Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2023

By Tony Casas | August 14, 2023

I can’t ask for better weather than what we have been experiencing lately. This week I venture out back with my two dogs and a Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2023.

The Good Stuff:

Each and every year since 2014 The Crowned Heads have released the “Las Calaveras” which is a cigar created to pay tribute to those who are close to us which we have lost and each year has been special to me as I lost so many great people in my life over the past few years. If you want to catch up, you can reach each of my reviews on each different release below:

• Las Calaveras 2014
• Las Calaveras 2015
• Las Calaveras 2016
• Las Calaveras 2017
• Las Calaveras 2018
• Las Calaveras 2019
• Las Calaveras 2020
• Las Calaveras 2021
• Las Calaveras 2022

Manufactured at the My Father Cigars factory in Nicaragua, this year’s blend features a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper. This is only the second time in Las Calaveras history that the blend utilizes a Broadleaf wrapper. The binder and filler are both from Nicaragua. The cigar is offered in four sizes: LC50 (5 x 50), LC52 (6 x 52), LC54 (5 5/8 x 54) and the Belicoso Fino (5 1/2 x 52) which is the first time the Las Calaveras is offered in this format. Each of the first three sizes come in boxes of 24 with 1,500 boxes being released. The Belicoso Fino is only offered as part of a 4ct sampler featuring one of each size, with 3,000 samplers being released. The cigar ranges between $12.95 and $14.95. I purchased mine over from the good guys at Fox Cigar.

• Size: 6 x 52
• Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $13.95

Prelight:

The Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2023 starts out with a beautiful dark brown wrapper. And we are talking about a serious dark brown, almost black in some areas with splotches of lighter brown in others. The wrapper’s texture is extremely toothy and gritty with a small amount of oils coating it. The wrapper feels very, very hard and dense while the cigar as a whole is quite heavy and filled with tobacco. There are a few softer areas around the foot of the cigar, but nothing concerning. The wrapper is laid nicely over itself showcasing some natural veining and webbing in the tobacco leaf as it leads up to a round, double-wrapped cap. As always the blend is polished off with the standard Las Calaveras band with its crest embossed in the front. This year’s color choice is orange. The cigar also carries a gold foot band with the Crowned Heads logo embossed on it.

The wrapper on the Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2023 gives off strong raisin and spice aromas while the foot of the cigar is more natural tobacco mixed with pepper. The cap took a bit of effort to cut, likely due to how thick the wrapper leaf is. The cold draw produces notes of raisin, pepper, spice, and earthiness.

First Third:

The Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2023 starts out with a nice little black pepper punch which fades immediately after the first few draws allowing the cigar to release huge notes of raisin and black cherry over musky oak, cinnamon, dark chocolate, and a really awesome vanilla bean flavor that sticks around on the aftertaste. The draw is perfect as each puff kicks out a good amount of thick, white smoke which dissipates quickly while the cigar releases only a minor amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is super sharp and dead even leaving behind an absolutely beautiful trail of tightly compacted white ash which held on for an inch before falling into my ahstray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2023 and this cigar is just pouring on the flavors. More raising and black cherry which have been a force without fading out backed by dark chocolate, spice, and musky oak. The retrohale interestingly enough brings out a ton of sharp pepper that I don’t really pick up in the standard experience. I close out the second third with no nicotine kick, while the cigar is burning like a dream.

Finish:

The Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2023 finishes just as it starts with loads of raisin and black cherry over musky oak, cinnamon, dark chocolate, and a bit of leather and earthiness. There wasn’t a ton of changeups in this experience and there didn’t need to be. It took me almost two hours to smoke this slow -burning cigar down to the nub. There was no harshness, no extended heat and absolutely no burn issues. The cigar burned flawlessly from start to finish while leaving me with only a light little nicotine kick.

Overview:

I have always been a fan of all the Las Calaveras releases and it’s an annual tradition for me. Both for what the cigar represents and how great they usually are. I am happy to report that this has probably been one of, it not my favorite Las Calaveras blend to date. I feel like I have said that before, and if I have it only shows how great Jon Huber is as coming up with new blends that always evolve. This release is extremely complex with a flavor profile that absolutely fits my personal preference. It burned great for start to finish and still falls in a price that affordable enough to keep quite a few on hand. Its box worthy for sure, while you can still get them.