Crowned Heads CHC Serie E 5150 – Blind Cigar Review

Cigar Info

Crowned Heads brought a new line to PCA 2021 “CHC (Crowned Heads Court) Serie E.” The original CHC Reserve line was released in 2018. The CHC Series E, like many other Crowned Heads releases, got its inspiration from a song. In this case, the instrumental rock guitar solo, “Eruption,” performed by Eddie Van Halen, from the album, “Van Halen” released on February 10, 1978. The song precedes “You Really Got Me” on the album and is often played together on the radio.

The blend for CHG Serie E uses an Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper, Nicaraguan Jalapa binder, and filler tobaccos from three regions in Nicaragua (Pueblo Nuevo, Ometepe, and Jalapa). The cigar is rolled at Tabacalera Pichardo in Esteli, Nicaragua, the factory behind other Crowned Heads brands including Juarez, Mil Días, and The Lost Angel
TAA 2021 Exclusive, as well as ACE Prime. CHG Serie E will come in boxes of 20 and in 4 sizes: Hermoso
No. 2: 61/8″ x 48, 5150: 5 1/2″ x 50, Petite Edmundo: 4 3/8″ x 52, and Sublime: 61/2″ x 54. Price ranges from $10.25 to $12.25 per cigar.

Vital Stats:

Vitola: Robusto
Length: 5 1/2
Ring Gauge: 50
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Factory: Tabacalera Pichardo
Blender: Eradio Pichardo, Jon Huber
Number of reviewers: 5 – Jason H. (Jokey Smurf) Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi) Kevin J. (maninblack77) Isaac M. (The Nothing) John I. (John I.)
Price: $11.50
Age: 2 Months
Release Date: September 2021
Contributed by: Crowned Heads Cigar

Initial Impressions

Appearance: 95

“This cigar stood out from the rest in the pack due to the oily wrapper and milk chocolate color to it. Nice sheen to it that really caught my eye. Evenly colored and has a nice feel about it. ” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)

Aroma: 92

“The body of this cigar has faint hints of brown sugar, black liquorice while the foot is a mixture of white pepper, barley, and raisins. After cutting the cap and taking a few pre-light draws I find loads of dry straw and fresh mushrooms. Kind of an interesting mix. ” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)

First Third

Flavor: 90
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium

“Big pre-light notes of raisins and dried fruit. Really nice. Liking this quite a lot right off the bat. Starts with a pretty nice amount of strength. Sharp leathery notes and serious smoke penetration of the palate. Gets in deep to all the pleasure points. Burn is a bit of an issue. Needs a lot of attention to keep this going. ” –John I. (John I.)

“Toasted the foot and away we go. The first third was full of bold, bright flavors. Lots of oak and leather notes with a slight earthy note on the retro. It really starts out with a bang. It reminds me of hiking through the woods this time of year and smelling the oak trees and damp earth. Very enjoyable thus far. Great cigar for crisp fall mornings like today. ” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)

Second Third

Flavor: 88
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium

“The second portion has the earthy flavors fading while the espresso remains. The smoke is super oily and is giving me a wonderful, long finish. Through the nose the smoke has settled a bit also and I'm retrohaling with every puff.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)

“Pepper cream really picks up in the second third. The wood notes are really on the retrohale just because of the creamy pepper asserting itself over the other flavors.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)

Final Third

Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium

“I really took my time with this cigar because I didn't want it to end. But all good things must come to a close. The final third was a bountiful mix of leather, oak, earth and chocolate. The retro was smooth as silk. This cigar was truly delicious. Putting it down was perhaps the hardest part. It really makes reviewing cigars a fun hobby. ” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)

“Earth flavors come back in the final third, melding in with the pepper cream that has been a mainstay. The cigar has

also started with burn issues suggesting it really doesn't want to keep going.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)

Overall Impressions

Draw: 93

“Pre-light draw was find but about the midway point, of the first third, I lost all ability to get anything from this cigar. I fought it till the end to no avail. ” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)

Burn: 93

“This cigar started with a great burn, with the ash stacking dimes through the first half of the cigar. In the last third, though, the cigar showed that it didn't want to keep going and would burn out with little provocation. ” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)

Construction: 92

“This cigar looked and performed well enough to show that there is little to fault in the construction. ” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)

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

“This was a really flavorful and enjoyable cigar for me. I particularly enjoyed the deep flavors and loved the way the cigar finished with the caramel and espresso notes. This hit on all cylinders for me and I highly recommend it!” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)

“This cigar is the embodiment of my fears of the current cigar boom. As demand keeps ramping up we will start seeing more cigars that are not ready for market. As always I can't base a decision on any cigar by only smoking one. Once I find out what this cigar is I will smoke it again to see if it is a one off experience. Till then I have a hard time saying anything good about it.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)

“As you can tell from my notes, I really enjoyed this cigar. All of those oak, leather, earth and chocolate notes really just worked so well as a whole. Not too strong, but definitely not too mild. This is a cigar I would love to try again and again. Very anxious to see what it was so I can grab a box in the future. ” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)

“While it's been many years since I've had a steak that required smothering in a creamy peppercorn sauce, this cigar certainly invoked those same flavors. There were times, though, that pepper cream was overwhelming the other flavors. While an enjoyable cigar, I don't think it would be would I would frequent regularly. ” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)

“Construction here was really poor. Significant burn issues, tunneling, super hot and burned super fast. Hopefully this was an outlier because there seemed to be some really nice flavor here. What was discernable were a lot of things I typically enjoy in a cigar. Fairly potent, lots of dark rich notes of leather, coffee, earth and some sweet pepper. I wouldn't go looking for these but if one crossed my path I'd give it another go. ” –John I. (John I.)

Smoking Time (in minutes): 74

To view the complete scores and notes, click here.

Crowned Heads CHC Serie E 5150 – Blind Cigar Review