Blind Cigar Review: Black Crown | Sons of Anarchy Torpedo

Vital Stats

Vitola: Torpedo
Length: 6.5″
Ring Gauge: 54
Country of Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Arapiraca Habano
Binder: Criollo ’98
Filler: Nicaraguan and Dominican
Factory: HATSA (General Cigar)
Blender: General Cigar
Number of reviewers: 8 —– Craig (WyldKnyght) Sandeep (Djangos) Gregg (McGreggor57) Brian (B-daddy) Ron (shuckins) Milton (mjohnsoniii) Cindy (Ms_CindyLynn) Emmett (rhetorik)
Price: $9.00
Age: 3 Months
Release Date: September 2013
Contributed by: Meier & Dutch

Cigar Info

This special edition cigar is inspired by the FX award-winning television series, Sons of Anarchy. This is a growing trend we are seeing in the cigar industry, and surprisingly, some of these special edition spin offs are quite good. This is one of them.

Description from cigar.com: –“Collaboration between the Black Crown team and the folks from the hit FX show, Sons of Anarchy, spawned this zesty concoction, considered the gritty brother of the Black Crown blend. This powerful cigar brings forth bold, complex flavors with a well-balanced, toasty finish. Produced in Honduras and densely packed with a rich blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican long leaves, a Criollo ’98 binder amps up the complexity while a smooth Ecuadorian-grown Arapiraca Habano wrapper adds a finishing touch of spice and pepper. Although bold, this limited blend still presents a smooth experience any enthusiast or aficionado will appreciate.”

Initial Impressions

Appearance: 91

“Perfect dark brown colored torpedo! The head is very pointed and the wrapper is almost flawless. The surface seems smooth with some veins visible. No spots appreciated on the wrapper.” –Sandeep (Djangos)

Aroma: 89

“Mild barnyard with wet straw. The cold draw revealed mostly tobacco and damp wood.” –Gregg (McGreggor57)

First Third

Flavor: 91
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium

“A mouthful of dark roast coffee, oak and a slight char. Some spice on the retrohale that died after the first few puffs. The flavors are settling in nicely. Coffee, toast and a hint of dark chocolate. Just the right amount of bitterness lingers on the palate. Toward the end of this third I’m picking up a bit of heat on the back of my throat. White pepper maybe.” —Gregg (McGreggor57)

“I’m a little dumb-struck at first light. This thing is big, spicy, leathery, rich, strong… I’m running out of adjectives. What a great start to a cigar. It’s pumping out huge volumes of smoke that is rich but still pretty airy. The nicotine has already hit me and I’m only about 3/4 inches in. I’m buckling up for this ride. The finish is white pepper and leather and about medium-long. The retrohale is a spicy cedar but surprisingly smooth for a cigar so big on the palate.” –Brian (B-daddy)

Second Third

Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium

“Coffee with a peppery allspice is up front at the start of the second third, joined closely by light leather and a dry cedar tasting tobacco as it progresses. The cigar has a bit of a bite to it at this point.” –Ron (shuckins)

“Going into the second third, the pepper dies down and cream comes more to the forefront. Wood and nut mix as the leather flavors appear in the background. There is a nice creamy, smooth smoke. The flavors mellowed out a lot and were very balanced.” –Cindy (Ms_CindyLynn)

Final Third

Flavor: 93
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium

“The smoke is now billowing and thick as ever. Unsweetened chocolate seems to be the most prominent flavor along with a decent amount of cream that sticks to the palate, especially on the retrohale. The baking spices tasted in the second third have died down a bit but are still present nonetheless.” –Milton (mjohnsoniii)

“The ash finally falls off at the beginning of this third. As soon as the ash fell, things started to get interesting again. I suddenly pick up a mesquite flavor that wasn’t there before, and some definite more classic wood flavors, seems kind of piney. The herbs and spices with the smokey wood flavor continue until the end, a very nice finish to a good cigar.” –Emmett (rhetorik)

Overall Impressions

Draw: 98

“The draw was a shining example of what a cigar should be. Perfect.” –Emmett (rhetorik)

Burn: 93

“Produced great, dense smoke.” –Cindy (Ms_CindyLynn)

Construction: 93

“Construction was great, firm with a little give, absolutely no complaints.” –Craig (WyldKnyght)

Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium
Overall Experience: 90

“This was a stick that started out with great promise, and didn’t fail, I really enjoyed this cigar right from the beginning.” –Craig (WyldKnyght)

“The cigar was great from the start to the finish with a great set of flavors and complexity. Definitely worth a box!” –Sandeep (Djangos)

“I loved the full flavors this cigar had to offer. Hearty for the most part with some subtle changes that kept it interesting. The occasional pepper blast on the retrohale kept me on my toes.” –Gregg (McGreggor57)

“I’d certainly split a box with you and might pick-up my own if they continued to smoke like my one-cigar test. I enjoyed this very much. The profile was very nice and had enough changes/complexity to keep my interest throughout. I liked this cigar.” –Brian (B-daddy)

“Started and finished with a bit of a bite, but was very pleasing to the palete in between.” –Ron (shuckins)

“Hopefully it was only this individual cigar, but the first third was bad. It wasn’t until the second third (after cutting more off) that it opened up and was the point that it began showing signs of being a really good cigar. The flavors and creamy smoke that developed later on made it very enjoyable. I could definitely see myself smoking more of these.” –Milton (mjohnsoniii)

“The cigar was good! It mellowed out as time went on for sure, but it was good. I had to start adjusting the burn line after the halfway point.. Other than that no complaints. It was great!” –Cindy (Ms_CindyLynn)

“Overall, I really enjoyed this cigar, I could see myself smoking more, and I would like to see how this cigar does with a little more time, if it would get more complex and refined. There were some really good flavors, but it almost got boring at times, and never really developed into a sweet spot. Very good smoke though, would recommend a fiver.” –Emmett (rhetorik)

Smoking Time (in minutes): 76

Total Score: 92 (Excellent)

Edit

Reviewer	Appea-rance	Aroma	1/3	2/3	3/3	Draw	Burn	Constr.	Overall
Craig	90	90	90	95	95	95	90	95	90
Sandeep	90	90	90	90	95	98	90	90	95
Gregg	95	95	95	90	95	100	95	97	95
Brian	90	88	97	95	90	98	85	90	90
Ron	90	95	88	88	88	88	95	95	88
Milton	88	88	85	88	88	85	90	88	90
Cindy	95	95	97	95	95	100	100	97	95
Emmett	92	88	90	88	90	100	95	95	90
Overall	91	89	91	89	93	98	93	93	90

To view the complete scores and notes, click here.