Cigar Info
In late 2015, Crowned Heads shipped an extremely limited number of pre-release cigars to a limited number of retailers across the country. The cigar is known as Las Mareas, translating to “Tides”. They came wrapped in laser printed bands.
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.
This would be Crowned Heads‘ next regular production brand fully released January 2016. Las Mareas is rolled at the My Father Cigars factory in Estelí, Nicaragua, using a Nicaraguan puro blend. A clean, golden brown wrapper of Nicaraguan Corojo ’99 seed is draped over Nicaraguan binder and fillers.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Corona Gorda
Length: 6.125″
Ring Gauge: 46
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo 99
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
Blender: Jon Huber
Number of reviewers: 4 – Kevin S. (KBS1153) Mickey T. (irratebass) Craig (WyldKnyght) Kyle (kaleehb)
Price: $9.00
Age: 4 Months
Release Date: January 2016
Contributed by: Blind Man’s Puff
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 89
“Rustic with strong barnyard smell…..love that smell. Very toothy and some veins…kinda soft to to the touch, hope that doesn’t cause any issues.” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
Aroma: 89
“The wrapper had a leather and sweet aroma, the foot smelled of medium strength tobacco and the dry puff tasted nutty.” –Craig (WyldKnyght)”
First Third
Flavor: 90
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“On the retrohale you get BAM…from the beginning. My palate woke up immediately with tastes and aromas of pepper, cedar, dark roasted coffee and a savoriness in the back of my palate that helped to blend all of this together.” –Kevin S. (KBS1153)
“Cigar opens with lots of pepper and earth. Nice tastes of fresh earth, leather, and black pepper throughout the first third. Burn is good and aroma is a strong sweet tobacco. Ash is a solid white that gives way to lots of dense white smoke.” –Kyle (kaleehb)
Second Third
Flavor: 90
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“This cigar taste is very much cedar at this point. The savory taste has subsided some as well as the pepper although they are still present. They all transcend very well. The ashes are solid and practically white in appearance. The burn line is even and the draw is very good. I let the cigar sit for about 4 minutes and it did not require a touch-up at all.” –Kevin S. (KBS1153)
“Cigar has picked up in strength with an intensified tastes of earth/barnyard notes. The pepper has dissipated and been replaced by a soft wood note. Burn is a bit wavy with a sweet aroma hanging in the air.” –Kyle (kaleehb)
Final Third
Flavor: 90
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“Now the savory taste of the entire aroma and taste of the this cigar has come back. The pepper has blended with the cedar to deliver a nice aroma. Once again I am getting nodes of dark roasted coffee. The burn line is still even and the draw is fine.” –Kevin S. (KBS1153)
“Cigar remained full in body and strength. Cigar taste continued to show earth, however, the leather returned and the wood tastes reminded me of a wet forest floor. Aroma was still pleasant and the ash a solid white. On the finish a dark pepper returned to my palate to close out the smoking experience.” –Kyle (kaleehb)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 95
“The draw was even throughout and continued from the raw draw to the final stages of this cigar.” –Kevin S. (KBS1153)
Burn: 90
“Burn was wavy throughout the smoking experience but required no touch-ups. Ash was a solid white that showed the top notch roll of the cigar.” –Kyle (kaleehb)
Construction: 89
“This cigar was firm throughout the smoke. There were no issues at all with the construction from the foot to the shoulder.” –Kevin S. (KBS1153)
Overall Strength: Medium-Strong
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
Overall Experience: 90
“This cigar was a very good experience. It is certainly one to have in your humidor given the price point is at the right price. I would put this in the $6-$10 range. The flavors and aromas were good as well as the construction.” –Kevin S. (KBS1153)
“Really good smoke, just had some issues, and I blame the environment on it.” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
“Overall this cigar was very good, but I felt it could have been much better. The start seemed to have a lot of promise that never materialized.” –Craig (WyldKnyght)
“Cigar performed well and was enjoyable to smoke. Not super complex in the tasting department, however, if you’re looking for an earthy, rich, naturally sweet smoking experience this cigar is for you.” –Kyle (kaleehb)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 83
|
Reviewer
|
Appearance
|
Aroma
|
1/3
|
2/3
|
3/3
|
Draw
|
Burn
|
Constr.
|
Overall
Experience |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin S. | KBS1153) | 88 | 88 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 95 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Mickey T. | irratebass) | 97 | 100 | 95 | 97 | 97 | 97 | 90 | 100 | 95 |
| Craig | WyldKnyght) | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 90 |
| Kyle | kaleehb) | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 93 | 92 | 90 | 90 |
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.