Crowned Heads cigar introduced the Crowned Heads Court Reserve XVIII at this years IPCPR in Las Vegas.  I hadn’t heard much about the cigar before we arrived at the show so I was excited when we met up with Jon Huber of Crowned Heads to get the scoop on this exciting new release, which you can watch here.  Crowned Heads wanted to create a cigar for everyone that supported Crowned Heads through the years.  These retailers and supporters, including bloggers like myself, that supported Crowned Heads from the beginning are referred to as their “Court” hence the name Court Reserve.  Here is the press release from Crowned Heads on the Court Reserve XVIII:

The early years were lean and humble, as it would be nearly half a year before the first cigars (“Four Kicks”) would ship.  In November of 2011, a total of 30,000 cigars would be shipped to precisely sixty-six retail doors across the United States.  Today, Crowned Heads cigars may be found in over 900 retail locations across the country and have found a strong following in Europe, as well.  That rise to prominence came about sans any traditional form of advertisement, relying solely upon social media and, more importantly, the steady word-of-mouth advertising and support of an ever growing legion of grassroots supporters.

The genesis and inspiration of the company name ‘Crowned Heads’ was a far cry from anything ‘royal;’ however, over the years the Crowned Heads legion of supporters has been quietly and reverently referred to as our ‘Court.’  By literal definition, a court is an extended royal household, which in some cases would be comprised of thousands of individuals.  

It is in this spirit that Crowned Heads is very proud to announce “Crowned Heads Court Reserve XVIII.”  CHC Reserve was crafted specifically with a spirit of gratitude and humility towards those and for those that have supported Crowned Heads over the years.  To create this project, we went back to where it all began for us, i.e., Tabacalera La Alianza, S.A., and consulted with cigar industry icon, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo.  We selected tobaccos based upon terroir, small-batch availability, and aging.  We then selected three of the first vitolas we ever put into regular production: Corona Gorda (46 x 5 5/8), Robusto (50 x 5) and Sublime (54 x 6).  From there, cigars were blended for each vitola, taking into careful consideration the differing ratios of wrapper-to-binder/filler.  The goal was to create excellence from cigar to cigar, from box to box, with little to no variance whatsoever.    

The result, “CHC Reserve XVIII,” is a one-time yield of approximately 150,000 total cigars that will never be replicated again.  The flavor profile is an approachable but experienced medium-bodied smoke.   The taste exudes a balanced and delicate ‘menage a trois’ of three primary characteristics: a jammy dried fruit component, a fall-like wagon ride of walnuts and leather, and a pastry chef’s delight of baker’s chocolate and graham cracker.  

Packaged in 20-count wooden boxes, CHC Reserve XVIII is a connoisseur’s experience that was created specifically for our ‘Court,’ and exists because of our ‘Court.’  Coming Fall 2018.

I was pretty excited to see a blend like this using San Andres tobacco for a wrapper and made at the famed Tabacalera La Alianza for Crowned Heads.  It’s interesting to note that each vitola was blended for its size so that each vitola smoked the same as the others.  That is extremely difficult to do.  Let’s take a look at the specifications:

• Vitola:  Robusto
• Size:  5 x 50
• Wrapper:  Mexican San Andres
• Binder:  Ecuadorian
• Filler:  Nicaraguan
• MSRP:  $11.00/single, $220/box of 20

 

 

Pre Light

The Crowned Heads Court Reserve is wrapped in a rustic looking San Andres wrapper with minimal veining.  The cigar does have a slightly rough looking triple cap which I vcut with my Colibri cutter.  The draw was a perfect milkshake draw which is just the way I like it.  On the cold draw, I got notes of cedar, earth and hay.

First Half

The Crowned Heads Court Reserve is smoking wonderfully.  I’m getting notes of dried cherry, black pepper, walnuts and cocoa.  The cigar is very well balanced and is producing a ton of smoke.  I get a big hit of black pepper and more of the walnut note on the retrohale.  So far, the Crowned Heads Court Reserve is smoking very well.  The Crowned Heads Court Reserve is medium bodied in the first half with full flavor.

Second Half

The flavors on the last half of the Crowned Heads Court Reserve has mostly the same notes as before, but with added notes of leather and graham cracker.  The cherry note along with cocoa note are still the most dominant notes in the cigar.  The mixture of these notes creates a great flavor profile on the palate which I really enjoy.  The cigar is still smoking very well with a more full bodied profile.

Conclusion

This cigar is stunningly good.  The flavors of dried cherry, cocoa, black pepper, graham cracker and walnuts worked really well giving the Crowned Heads Court Reserve a very rich flavor profile.  The body was medium bordering on the lower end of full which is perfect for me.  I really enjoyed every minute smoking this cigar.  For me, this cigar ranks right up there with the original Four Kicks Mule Kick.  These are full box worthy and I will be getting full box of these shortly.  Do yourself a favor and get your hands on these before they are all gone.

 

Final Score:  93