The 718 CB irons continue the grand tradition of Titleist forged cavity back irons that goes back past the first CB branded 690 of 2002 to the previous DCI irons and underneath the hood there is a lot of hidden technology.
The muscle within the cavity is a little less bulbous than the previous 716 CB irons and the perimeter weighting seems wider towards the toe.
In the 2 to 7 irons the forged 1025 carbon steel body features a small cavity hidden in the lower part of the muscle that is behind a thin High Strength Steel face insert.
Also hiding in the heel and toe are high density tungsten weights, which were there before, but now they are held in place by 14g tungsten weight caps instead of lighter steel ones.
The total amount of tungsten is the same as the 716 CB at around 70g, but using it in the caps moves more weight to the heel and toe increasing the MOI and making the 718 CB more forgiving than the 716 AP2.
This is really impressive in this size of head and compared to the 718 AP2, the CB has the advantage of sounding and feeling better as a smaller cavity and more blade like design gives a sharper feel and nicer sound.
The 8 to PW heads feature a fully forged 1025 carbon steel body as the slightly smaller heads don't need the cavity and these give the solid feel you would expect with semi-blade irons.
At address the 718 CB has a thinner top line and slightly shorter head than the AP2, but a little larger than the 718 MB.
If you venture up to the 2-iron then you can start to see the back of the cavity at address, which may appeal to some for the extra visual assurance of forgiveness.
The soles are a nice size and feature a little bit of a rounded back edge and a shiny chrome finish in a no-nonsense look.
There is a range of shafts to choose from and the addition of the Project X LZ to the options gives a lighter alternative to the usual True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts.
The lofts are the same as the MB irons so the blending opportunities are obvious, especially as you can get a 2-iron in the CB, which you can't in the MB. The AP2 lofts are the same in the long irons and 1° stronger in the 6 to P wedge due to the deeper CG and higher launch.
There are not many manufacturers doing a simple forged cavity back iron for low single figure players and the Titleist 718 CB is one of the best as it packs a lot of forgiveness from that high MOI into what is still pretty much a blade shape.
The extra forgiveness from the weights makes it more playable for its size and the CB really challenges the slightly larger AP2 as the cavity back blade of choice in the Titleist range as the sound and feel is a little better.
If you are going for 718 MB blades then you should look at the CB for some of the long irons. If you are starting with the CB then you could easily go all way through the set or pick up a few long irons from 718 T-MB or 718 AP2 to blend feel and workability in the mid to short irons with forgiveness in the mid to long irons.