Caldwell The King Is Dead Escape Plan Shortcut (5.5" x 46) - Box of 20

The Caldwell The King Is Dead Escape Plan Shortcut takes the distinctive all-Dominican tobacco of The King Is Dead and gives it a more concentrated treatment. For the revived Escape Plan, Caldwell returned to the original blend's tobacco families but changed the primings, filler percentages and fermentation of the wrapper and binder. The result isn't simply another size of The King Is Dead, but a richer interpretation of familiar tobacco, built around a dark Dominican Negrito wrapper with Dominican binder and filler.

At 5½" x 46, the box-pressed Shortcut is particularly well suited to the blend. The relatively slender ring gauge keeps that Negrito wrapper prominent, bringing dark earth, cocoa and roasted coffee forward alongside cedar and warm spice. There's an underlying creaminess that keeps the profile balanced, while the altered fermentation gives Escape Plan a deeper, more concentrated character than the regular King Is Dead. The 46 ring gauge also gives the Shortcut a more traditional feel than the broader Grand Tour, with a little more focus on wrapper and a little less emphasis on sheer volume of smoke.

If you're going to try only one Escape Plan size, the Shortcut deserves serious consideration. Its traditional proportions put the unusual Negrito tobacco right where an experienced smoker can appreciate it, and the box press makes it distinctly different from the regular King Is Dead. Pick up a few while they're available—this is the kind of smaller-ring Caldwell that rewards both careful smoking now and some extra time in the humidor.