its global reach and to honor the family’s trading symbol, the Colossus of Rhodes.

This particular cigar is only available from Small Batch. It has a beautiful wrapper that is similar in color to milk chocolate. It has a very pronounced box press and smells great pre-light with a fair bit of sweetness present.

I give the cigar a v-cut and light er up. The draw is a little too tight so I give it a little punch with my draw tool. This helps. The cigar begins very mild and there’s not much happening with the flavor profile. I get a little bit of faint pepper on the back of my palate. As things progress a little, I start to get faint hints of leather and sourdough. It’s a fairly pleasant cigar, but extremely mild at this point.

A little past the 1/3 mark, the cigar begins to pick up in body. The leather and sourdough notes become more pronounced. I also begin to get a little bit of a salty taste which is pleasant. The cigar continues to build in body and strength and it’s a very noticable departure from the beginning of the cigar.

In the final third, some coffee and grass elements come into play. The body and strength continue to build throughout the cigar. I’m glad that it did as the first third was far too mild for my liking. Near the end I pickup some grassy notes and my lips begin to tingle a little bit.

Construction notes: The draw was a little too tight but I was able to correct it with my draw tool. The burn line was a little wavy and I had to do three small touchups throughout.

When to smoke it: This cigar could work with morning coffee as the first third is extremely mild. It does build in body and strength throughout though so it works in the afternoon as well.