Vitola: Hermoso No. 4- 5” x 48 ring gauge
- ~$9.50
- Cigars gifted by a friend
Background
Headley Grange was one of those blends that took a while for me to warm up to…and even then I can’t say it was one of the most memorable blends Crowned Heads produced. The blend was originally released to much fanfare in 2012, the second release from the new Nashville cigar company. It was meant to “taste like the opening drums from Led Zeppelin’s ‘When the Levee Breaks” sounds.” Great story, but it never really hit that hard for me. The release of the Eminentes size (a Petite Corona) was much better the following year, but while I smoked those semi-regularly for a while, I soon moved on to other blends from Crowned Heads and many other companies. The overall lasting impression of the blend to me was, “Good, but nothing special.” Looking back on my review of the Petite Corona, I wonder why I quit smoking it…because at one time I was totally sold on that size.
Fast forward to earlier this year when my friend was cleaning out his coolidor and gifted me a bunch of cigars he had purchased and just had no intent of smoking. Among them was a box of Headley Grange Hermoso No. 4. The bottom of the box had a large stamp that reads “0513.” I don’t know if they were box-dating these or not, but if so, this box was eight years old. I know from the fact that the cigars do not have cellophane that they are at least 3 or 4 years old because that’s when Crowned Heads started adding cellophane to all their releases that didn’t have it to begin with. Any way you cut it, this would be considered an “aged selection.”
These cigars were made for Crowned Heads by Tabacalera Alianza, EP Carrillo’s factory in the Dominican Republic. They use Nicaraguan filler and binder, along with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper.
Notes
It’s remarkable how well these cigars have held up, naked…no cellophane…inside the box. They have bounced around from place to place to place and honestly I haven’t seen much, if any, damage to the individual sticks in the box. The wrappers are still a slightly oily, peanut butter brown color, with an aroma that mixes cedar, fresh hay, and natural tobacco. The foot of the cigar had a mild whiff of earth, along with some cedar and hay. With non-cellophaned sticks, it’s always surprising when there is any aroma left after several years…just like when there is cellphane and the cigars have been cooped up in a box for 6 years, the aromas are that much more intense when you open one.
I clipped the head and got a good draw, although the wrapper is more than a little delicate. Sumatra leaf is delicate without a lot of age on a regular basis, so aging it an extra half decade or more definitely makes it something to be extra careful with. The cold draw tasted of cedar and natural tobacco, along with just a hint of copper and bell pepper in the mix. I fired up the Headley Grange and got a stronger earthiness and a fiery red pepper, especially on the nose. There were notes of hay and cedar, in there, as well, but very little of the metallic twang that so often defines Ecuadorian Sumatra for me.
The biggest surprise for me with this aged Headley was finding a good amount of sweetness in the blend. It amounted to basically sweet hay or a slight molasses note, but it was definitely there and I never found it to be all that prevalent in previous sampling of this blend. I did pair it with 1792 Bourbon which brought its own amount of sweetness to the party, as well.
Before I got this box of cigars, I don’t think I had smoked a regular Headley Grange in 4 or 5 years…and then I received it from the rep, so I hadn’t bought it myself. I had essentially forgotten about the blend. With some age, this blend has really become something special. Sweet, spicy, woody, and a little earthy. I feel like it has really become what it was meant to be from the beginning.
