- Vitola: LC46 (Corona Gorda)
- 6” x 46 ring gauge
- MSRP $10.50
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
Las Calaveras was introduced by Crowned Heads in 2014 as their first collaboration with Don Pepin Garcia and the My Father cigar factory, as well as their first limited edition that would be released annually with a different blend for each release. That first release featured an Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper, was highly regarded, and eventually that blend became the Imperiosa regular release, although in different sizes than were produced for the Calaveras LE.
In the intervening years, we’ve seen other wrapper types (including Connecticut Broadleaf in 2016, which was my favorite) and blends, but this year we see the return of the Ecuador Habano Oscuro, though with a interior blend of Nicaraguan filler and binder leaves that is said to be different from the 2014 version.
Las Calaveras is meant to be used as a way to celebrate the lives of those who have passed away in the last year, tying in closing with the Mexican “Day of the Dead” celebration. Three sizes were produced: the LC46 (Corona Gorda) I’m reviewing today, an LC50 Robusto, and an LC54 Toro). 1,700 boxes of each size were made.
Before this review sample, I smoked at least 2 samples of the LC46 vitola, as well as an LC50, all of which I purchased at Burns Tobacconist. Leaf Enthusiast sponsor, Small Batch Cigar, does have these available at the time of this writing.
Prelight
The basic band design of Las Calaveras hasn’t changed since the beginning, with the exception of the year being added at some point (2016?). Each year it gets a new color scheme, though, with this year featuring red for the background, some white type and black type, a tiny bit of black trim, and gold foil trim and accents. For me, this is the best looking band for this series so far. It also features the new “Crowned Heads” foot band that we saw on the 2019 Mule Kick.
The wrapper leaf was a very nice shade of milk chocolate brown, and quite a bit lighter than the wrapper I see regularly on Imperiosa, and close (in my mind, at least) to what was on the original Calaveras. It was smooth and just slightly oily to the touch with an aroma of earth and wood. The foot of the cigar had a richer earthiness with touches of cedar and bell pepper.
The cold draw was good and had flavors of cocoa powder, wood and earth.
Flavor
Las Calaveras 2019 opens up with a good amount of cedar, while cocoa powder and earth follow close behind and just a little pepper spice plays on the finish of each puff. On the nose, there was more cedar, along with the greater heat of black pepper. The smoke was medium-to-full in body and after a few puffs I started getting a slightly sweet flavor come through the mix.
The second third saw more sweetness coming through with an almost orange/citrus note that was really nice and complementary to the earth and cedar flavors that continued to dominate the blend. Pepper was a mild burn on the palate and nose at this point.
During the final third Las Calaveras 2019 had more cedar flavor leading the way with earth right behind. The pepper spice increased a bit while the sweet citrus notes died off, replaced by a slight cocoa powder.
Construction
I had a great draw, very even burn line and strong ash the entire way.
Value
Seems like Las Calaveras is edging up in price every year. This year’s price on last year’s cigar wouldn’t have cut it, in my opinion, but the blend this year justifies the price increase.
Conclusions
Except for the 2016 Broadleaf version, this 2019 release of Las Calaveras is my favorite, delivering a consistently great flavor that has enough complexity to keep my interest high throughout. Even though cedar isn’t a flavor I don’t particular care for in excess, the layering of earth, sweet citrus, pepper and cocoa powder in this blend just came together exceptionally well.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
