Cigar Review: La Mareas by Crowned Heads

Cigar: La Mareas by Crowned Heads
Size: Rebeldes – 5.5 x 52 (Toro)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo ’99
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $48.75 per five pack from Smoke Inn

About two months ago, I was scrolling through Twitter and saw a retweet giveaway from Crowned Heads. And like nearly all of us who love getting things for free (especially cigars), I retweeted it and moved on. It turns out that I ended up winning and was sent some Crowned Heads swag and some cigars, the upcoming La Mareas being one of them. I smoked it, enjoyed it and went on my way…until I wanted another one. Doing a bit of searching online, I found them being sold via Smoke Inn and ordered a five pack. Here is what I found…

No construction issues on the cigar I used for review purposes. The pre-light aromas for the La Mareas consists of strong cedar, with flavors from the cold draw something akin to black cherry. The draw was nicely balanced and brought an opening flavor profile of wood with strong spice. With the flavors noted and characterizing the La Mareas within the medium-to-full bodied range, it still smoked easy and smooth. 13 minutes into smoking and I began noticing the spice diminishing some, but still noticeable on the palette. By the halfway point, the once prominent spice began a passengers role to heavier wood and leather notes. The last quarter finished with strong wood notes, finalizing a 1:09 smoking time.

No problems occurred during the smoking of the La Mareas. While I may have had a re-light with my review La Mareas, I can not honestly remember.

By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10

To recap the La Mareas by Crowned Heads:

• This is one of those cigars where after I finish, I say “Crap – I only have four left”. Like the La Imperiosa, this is a fantastic cigar with a great flavor profile.
• I think because of the spicy starting notes, I wouldn’t necessarily hand one of these out to a new smoker, but it wouldn’t be too much for them either. Use your discretion when sharing these because you may not want to.
• And like the La Imperiosa, they are under $10 per stick. Fantastic.
• So now the question is: Out of the two recent Crowned Heads cigar I have reviewed this year, which do I like more? I honestly have no idea. More of each will have to be bought to research this more. To be determined…

Before I go, I wanted to take a moment to recognize Smoke Inn, where I ordered the La Mareas, the Quesada Keg and some cigars to be reviewed here in a few weeks. My first order I received a hat and a kind note thanking me for my purchase. My last two orders, my intended cigar purchase was not available and they quickly worked with me for alternatives. It is rare these days to see customer service taken to that level and I applaud them for this. It is because of that they will be getting more of my business in the future.

Thank you very much for reading and I look forward to the next time I can share my thoughts with you.