Long Live The King BAR-NONE Toro

Just like there are iconic brands in the cigar industry, there also seem to be iconic bands, ones that, for whatever reason, stand out both in the market and in the minds of cigar smokers. For this cigar smoker, Caldwell Cigar Co.’s Long Live The King has established itself in that latter category, with its image of an oversized king’s crown partially obscuring the face of what looks like a some rough and unroyal individual.

The line and image trace back to the debut of Caldwell Cigar Co. in February 2014, though the image has changed a bit as the current face has been made to look a bit older than that of the original, which appeared to be a young boy under that crown. Since then, the line has grown to include a handful of extensions and offshoots of the core line.

BAR-NONE is the latest such extension to the Long Live The King line, a limited edition release that premiered at the 2023 PCA Convention & Trade Show before shipping to stores on Aug. 22.

Long Live The King BAR-NONE is a two-size limited edition release that is made entirely of Dominican tobacco, with the wrapper and binder both being Cuban-seed tobaccos. Production is handled by Francisco “Chico” Rivas’ Manufactura Rivas factory in the Dominican Republic. Both of the two vitolas are limited to just 500 boxes.

Fans of the line will note that the factory producing BAR-NONE is not the one that usually produces the Long Live The King line. That factory, Tabacalera William Ventura, was destroyed by a fire last September.

• Cigar Reviewed: Long Live The King BAR-NONE Toro
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Manufactura Rivas
• Wrapper: Dominican Republic
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Dominican Republic
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $15 (Box of 20, $300)
• Release Date: Aug. 22, 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: 500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The Long Live The King BAR-NONE Toro has a wrapper with a color that can be truly eye-catching. At its most vibrant, it is a meaty, reddish-brown with a bit of a sheen that makes me want to spend a few more moments looking at it. While the color can be great, the leaf—and how it was applied—can leave some things to be desired. Each of the three wrappers has some puckered veins as well as non-puckered ones, neither of which is a specific detractor, but when combined with some interesting cuts of the leaf, just add to the visual intrigue. One cigar has what looks like a small fold of tobacco just above the foot, while also having some rough cuts on the tobacco to create the head and cap. The first cigar I smoke has a bump on the tobacco used to create the head that feels like a pimple just begging to be popped. The third has a noticeably flatter head than the others and is finished by a cap that doesn’t sit completely flat. While all these are cosmetic issues, I am a bit surprised by them, particularly in the aggregate. The cigars are rolled firmly with some give, each right in line with current standards. The foot has a soft but vibrant aroma, not really peppery, but still having that kind of effect on my nostrils. I could make the case for some red apple at times, but whatever the foot is offering isn’t registering as an identifiable smell in my brain. Air moves decently on the cold draw, and while the flavor isn’t as vibrant as the aroma, I get a bit of a cream soda or root beer sensation, followed by some firewood.

The first puffs of the Long Live The King BAR-NONE Toro are fairly familiar with a bit of dry wood, dry earth, creaminess and black pepper, with that black pepper moving into the lead position on retrohales. There is also a flavor and aroma that makes me think of dry cedar, and it is both the most intriguing and enjoyable of the bunch. That profile sticks around for the first inch or so, though after a couple of puffs, the flavor begins to blossom with some damp cedar. Once the first clump of ash drops, it feels like the flavor takes a bit of an intermission as things really settle down on the palate and I find myself struggling to pick up much of anything. The rebuild of flavor is now led by the black pepper, which is crisp and slightly charred to my taste buds. There’s also a bit of barnyard, giving the profile some layered complexity that is very enjoyable, as it is an exercise in trying to identify components that aren’t immediately familiar to me. Construction is very good on the whole, highlighted by some very durable ash. The draw is a touch on the firm side, smoke production is good, and the burn line is even enough to avoid touch-ups. Flavor is right around medium intensity, body is medium and strength is mild.

The second third starts with the black pepper in the lead position in the profile, though I am hesitant to call the cigar overly pepper-forward. Most of the same flavors from the first third are present here, with the dry earth the most noticeable contributor, then a bit of woodiness around the edges, barnyard more present in the aroma than the flavor, and the creaminess largely departed. Somewhere in the middle of this section, the blend lets up on the gas pedal, and the profile begins coasting, still there but dialed back in intensity to a point where I don’t really register anything on a puff, at least until I retrohale. Doing that reintroduces the profile, again with pepper leading the way and the rest of the cast following along as this section comes to a close. Flavor peaks at medium-plus when some retrohales are incorporated but can get to medium-minus without them. Body is still medium and strength is just shy of medium. Construction remains very good, with no issues affecting any of the three cigars.

After that settling of the flavor in the second third, the final third starts off notably more vibrant, led by the black pepper and now with a more defined earthiness that gives the some texture. After a few puffs, it’s clear that the profile is now at both its most intense and most defined levels, changes that also make it the most engaging section of the cigar. At its best, it is a medium-full profile that really expands on the senses, as each individual component is bigger and brighter. There is also a return of the creaminess to further add to the flavor and body, the latter of which has also expanded. It’s an interesting change that also creates some space between the flavors but doesn’t sacrifice how well they interact with each other. At its not quite best, the cigar can suffer from balance issues, which, for me, manifests as the pepper getting a bit too dominant, or the flavors don’t quite open up as much in one cigar as they do in another.

Final Notes

• Fans of sturdy ash should appreciate what the Long Live The King BAR-NONE Toro offers; as each cigar easily built-up clumps of ash over an inch long.
• We try and be as consistent as possible when it comes to how the names of cigars are presented, but this is a bit of a challenge. The bands say Long live the King, I would have styled it as Long Live the King, and Caldwell often abbreviates it as LLTK. As such, all the words get capital first letters, though I’m aware it’s not a consistent stylization across the site.
• I wish I had a better memory of the exact reactions to the imagery of Long Live The King when it was released, but I definitely remember finding it both intriguing and a bit odd to use the face of a young boy on a cigar, even if it created an engaging image. I recall being one of those images I might see in a modern art gallery or on street art with it designed to provoke some thought.
• In 2019, AJ Fernandez produced a limited edition version of Long Live The King, billed as a Nicaraguan interpretation of the blend. It did the same with Caldwell’s The King is Dead line.
• Manufactura Rivas has also produced cigars for Big Sky Cigars and Chogüí, among others.
• When Caldwell Cigar Co. shipped the Long Live The King BAR-NONE line, it did so alongside two new blends that are part of the Blind Man’s Bluff Toro Deluxe trio, specifically the Chico White Edition and Chico Gold Edition.
• None of the three cigars hit me with much in the way of nicotine strength, though there are a couple of moments where it flirts with it in the second half.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was two hours and 45 minutes on average.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co. and Cigars Direct carry the Long Live The King BAR-NONE Toro.