The Higher Calling LE 2025 by Avowed
The Higher Calling is a modified version of The Vow. So while they both use the same blend on paper, the Higher Calling uses higher priming tobacco. The rolled cigars are then aged for two years and only two rollers at the Kelner factory are dedicated to making them.
BRAND / CO: Avowed
CIGAR: The Vow Higher Calling
VITOLA: Toro - 6" x 50
STRENGTH: Medium
WRAPPER: Ecuadorian Habano, Natural (Aged 2-Yrs)
BINDER: Ecuador (Habano)
FILLER: Dominican Republic (Corojo 99, Cotui, Criollo 98, Piloto Cubano, San Vicente)
ORIGIN: Dominican Republic, Kelner Cigars, S.A.S.
APPEARANCE & CONSTRUCTION: Good
A medium tan with not much oil to it but some light mottling. The veins are noticeable but thin and light. The seams are tight and the triple cap is perfect. The band is an inverse of The Vow with green on white instead of white on green. All in all, a very nicely rolled cigar.
DRAW & BURN: Good / Great
The draw is perfect and the burn starts nicely. The burn is a little wavy but even to start and quickly trending flat. The ash is a light gray that's nearly white in areas and pretty tight between the striations. The ash holds through the first third, and by that point the burn line is dead even.
FLAVOR PROFILE: Excellent
Roasted peanuts and baking spice, a good dose of cinnamon hit immediately. There's a light caramel sweetness and cedar woody notes as well. I'm getting bits of floral like vanilla, espresso, baking cocoa and a mild barnyard must. This is just such an incredibly smooth and creamy blend that's accentuated by delicious bites of spice.
With the second third, I'm getting sourdough breadiness, pepper and increasing sweet. Like The Vow, the nuance, complexity and transitions are just fantastic, but everything is ramped up just a notch. These flavors are just swirling and it's beautiful. All I can do at this point is wax poetic, this is truly an excellent cigar. A really nice change from The Vow is while that seemed to taper off at the end, this ramps up in intensity. A strong finish.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE: Excellent
If all you're into is big, bold Nicaraguan pepper bombs that taste like old belts because you're struggling with masculine insecurity, then kindly move along. This is a blend with nuance and complexity that wants to have in-depth conversations about philosophy.
I feel like when Klaas Kelner provided the sample of this blend to the guys at Avowed, he channeled a little Justin Hammer. "These are the Cubans, baby. This is the Cohibas, the Montecristos. This is a kinetic-kill, side-winder vehicle with a secondary cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine RDX burst. It's capable of busting a bunker under the bunker you just busted. If it were any smarter, it'd write a book, a book that would make Ulysses look like it was written in crayon. It would read it to you. This is my Eiffel Tower. This is my Rachmaninoff's Third. My Pieta. It's completely elegant, it's bafflingly beautiful, and it's capable of reducing the population of any standing structure to zero. I call it 'The Ex-Wife.''
I already gave The Vow my highest score and labeled it a top 5 cigar. This is Nigel Tufnel because it's one louder. I have one box, I'm gonna need another. There's only 450 boxes being released and once people find out how good this cigar is, they're not going to last. 100% worth the price of admission.
Purchase Singles or By the Box HERE
Reviewed by Sean McCloskey of The Collective