Cavalier Genève White Series

I recently picked one of these up at my local shop, a relatively new one to the US market. It was described to me as being quite similar to the Davidoff White Label, but, not having tried one of those yet, I won't be able to vouch for that. Unlike the Davidoffs, though, the Cavaliers feature a diamond-shaped patch of gold foil, which I'm told is actually be smoked, and will leave behind a gold-colored ash. Should be interesting to see.

Cigar: Cavalier Genève White Series

Vitola: Elegantes (4 1/2” x 52)

Price: ~$10/stick

Origin: Honduras

Wrapper: Habano
Binder: Honduran Connecticut
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan, and Paraguayan
Body: Mild-Medium

Rating (out of 10): 9.4

Appearance:
The most eye-catching part of this cigar's appearance is the aforementioned patch of gold foil on the wrapper, just about centered on the cigar. Beyond that, there is a neat little white-and-gold band featuring an image of a horse and its trainer. The band itself , with its white-and-gold color motif, does remind me of the classic Davidoff cigar bands, giving another point of comparison between the two brands (and, of course, both are Swiss companies!). The wrapper is a nice, smooth, medium brown, lightly oiled, with a tight little pigtail cap.

Construction:
No tears or soft spots on this one, and the cap is perfect. Not anticipating any problems with this stick.

Aroma:
The barrel smells earthy and composty (is that a word? I'm using it anyway), and the foot smells rich and sweet, with a strong scent of wild berries.

First Third:
The cold draw is nice and open, sweet, and salty. I'd have a hard time identifying the sweet flavor at this point, but that salt is coming across pretty powerfully.

After lighting, the saltiness is still prominent, along with a rich graham cracker and honey sweetness and a hint of citrus. Almost like a bit of lemon zing.

The ash is mostly solid, with a bit of flaking around the edges. It's a nice, crisp white, with some spots of light grey. The burn is the tiniest bit uneven, but consistent. It's not running out of control. The ash column did drop off only about halfway through the first third, so I suppose it's a bit looser than I thought. Hopefully it holds together as it burns through the gold foil, so I can get a good look at that golden ash it's supposed to produce.

Also, for exactly no reason at all, I completely broke up the fallen ash column with a toothpick. Apparently I'm just days away from 32 years old and yet still a child.

Second Third:
Getting into the second third, there's still a solid base of graham cracker and salt, with a bit more lemon and now some black pepper.

Salt is a flavor that I quite enjoy in cigars, and it's not one I seem to come across often enough. Just a random thought, because I'm really enjoying this one.

We're getting right up on that gold foil now, Can't wait to see this ash. The burn is still a bit off, but still under control. There's a pretty nice citrusy aroma to the smoke, but there's a hint of something harsh in there, too that stings the nostrils a bit.

The gold ash is quite nice, but it seems to be burning hotter and faster, and this is where the burn really starts to run away. It's going to probably need a touchup, but I'll most likely wait until it's past the gold foil. Around the gold, the ash is noticeably greyer in the second third than it was in the first, and drops off just after burning past the gold.

I broke this ash up with the toothpick, too. Because I'm consistent in my childishness.

Final Third:
Moving into the final third, we get back to a salt and graham cracker profile, as the lemon-pepper notes subside somewhat. Following that touchup, the burn is keeping together pretty well, if still a bit uneven.

Some slightly grassy notes in this last third, too. Like sweet hay. Some rich charred cedar towards the end, also. The ash is back to a nice white color, too.

Closing Thoughts:
This is a damned tasty cigar. I haven't had a Davidoff White Label to compare, yet, but if these are as similar as I'm told they are... this one's got a much better price tag. There were some burn issues, but they were far from severe, and the aroma, while mostly pleasant, had that “burn” to it, but those really were the only areas where this cigar could have done better. It's a bit closer to the mild end of a medium body, so it was quite a nice start to my Monday. I've got another one of these in a Maduro (a Cavalier Genève Black Series), so I'm obviously excited to give that one a try, now, as well.