Caldwell Eastern Standard Midnight Express

The Caldwell Eastern Standard Midnight Express Toro is a medium-full bodied stick. After reviewing the Eastern Standard Corretto. I thought it should get my hands on the Midnight Express again to compare and contrast the maduro version of the Eastern Standard. It features a gold on black band with the Eastern Standard “old geezer” logo and a gold footer.

One of the first things I noticed immediately upon taking the cigar out of the cello was two prominent veins in the unusual Ecuadoran maduro wrapper. These were long veins. Almost big enough for a heart surgeon to use in bypass surgery. The wrapper is toothy with a slight oiliness.

The Midnight Express flavors are pepper, cedar, earth, walnuts, and notes of espresso, dark chocolate and leather. Those flavors are pretty consistent throughout the smoke. There’s not much sweetness. Many of the other flavor notes are dwarfed by the pepper and wood. But the nuts, coffee, dark bitter chocolate, earth and leather are there.

Frankly, the first Midnight Express I smoked had the same flavor profile as the first Eastern Standard I smoked sans the voluminous plumes of smoke. Bummer. One of the few things I liked about the first Coretto I smoked.years ago. Same flavors. Same construction albeit good construction. Even burn line until the last third and then it only took one touchup to straighten it out. One of the vein lines stayed in the ash, like a full inch of ash. Even after rolling the ash off the line was back when I looked about 10 minutes later. Only noticed that on a cigar once before this. I guess it’s a sign of good construction and one tough little wrapper. This second stick was more flavorful and gave off much more smoke than the first.

The first Caldwell Eastern Standard Midnight Express I smoked a couple of years ago I found to be a rather lackluster smoke. Just put on a different wrapper and band and call it Midnight Express I like the marketing, not so much the cigar. This stick I truly enjoyed. I’m not sure if it was the aging in the humidor, my palate changed or if it’s another example of “it’s an acquired taste.” Glad I grabbed it out of the humidor and gave it another chance.

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