The Particulars

The Review

This review for the Crowned Heads Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2022 (LC54) - Toro (6.5 x 54) is based on the journal entry dated 2026-02-25

Appearance & Construction (0-3):  Good (3)

This is a beautiful cigar overall. The Nicaraguan Corojo is a rich and warm milk chocolate brown that’s heavily mottled with dark, oily sections broken up by lighter areas between the veins that get darker at the edges of the leaf. There’s light tooth, but it’s a little lumpy with the binder layer creating ridges and bumps under the wrapper. The seams are all tight and the triple cap is beautifully applied. The dual bands work beautifully as the main band is a powder blue with gold accents that carry into the foot band.

Draw (0-3) & Burn (0-4):  Good (3) / Good (3)

The draw has a hair of extra resistance over ideal, but it’s still what I consider good and may loosen as the burn progresses. The burn starts super clean and even. The burn line does start to follow the wrapper edge, getting a little uneven and burning slightly sideways. Other than a relight at the end of the first third, it is burning well. The ash is a light-to-medium gray with widely spaced striations that holds well but is a little flaky. Overall, no issues here.

Flavor Profile (0-5):  Great (4)

Immediate complexity and strength on the first draws. Very earthy, but dry earth with strong, woody cedar and some vegetal notes. Vegetal is a fancy word reviewers use when something tastes plant-like, but isn’t immediately identifiable because it clearly isn’t earth or barnyard. Much more dominant are the malted chocolate, coffee, and red pepper. That red pepper started off as a straight-out assault on light-up but quickly calmed down, bringing the right mix of flavor and kick. There’s also a lot of bready and cinnamon graham cracker flavor with peanut shell overtones that’s followed up with a light salted caramel sweetness with a bit of lemon zest. All wrapped up in a super creamy finish. All this in the first inch! Like I said, it started off with immediate complexity. So much going on, but sometimes a hair out of balance.

And it gets more out of balance in the second third. It gets extra earthy with more leather, losing some of the spice, sweetness, and bready notes. It just comes and goes between being a beautifully complex and nuanced blend and being a bit flat, earthy, and boring. At the midpoint, we’re back. These are minor blips in an otherwise smooth road, but it’s boring at times. That’s probably the biggest drawback to this cigar: it’s complex, but it’s nothing new or exciting and it veers into boring areas at times. But it’s mostly firing on all cylinders; there just haven’t been any transitions. No dips in the final third, it finishes strong with a nice increase in pepper at the end, but no major transitions either.

Overall Experience (0-5):  Great (4)

I’m not a huge fan of Corojo, but this one landed really nicely. There are some similarities to the Blood Medicine B-Positive that I’m not a fan of, but this one hits so much better. The only real downside is it gets a little flat at times and there’s nothing really new or surprising with this blend. But if you like Corojo and can manage to find this one, definitely grab as many as you can. This is a review that won’t be relevant sooner than later when they’re all gone!

Review Base Rating (0-5):

4.25

Would I Buy It Again?

Most likely (good stick, but look for a deal)

Review Final Score (0-10):

8.00

Overall Score and Individual Journal Entries

While the review is based off one instance of journaling this cigar; there’s a number of reasons you can have different experiences smoking the same cigar multiple times. A blend can evolve with age (for better or worse), palates evolves, preferences change, and sometimes you just get a bad example!  This section captures the ratings from each journal entry and the related journal photo.  Below you’ll find an aggregate score based on every time the cigar has been journaled. Unless it was a gift or on-off smoke, this section will be updated every time I journal this cigar!

The Flavor Wheel

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.