Cigar Extra: Jericho Hill 12 Honest Men by Crowned Heads

• Vitola: Lancero
• 7.5” x 38 ring gauge 
• $10.49
• Purchased at Burns Tobacconist

Background

Mexican San Andres, my old nemesis…we meet again…

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Mexican San Andres…mostly hate/hate, if I’m being honest…and with this cigar, I really should. It really came down to one of the first times the My Father blenders used the leaf, the La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor. To this day, that cigar tastes bitter and chalky to me. I noted the bitter earth flavors in more and more Mexican-wrapped cigars that were hitting the market soon after that one did and…well, there you go…I was over San Andres before the Mexican Revolution really started.

Because it now is in full swing…and mostly it’s not much like what I tasted on the Mi Amor. Sterling examples of San Andres have hit the market, including DE’s Herrera Estelí Norteño, Epicurean’s Santeria…and what we have here today…Jericho Hill.

Jericho Hill was last year’s “regular release” from Crowned Heads. It was made by My Father Cigars and originally available in 4 vitolas. A short corona (Shots) was added around the turn of 2015 and another size was added at the show (John Brown). And in keeping with tradition of releasing an LE based on one of the previous years’ regular releases, this fall’s limited edition is a Lancero called “12 Honest Men.”

In case you didn’t know, the name of the blend (Jericho Hill) and all the vitola names reference the Johnny Cash song “Cocaine Blues” in some way. For this year’s LE, they limited production to 3,500 boxes of 12 sticks each…a perfect jury, in other words.

Since I’ve reviewed the Jericho Hill previously (or someone on this site has, anyway), I decided to go with a Cigar Extra format. Now let’s see if this cigar will be Honest…or if it behaves more like 12 Angry Men.

Notes

The look of the cigar is top-notch. I have to say that Crowned Heads picked the right factory to do a Lancero; My Father makes some of my favorites in that vitola including the DPG Blue, Tat Especiales, and La Riqueza.

The cold draw was good and had semi-sweet chocolate notes over earth and medium-roast coffee. Once lit, the JH Lancero had the same chocolate flavor, with secondary notes of toasted nuts and red pepper. The retrohale had more red pepper notes.

As I progressed through the 12 Honest Men, I got progressively sweeter notes in the first two third, along with earth and pepper.

During the last third, the sweetness tapered off and left more espresso bean and earth notes, with a bitterness that could have used some sweetness for balance.

All in all, this was a very good cigar. I’ve always enjoyed the Jericho Hill blend and this could be my favorite size…either this or the Shots, which is a perfect size for enjoying during cold weather.

Jericho Hill 12 Honest Men Lancero is available from our site sponsors, Burns Tobacconist and Small Batch Cigar. Other sizes of Jericho Hill are available from Stogies.