Vitola: Box-Pressed Toro- 6” x 52 ring gauge
- MSRP $10.95
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
In 2016, Crowned Heads released the first Maduro version of the Headley Grange—an exclusive for JR Cigars called “Black Dog.” In 2018 they brought the same blend to the masses…well, at least those masses that have a Crowned Heads retailer near them and who brought in the latest in their seemingly unending parade of Limited Editions. Black Lab is a box-pressed version of Black Dog…same blend in a new size. It is officially called a LE 2018 and follows other 2018 Crowned Heads LEs such as Mule Kick 2018, Four Kicks Maduro Lancero LE 2018, The Angel’s Anvil 2018, Las Calaveras 2018, and Le Careme Belicoso Fino LE 2018…and there may be others but I couldn’t remember them at this time. They are releasing so many LEs at this point that I can’t help but wonder if they think they are Davidoff.
The story goes that Headley Grange got its name from the massive drums that start the Led Zeppelin song “When the Levee Breaks.” That album was recorded at a manor called Headley Grange and Jon Huber’s intention was to get “a cigar that tastes like those drums sounded.” While it was well-received at the time, I never was a huge Headley Grange fan and I don’t feel like it’s aged all that well…from what I’ve seen Four Kicks (the first release) and Jericho Hill (the fifth regular release) both outsell HG. So an LE makes some sense as a way to draw attention back to the original blend and get an increase in interest.
Headley Grange Black Lab uses Nicaraguan filler and binder, along with a Connecticut Habano Maduro wrapper (the same type of wrapper used on the Four Kicks Maduro). It is made in the Dominican Republic at EP Carrillo’s La Alianza factory. They made 1,500 boxes of 12 cigars each for this release.
I bought mine at Burns Tobacconist and this review sample is the 3rd I’ve smoked. I got some background info from Cigar-Coop’s news article on the release. Small Batch Cigar and Cigar and Pipes—both of whom are Leaf Enthusiast sponsors—have Black Lab in stock at the time of this writing.
Prelight
They begin with the standard Headley Grange band, which was always classy-looking and understated. A secondary band—declaring “Black Lab”—was added, although the gold foil color doesn’t match the main band. Honestly, it’s not really even that close, making me wonder if the same printing facility did both. It’s not bad at a glance, but the more I look at it, the more out of place it looks. It might be a silly thing to get hung up on, but attention to small details do count.
The wrapper leaf was a dark roast coffee shade of brown. It had a slightly rough sandpapery feel with a decent amount of oiliness, as well. The aroma from it was earthy and leathery, with a touch of anise. I got more of that anise not on the closed foot, but not much else since the filler bunch was hiding under the fold-over of the wrapper leaf.
After clipping the head of the cigar I took a test draw and found it to be very easy, while featuring flavors of wet earth, leather, and dark chocolate.
Flavor
The Headley Grange Black Lab fired up easily and evenly, opening with flavors of charred wood, heavy earth, anise, and unsweetened cocoa. Black pepper heat developed on the palate long after each puff, as more of a finishing note. The retrohale was earthy and woody with more pepper heat. The body was in the lower end of the full range, making it slightly less full than the Four Kicks Maduro, using the same wrapper type.
As I got into the second third, I got continued earthiness leading the way, while the cocoa notes became a sweeter dark chocolate flavor. There was still wood and pepper, but the anise had faded quite a bit.
The last third had a good mix of earth and dark chocolate, punctuated by espresso bean and pepper.
Construction
I had a great draw, very even burn line with little touching up, and a solid ash.
Value
The price point is fair for a limited edition stick.
Conclusions
While I’m still not a fan of the original Headley Grange blend, this Maduro version is something else entirely and quite good in the end. It had a good progression of earthy and chocolatey flavors over the course of the hour and a half or so that it took to smoke, along with a decent amount of pepper. I will pick up a few more of these to enjoy from time to time.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
