Crowned Heads showed off a new brand at IPCPR this year, new Court Reserve XVIII. The Court Reserve XVIII uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, binder from Ecuador and Nicaraguan filler.
This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.
The Court Reserve XVIII comes in three vitolas, Robusto: 5 x 50, Corona Gorda: 5.625 x 46, Sublime: 6 x 54. All come in 20-count Boxes and a total of 150,000 cigars were rolled. They are rolled at Tabacalera la Alianza S.A. in the Dominican Republic.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Robusto Length: 5″ Ring Gauge: 50 Country of Origin: Dominican Republic Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés Binder: Ecuadorian Filler: Nicaraguan Factory: Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. Blender: Jon Huber and Ernesto Perez Carillo Number of reviewers: 4 – Mickey T.(irratebass) David F. (dfafjf) John A.(Bostoneo) Ryan H. (Ryan H.) Price: $11.00 Age: 3 Months Release Date: October 2018 Contributed by: Crowned Heads
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 86
“A walnut brown, robusto sized cigar with ample tooth. Minor veins run the length where the cigar is capped with a very generous amount of glue.” –John A. (Bostoneo)
Aroma: 90
“Smells great. Perfect mix of sweetness / cream and barnyard. A combo only cigar lovers would say smells great.” –David F. (dfafjf)
Blind Cigar Review: Crowned Heads | Court Reserve XVIII Robusto
First Third
Flavor: 90 Strength: Medium Body/Complexity: Medium
“Off the bat, flavors of char, malt, and cinnamon hit the palette and remain throughout this third. Sweet red pepper and black pepper begin to build their presence after a half inch in of this quickly burning stick.” –John A. (Bostoneo)
“Draw is surprisingly nice. Jalapeno spice on the front. a wood earth and hay profile on the back. Cigar is medium in strength. You also have a dried fruit on the very back but it isn't very pronounced.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
Second Third
Flavor: 90 Strength: Medium Body/Complexity: Medium
Blind Cigar Review: Crowned Heads | Court Reserve XVIII Robusto
“A bit of spice is introduced in the 2/3. Flavor profile hasn't changed too much. The cigar had been picking up a bit in creaminess, but as I got closer to the final 1/3 the cigar started tasting more ashy and needed to be purged. ” –David F. (dfafjf)
“Leather, cinnamon, milk chocolate build the dominate profile of this third. Black pepper notes intensify towards the end of this third and that's all folks. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)
Final Third
Flavor: 89 Strength: Medium Body/Complexity: Medium
“Spicy and savory oak notes are clearly present at the start of the last third. This third ends with toasted marshmallow and toast notes. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)
Blind Cigar Review: Crowned Heads | Court Reserve XVIII Robusto
“Very little change from the 2/3. After purging the cigar, a bit of the ashy flavor disappeared and returned to the cream/ hay mix. ” –David F. (dfafjf)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 91
“Draw was nice and open, no issues with the draw, plenty of smoke output. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
“Construction was good, the cigar never went out on me, just a couple of touch ups were needed. When the ash held on it had a gray and black “tiger stripe” going on with it.” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
Overall Strength: Medium Overall Body/Complexity: Medium Experience Overall: 89
“This was a good cigar. I really liked the first & second of the cigar that gave me plenty of baking spices with cream and marshmallow flavors, then in the final third it got very earthy with tar, wood, dirt and spice and pepper. I've never had a cigar that tastes like tar without tar seeping out.” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
“This was a good cigar but not one that I would reach for again. The flavor was a bit one dimensional but at its best when spice was increasing and cream mixed in well.” –David F. (dfafjf)
“This was a pretty tasty cigar to me the whole way through. It's core flavor profile kept me happy however it lacked much change or translation which made it a bit one note during the smoking session. Coupled with the quick burning time from a lack of being rolled tightly enough, it doesn't get to high of a mark from me, however it was very good at what it did provide. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)
“While this cigar had great moments at time in the end this cigar just wasn't for me.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.
Blind Cigar Review: Crowned Heads | Court Reserve XVIII Robusto
Overall Score – 89 – Good
Blind Cigar Review: Crowned Heads | Court Reserve XVIII Robusto
Summary
"This was a pretty tasty cigar to me the whole way through. It's core flavor profile kept me happy however it lacked much change or translation which made it a bit one note during the smoking session. Coupled with the quick burning time from a lack of being rolled tightly enough, it doesn't get to high of a mark from me, however it was very good at what it did provide. " -John A. (Bostoneo)
