Vitola: LC50 (Robusto)- 5” x 50 ring gauge
- ~$11
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
Día de Muertos is the Mexican holiday many north of the border know as “Day of the Dead.” It is celebrated at the end of October and beginning of November each year to “pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and help support their spiritual journey.” (Wikipedia) It was also the basis for last year’s Disney/Pixar hit, Coco, which I’m going to highly recommend…let’s just say that if you don’t get at least a little misty-eyed at one scene near the end of the movie, you might just want to check and see if you are still human.
Every year since 2014, Crowned Heads has released a new version of Las Calaveras, a cigar tied to the Day of the Dead celebration. The holiday originated in Mexico, but 2018 is the first time the annual release has used Mexican tobacco, which I find interesting. As with previous releases, Las Calaveras EL 2018 is made in the My Father Cigar factory in Nicaragua. It uses Nicaraguan filler and binder leaves, along with Mexican San Andres wrapper. As with previous years, 4 sizes were produced: LC46 (5.625 x 46), LC 50 (5 x 50), and LC54 (6 x 54) are available in 24 count boxes, with 1700 boxes of each size made. The fourth size is 5.5 x 56 and is only available in the 4-stick sampler that contains one each of the other three sizes, as well. 3,000 sampler boxes were made.
I have smoked 2 of this year’s Las Calaveras release before this review sample. I bought all of mine at Burns Tobacconist.
Prelight
I have alluded a couple times to the trees in front of my house being practically destroyed in a recent storm. One result is that the front porch of my house, where I have been doing cigar reviews 2 or 3 times a week for about 9 year is unbearably hot in the late evening when the sun brutally punishes any living thing on it. Another result is that I’ve been doing a lot more physical labor than I ever thought I would…clean-up is not fun. Ah, the joys of home ownership.
This year’s Las Calaveras has a bright green background for the band, with gold and red highlights, and text rendered in white and gold. The red and green feel almost Christmasy, though I know inspiration was taken from the very colorful decorations made for the Day of the Dead. I believe this is the first of these releases that does not have a date on the band
The wrapper leaf was a milk chocolate brown color with very little variation. It was slightly toothy in texture but very oily, which lent a smoother overall feel to it. It had a rich earthy aroma to it, with hints of cedar and cocoa powder. The foot was redolent with earth, natural tobacco and cedar aromas.
After clipping the head I had a very good draw that was cedary, earthy, and slightly sweet.
Flavor
Lighting up brought a big blast of earth and dark roast coffee beans and unsweetened cocoa powder. There was a little pepper spice in the mix and a faint sweetness on the finish. The retrohale had more sweetness in almost a chocolate note, along with a strong red pepper sear. The first third definitely had a strong flavor of Mexican earthiness, though the bitterness that I so often used to get along with it was tempered by increasing sweetness through the third.
The second third started off smooth with strong coffee and dark chocolate notes leading the way. Red pepper was underneath as an accent while earth and cedar took more of a backing role.
Smooth but peppery is unusual, but that’s what I kept getting in the final third of the 2018 Las Calaveras. The coffee notes subsided a bit, in favor of a more chocolatey overall profile, but the red pepper was still there to provide plenty of accent. The earth notes were a solid base for the profile, but cedar notes left the party early.
Construction
As usual for products of the My Father factory, build quality was good: I had a solid ash, even burn line and great draw.
Value
The price on these has crept up over the years, but not in an “out of control” way. While I’d rather pay less, all I can really say is “Thanks, FDA!” for making cigars go up in price more rapidly than they would otherwise.
Conclusions
The 2016 release of Las Calaveras, with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, is still my favorite, but this 2018 Mexican-adorned version is very nice and a special surprise. While using some of the same basic components of the Jericho Hill, this cigar definitely stands apart from it, being smoother and sweeter. Definitely pick up a 5-er of these…and if you like them, buy more while they are available.
Both CigarandPipes and Small Batch have Las Calaveras 2018 available.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
Much appreciated review and insight. I have only smoked the 46 (and have a box) and am surprised with the wrapper being on the milder side of the San Andreas spectrum. On all of mine so far, there has been a nice pale hint of jasmine tea, even in the final third. A relaxing cigar to the end.