Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan Jalapa
Filler: Nicaraguan Jalapa, Ometepe, Estelí
Size: 4.75 x 52 Robusto Extra
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $12.00
Date Released: June 2025
Quantity Released: Regular Production
Factory: Nicaraguan American Cigars S.A. (NACSA)

My cigars received 3 months of naked humidor time.

BACKGROUND:
From Cigar Aficionado:
“The newest release from Crowned Heads in Tennessee is not only a play on words, but a medium-to-full-bodied cigar on its way to retailers now. Broadway is named after Nashville’s famed downtown entertainment district and also references the dark Connecticut broadleaf wrapper that covers the cigars.

“The line comes in three sizes: Robusto Extra, measuring 4 3/4 inches by 52 ring; Epicure, 5 1/2 by 56; and Toro, 6 1/2 by 54. Shipping in cabinets of 21, the cigars range in price from $11.95 to $12.95 each before taxes.

“Broadway marks the start of a comprehensive redesign of the company’s portfolio for brand continuity. The primary band shows Crowned Heads’ new logo and the secondary band denotes the line. Future releases will be presented in the same format.”

THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
There is a lot of Christmas decoration on a cigar that’s just shy of 5” long. But since we cigar smokers are paying for the adornments, all the better for the holidays. The new cigar band scheme is a big improvement over the previous Crowned Head design.

I disrobe the cigar so I can smell it. I am rewarded with notes of sweet flora and fauna (highly unusual for a Connie Broadleaf), slight barnyard, dark chocolate, a steaming cup of black coffee, dark toffee, and black pepper.

A well-constructed cigar with the feel of radioactive heavy water. My PerfecPunch shows no fear. It dives in from its 3-meter board and arrives a foot off the mark. I push it aside while ignoring its moans of pain and frustration. I have a backup PP that doesn’t complain…and faster than a bunny on its new concubine, the deed is done.

The cold draw is all about the richest fudge brownie with walnuts. Followed by black pepper, espresso, toffee, malt, oak, and a lovely earthiness.

The elephant in the room is that the blend is very similar to one of my favorite go-to’s: Dunbarton Umbagog Bronzeback. It’s even manufactured in the same factory.

Lighting up, I am swarmed by gooey dark chocolate, various nutmeats, black pepper, espresso, dried dates, baking spices, and sweet toffee. It also slams home a wonderful creaminess. Hang tight, Moon Doggies…I got 4.74” to go. Something I regularly said to the women in my life.

The richness is solid. Creaminess surges. The chocolate stylism causes chop licking. My lips are full of resonance…and, I’m spent.

I’m giving away the ending. I love this blend. I love the girthy little bugger’s size. I save Toros for when I have nothing on my schedule. My Robustos are for everything else. I bought a box before writing this paragraph because I don’t want to miss out in case there is a rush.

Who’s not a fan of Dunbarton? Raise your monkey paws. This blend tastes like Saka spewed all over it. In a good way. And the price is right. Keep reading…or scroll to the end.

As inch 1 begins to lose a grip, the spiciness ramps up. It is a combo of both black and red pepper. The burn line is regimental. Its fortitude resembles whiplash in a t-bone. I snap back. I sit up straight. My gonads recoil. I live for this.

Strength makes its move. Medium/full waits for no one. I like a spicy meatball. Not so much first thing in the morning, but I do this because I love you. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

The first inch took a splendiferous 35 minutes. I’ve had orgasms that lasted longer. No, I haven’t. This is the pitfall when you write in real time. Dang me.

Fruitiness abounds. Sweet crème made up of dates and brûlée. Wait. I’m having a good time so the guardrails come down. I could write for miles, and miles, and miles…
This blend does very well with home aging. Very much like the Bronzeback. Come closer and I will whisper in your ear: “I think I prefer the Broadway.” Don’t tell anyone.

It’s because the Broadway is richer and earthier. It is more complex. It has a broader spectrum of flavor points. Transitions come closer to the bone. And a longitudinal depth that the Bronzeback doesn’t have…it’s close, but I prefer the chocolate goodness the Broadway possesses. This is a no brainer. Did I mention that I bought a box so you can’t?

The first half seemed to have disappeared too quickly. It took 45 minutes but time passed like a tiny node in the universal machination of things. I took my time. I puffed incoherently. I allowed the cigar to stare at me lovingly from its quasi-secured perch in my ashtray. But now the sweet spot awaits.

I smoked my first Broadway a few months ago just a couple days after receipt. I was stunned into submission. I intended to buy more immediately but I had to pee and then I forgot. The bane of archaic men. Rarely does a blend talk to me without reasonable home aging. It sent a message to my decaying brain that with just 2-3 months of home custody, it would cause involuntary jumping up and down. Before that happens, I must adhere my knee braces to said arthritic joints.

And the sweet spot begins to entertain. Flavors are canonized. But they go deeper like unending katman manifestos. On and on with no sense of a denouement. Depth is deeper. Transitions occur quicker. Complex notes are more compounded like your favorite pharmaceutical. The finish is dense like me in the morning when I crawl from the wreckage.

My first sip of water. Explosion. I take a peek and it’s not me. No one likes a bubbly fart.

The gardener is mowing the lawn outside my window. My eyes well up. My nasal passages begin to close. I call ICE.

At least once a day, I get a phone call from someone wanting to make a dental appointment. Clearly, they are one digit off because they don’t call back. It annoys the shit out of me. But I have the Broadway cradled in my mitt. I rear my head back and begin to let out a guffaw but cough uncontrollably instead.

The cigar. Great stuff. It could easily cut through a meal after dinner. I love my Red Meat Lovers. I love my Padron 1926. This is way cheaper. My Social Security will only go up 2.5% in January and won’t cover the stupid price increases of new cigars. I warned you a year ago that this would happen. The cigar industry is making record profits while screaming that tariffs and costs are skyrocketing. They are laughing at our naïveté.

I have 1’1/2” to go. Not a lick of harshness. The nicotine ain’t bad. It hits harder when there is no food in this protuberant belly. The blend is smoother than Shakespeare writing a sonnet.

This cigar could easily be in my top 25. Go ahead and smoke one upon receipt but then let them rest to get the most out of its design. This is one of those blends that can easily not allowing them to lay low. In my waning days on this planet, I have little patience for letting a cigar bloviate over time. So when I smoke one too early, it pisses me off that I must put my fiver away and forget about it. You really don’t need to do this with the Broadway. You love your Bronzeback but you’ll love the Broadway even more. I’m going to pierce the toast of the last inch with my PerfecDraw and smoke in amity and allow my keyboard digeridoos to rest in peace.

You can purchase the Crowned Heads Broadway from sponsor Cigar Page. Alex at Cigar Page once again came through for you and is providing a promo code ONBROADWAY that will knock another 15% off through November 2025. Cigar Page already knocked a couple bucks off per stick so you’re screaming laughter with this one. The $12 Robusto Extra will now cost only $8.58. Who’s your daddy? Your Uncle Katman, that’s who. Buy them HERE.

If you buy a box, Cigar Page will give you 10 times the normal Cigar Points that you can use on your next order.

RATING: 97

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: cigar reviews, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars, Crowned Heads Broadway | Cigar Reviews by the Katman, crowned heads cigars, katman, phil kohn