Initial Smoke 

Like a luxurious, late-night sexy mix of lace and leather, light-up swings bittersweet cocoa, espresso dark roast, and a round mouthfeel at you right away. Retrohales are only a touch spicy, and send you that signature mixed peppercorn punch and cedar smell we all adore. An impressive, unexpectedly reserved beginning to what will soon become one of the fullest smoking experiences found within the Klaro Cigars catalog. 

1st Half

Sweeter with every second puff, the first third is a prune and raisin pleasure cruise floating upon a raft made entirely from tanned leather. Look beyond those bold espresso overtones and chocolaty accent marks, and you too might detect some clove and all-spice, a pinch of cinnamon, and a little bit of vanilla along the finish. Mildly funky in that Jamaican pot still molasses rum sense of the word, flavors are round and relaxed, with almost no peppery heat to be found anywhere along the way.

Cedar slowly grows stronger (both on the tongue and on retrohale), the texture of the smoke grows fuller, but also a bit dry on the tongue. Bittersweet dark chocolate has given way to more of a milk cocoa mix, and with big hits of mocha and salted caramel coming at you now, the line between crisp and creamy blurs into a sublime cloud of smoke. 

Retrohales growing spicier, and the body of the blend booming on a full tank of habano oscuro oiliness, there is no denying that this is both a big cigar and a BIG cigar. So choose your beverage wisely and be sure to have a full belly before sparking this blend, my friend, because it is a bold one.

2nd Half

Oilier and fuller than before, the second half of this stick starts to favor sappy cedar and stronger espresso bean top notes further down. The dryness found in the first half has shifted entirely to retrohales by this point, leaving the tongue completely exposed to all of those leather and salted caramel mocha cigar flavor profiles that dominate the majority of the smoke.

Although it may not be all that different in flavor from the second third, the final third does develop some depth that was not present earlier on, which returns a far richer smoking sensation. This is accented by some stray flavors of roasted tree nuts and a creamy coconut taste that is absolutely outstanding when combined with all of that milk chocolate mocha magic up top. 

Parting Puffs

Oiled leather looming over all else, parting puffs pushes full-bodied flavors a 9/10 on the stogie assessment scale. On the back-end, you will likely find a refined bitterness that is almost entirely espresso bean-based, with mild clove aromatics and a scoop of rum-soaked raisins adding its own accent mark. Rum casks, or some other form of former booze-laden barrel, come to mind, and as long as you smoke slowly, balance can be achieved all the way to the very last draw.

Ash / Burn / Smoke / Draw

Although there was a soft spot near the second band, as well as a couple of overly firm sections down the barrel, my review cigar burned beautifully. No corrections, a perfect draw with a heavy load of oily smoke, and a well-built white ash all earned this smoke high scores. If there was one issue, it would be a spike in heat levels in the final third, which were a bit more than what I would consider acceptable at certain points. 

Final Thoughts

Going back for a second serving of this oscuro blend from Crowned Heads was indeed a good call. Not only was my review cigar devoid of any of the unpleasant charred bitterness found in my sample stick, but the follow-up smoke I sparked a week later also proved to be equally pleasant. 

That said, I must say that the cigar I reviewed while on camera was the smoothest of the three, so consistency and balance seem to be an issue with this blend. What was consistent in all three cigars was the amount of heat felt in the final third, which was almost uncomfortable at times, even when the cigar was smoked slowly. 

But overall, I feel that this is an outstanding change-up to the familiar oscuro that is the My Father Le Bijou 1922, as well as Don Pepin Garcia's equally impressive Opulencia premium cigar blend. All three smokes have their own impressive aesthetic attributes and unique cigar flavor profiles, but this option made for Crowned Heads is definitely the one to reach for when something extra-dark and oily is in order.