The Caldwell The King Is Dead Escape Plan Drybeggar takes one of Robert Caldwell’s more unusual Dominican blends and gives it a darker, more deliberate treatment. The original King Is Dead was built around Dominican Negrito and Corojo—tobaccos you don’t see headlining nearly as many cigars as Habano, Connecticut or Broadleaf. With Escape Plan, Caldwell didn’t simply reach for a different wrapper. He went back into the blend itself, selecting different primings, changing the proportions of the filler leaves, and altering the fermentation of the wrapper and binder. The result retains the DNA of The King Is Dead but presents it with more depth, concentration and maturity.
The box-pressed 6" x 52 Drybeggar is arguably the sweet spot in the Escape Plan lineup. Its Dominican Negrito wrapper brings dark earth, cocoa and a slightly rustic natural sweetness, while the Dominican core develops layers of espresso, cedar, toasted tobacco and warm spice. The Toro proportions give everything room to unfold without diluting the wrapper's contribution, and the box press lends the cigar a dense, deliberate feel in the hand. There's richness here, but also enough creaminess and sweetness to keep the darker tobacco from becoming heavy.
For an experienced smoker trying Escape Plan for the first time, Drybeggar would be one of my first recommendations. The 6 x 52 format gives you enough time to understand what Caldwell has done with these tobaccos, while preserving the balance between wrapper and filler that makes a good Toro so dependable. Buy a few rather than one—smoke the first fresh, put the others down for a while, and see what additional humidor time does with this unusually fermented Dominican blend.
