The Crowned Heads Mil Dias

By Tony Casas | October 26, 2020

So, somehow we are expecting snow here this week? I’ll believe it when I see it. 2020 has been a year, that’s for sure. Anyways, this week I am enjoying the quiet before the storm out back with a Crowned Heads Mil Dias paired with a bottle of (512) Brewing’s Whiskey Barrel Aged Double Pecan Porter.

The Good Stuff:

Mil Dias translates to “1,000 days” which is about the time it took for this blend to be ready as the project started in 2017 when ACE Prime Cigars co-founders Eradio Pichardo and Luciano Meirelles showcased samples of the blend to Jon Huber, co-founder of The Crowned Heads. Huber, who is notorious for his meticulous approach to new blends continued to tweak the blend until it was ready, 1,000 days later. Produced at the Tabacalera Pichardo factory the Mil Dias utilizes a Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Peru, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. The cigar is offered in four sizes: Edmundo (5 3/8 x 52), Corona Gorda (6 x 46), Sublime (6 x 54) and the Double Robusto (6 3/8 x 50). Each size comes packaged in boxes of 20 and run between $9.25 and $11.50 a stick. Big thanks to JG again for hooking it up with a few of these!

• Size: 6 x 46
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan, Costa Rican, Peruvian
• Body: Medium
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $9.5
• Pairing: (512) Whiskey Barrel Aged Double Pecan Porter (Imperial Porter 9.25% ABV)

Prelight:

The Crowned Heads Mil Dias starts out with a beautifully consistent milk-chocolate brown wrapper. The wrapper itself feels very thin, yet tough while the cigar is tightly compacted with absolutely no soft spots. The cigar’s long slender body showcases some very minor veins and natural webbing in the tobacco leaf as well as some very slight tooth as it leads up to the cigar’s round, triple-wrapped cap. The Mil Dias is polished off with a very elegant, simple white and gold band with a red almost Spanish-looking “M” crest embossed on the front.

The wrapper on the Mil Dias gives off strong cedar and natural tobacco aromas while the foot of the cigar carries much of the same natural tobacco over musk and spice. The cap on the Crowned Heads Mil Dias cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold Draw produces some really rich, buttery notes of cashew and musk over earthy flavors.

First Third:

The Crowned Heads Mil Dias starts out with a nice black pepper punch which only lasted through the first few puffs before vanishing allowing the cigar to release bold pecan and cedar flavors over musk, leather, and earthiness. This is a very bold flavor profile containing some great rustic notes. The draw is flawless as every little puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick, white smoke which dissipates very quickly while the cigar itself releases very little stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is dead even and razor thin leaving behind a trail of very tightly compacted white ash which held on for almost an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Crowned Heads Mil Dias and the pecan and cedar are still leading the pack, backed by the leather, musk and earthiness as well as a slight buttery flavor that I picked up in the cold draw that keeps poking its head in. The retrohale is quite enjoyable and really brings out some of the spice that I don’t pick up during the experience. I close out the second third with nothing in terms of a nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Crowned Heads Mil Dias and not a whole lot has changed up here, and that’s a good thing. The flavors are still leaning heavily on the pecan and cedar backed by musk, leather and earthiness. It took me about two hours to take this slow-smoking cigar down to the nub and I loved every second of it. I experienced no harshness nor any extended heat while I ended up with only a very minor nicotine kick. I never once had to touch up, or relight the cigar.

Overview:

The Crown Heads Mil Dias isn’t boldest cigar. It’s not the most complex cigar. It doesn’t contain a ton of innovative flavors. And it absolutely doesn’t need any of that. The Mil Dias is as solid as a cigar as it comes. One you don’t have to think about, or pick apart. Its a cigar that simply allows you to relax, be in the moment, while enjoying a fantastic experience. One thing I will mention is that this cigar carries a lot of the same experience as a lot of the other blends out there that utilize rare and vintage tobacco, only at a fraction of the cost. You really get a whole ton of bang for your buck here and this is a cigar I could easily see myself going back to time and time again.

Pairing:

This week’s pairing features Austin’s own (512) Brewing’s Whiskey Barrel Aged Double Pecan Porter. (512) took their most beloved beer, their pecan porter, pushed it to the next level, and tossed it into whiskey barrels. The outcome is a 9.5% Imperial Porter that leads with some great, sharp whiskey flavors, rich pecan, toffee, and roasted malt with a very light mouthfeel before finishing with a whole mess more whiskey and pecan over some light vanilla. This isn’t a complex beer, but the pairing was absolutely brilliant as the beer really complimented the pecan flavors in the Mil Dias while adding a bit of toffee to the mix.