Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 6 x 52 Toro
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $19.00
Released: October 2024
Factory: My Father Cigars S.A. Nicaragua
Quantity Released: 2500 Boxes of 10
My cigars received 4 months of naked humidor time.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
First aroma from the wrapper is of a peppery, smoky hantavirus. Postmortem, there are wisps of sassafras, anise, barnyard, black cherry jam, melted brown sugar, lemon, and freshly brewed coffee. Very nice.
Airflow is unrestricted. I won’t need the whatchamacallit.
From the cold draw are notes of roasted meat, black pepper, barnyard, cinnamon, wet oak, bitter chocolate, and sweet raw pecans.
If you isolate flavors from written reviews or video reviews, the list of flavors makes any cigar look like a candy bar on a stick. The same laundry list of interesting, but hard to believe, flavors apply for connoisseurs of wines and spirits. I know you get tired of reading them. Imagine how tired I am of repeating them ad nauseum.
First puffs are full of dark chocolate and coconut. Two thirds of an Almond Joy.
The cigar got thumbs up from most reviewers. My reviews of Las Calaveras blends over the last 10 years have shown the varied concoctions getting better. 2023 rated 95. 2022 rated 90. 2020 the cigar got Covid. 2021 rated 91. 2019 rated 94. 2018 rated 87. 2017 rated 89. 2016 rated 89. 2015 rated 88. In 2014 I gave it a non-numerical thumbs up. Overall, not a knock down surprise for the sophisticated palate. I am sure you’ve noticed that most of these cigars, while limited releases, hung around in bargain bins for as much as three years.
Five of the last ten releases had similar leaf stats to the Décimo Aniversario. If Crowned Heads was a little more divulging of blending information, I’d know for sure. And the average price was less than $10. Now it is nearly double that. Notice a trend this year?
The burn is funkadelic. Same happened on the previous two cigars. The first inch could be any AJ blend with comparable wrapper and guts. It’s not bad. It’s very decent. I want more than just a polite blend.
From other reviews, the flavor profile is just a few of the same ol same ol. When this happens, it is up to the blender to smash and grab by filling the thing with complexity, richness, and transitional depth. So far, the Décimo Aniversario needs more cowbell.
Lackluster flavors are dark chocolate, black coffee, burnt oak, black pepper, and leather stockings.
I’ve also noted, as you have, that Las Calaveras blends don’t live long and prosper. If you can smoke them within the first year, you’ll get a very respectable cigar experience. But if you forget about them for 2-3 years, they age out. Very much like every AJ, and similar style blends, in my star cluster.
Black pepper is the main flavor during Inch 2. Zero richness. Almost no depth. Certainly, no transitions of note. This is a great $7 stick.
Inch three begins a little better with sweet black cherry and a griftier balance of dark chocolate and a newly added creaminess that provides a Three Musketeers candy bar element to the cigar.
Still, I’m not pleased that the cigar wasted $6.67 on those first two inches waiting for the cigar to perform. I’m all in when a blend hits the ground running. If this does not happen, I am a very grumpy old man by the time something good kicks in. Points removed.
The black coffee sweetens and morphs into café au lait. Nice. But the black pepper spiciness is too much. The back of my throat stings.
Pisses me off when I gotta spend $95 for a fiver and it is just meh. I will roll the dice with my last two cigars allowing them to rest for another 5-6 months. One can only hope.
The second half begins with a sense of wariness from my tired brain. I’ve already decided how I’m going to rate this cigar. I would love to see the next chapter enthrall me on the chance I might add a point or two.
This is a meaty stick. No surprises. A been there done that kind of blend you’ve smoked a million times. And the good news is that it’s only $19. What a deal.
If the spiciness would just relent a bit, there might be hidden gems in the arena of subtlety. This is a jackhammer blend. Construction is average. The burn never sees a sharp char line.
Jon Huber is considered a master blender. Yet Crowned Heads is a brand that aims at the unsophisticated smoker who is venturing away from catalog brands. Lots of Joe Camel advertising on the cigar bands. Lots of hoopla. I’m sure he is doing the best he can…but he is no Hendrik Kelner. I gave Las Calaveras a ten-year run worth of reviews. I’m going to let others tell the tale from here on.
I’d take a pass on this cigar. It’s not worth the dough. If you would like to smoke a good Crowned Heads blend, I approve of the Four Kicks Mule Kick LE 2025 which just came out and has a good track record as a yearly recurring cigar. I also give the thumbs up to the Le Pâtissier, Mil Días Marranitos, Sfumato in C Major, and the Le Carême Belicosos Finos.
You can purchase Crowned Heads cigars from sponsor Small Batch Cigar. Take 10% off with promo code KATMAN.
RATING: 86
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
