The Particulars

Prolegomenon and Other Random Thoughts

The wife and I have a strong emotional attachment to the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), so I’m always immediately drawn to a cigar that pays homage to the holiday.  Las Calaveras, which translates to “The Skulls,” was launched in 2014 and as an annual tribute to company employees who have passed away in the previous year.  Because the cigar represents a specific year of remembrance, Las Calaveras is an annual, limited-edition release with each year getting its own specific blend, manufactured by My Father Cigars.  This review is for the 2024 release, the 11^th of the series.

The Review

This review for the Crowned Heads Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2024 (LC54) - Toro (6 x 54) is based on the journal entry dated 2026-02-25

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

Continuing the tradition of the Las Calaveras line, this is another beautiful cigar. The Oscuro Ecuadorian Habano is a lovely milk chocolate brown with a light sheen and mottling. There are almost no veins, and the ones present are smooth and thin. The seams are tight, the triple cap is clean, and all the edges blend in nicely. I love the fuchsia and gold combo on the band, and the gold in this band matches the foot band beautifully. Nice firmness, no soft spots; everything looks good.

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

The draw is spot-on and the burn starts beautifully. The burn line is flat and even, though a bit wavy. The ash is a light gray with even, medium-spaced striations that’s a hair flaky but holding nicely. It’s a well-behaved and clean burn with an ash that holds on until roughly the midpoint of the smoke.

Flavor Profile (0-5):  Great (4)

Immediate notes of red pepper and a strong cedar-like woodiness. Malty chocolate and peanut shells follow soon after with some baking spice and toasted wheat bread. This is starting off very dry, without much sweetness. It’s smooth, but not overly creamy. Even though the red pepper is still providing a nice burn, there’s no harshness to start.

After the first inch: malty, woody, nutty, and spicy. That’s the majority of the blend at the moment. Very mild, nearly non-existent honey sweetness and earth. There isn’t much else, and it’s still very dry and starchy. It’s pleasant, but a bit underwhelming and, dare I say… boring. Honestly, I think boring is one of the rudest things I can say about a cigar because it just doesn’t elicit strong feelings in any direction. But this is a cigar where strong pairings won’t matter because there’s not much to clash with or worry about overwhelming. At the moment, I’m hoping that the remaining two thirds change course.

Fortunately, a light honey sweetness introduces itself in the second third, bringing light and creamy espresso notes that lend to the finish, building a light creaminess. The initial dryness of the profile is improving, while still retaining that core malty flavor with roasted peanuts and wheat bread. There are bits of earth and leather in there and it’s coming together nicely. This is good, harmonious, but still just not very exciting. It’s hitting like a solid B student. At the midpoint, the pepper is more white than red and goes back and forth between medium and strong intensities. There are mild saltiness and mineral notes at times that vary with the sweetness. As the sweetness goes down, mineral notes go up and vice versa.

The final third starts with the same improved profile: stronger white pepper, malty with peanut shells, and wheat bread. It’s still starchy and on the dry side, but avoiding harsh notes and just creamy enough to smooth out the pepper burn. This carries out to the end for a strong close.

Overall Experience (0-5):  Great (4)

This is a very good blend, but it’s just not a blend that’s going to set your hair on fire. The problem with being a B student, is when you’re grouped with the C student (The Décimo), you look like a star. But when you’re between two A+ students (the 2023 and 2025 releases), you end up looking a bit more like a dunce in comparison.

Review Base Rating (0-5):

4.50

Would I Buy It Again?

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

Review Final Score (0-10):

8.33

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.