Cigar Review: The Angel’s Anvil 2015 by Crowned Heads

• Vitola: Toro
• 6” x 52 ring gauge
• Price $10.49
• Purchased at Burns Tobacconist

Background

There are a couple items that factor into the background for this latest limited edition release from Crowned Heads…first let’s look at the inspiration for the cigar…

The Angel’s Anvil was begun in 2014 as an annual release for Crowned Heads. It is available only to Tobacconist Association of America member shops, of which there are about 70 in the country. The fact that “The Angel’s Anvil” and “Tobacconist Association of America” both have the initials TAA is no coincidence. The 2014 release was made in a Churchill size for Crowned Heads by Ernesto Perez Carrillo’s Tabacalera La Alianza in the Dominican Republic. You can read my review here.

The second part of the background goes all the way back to late 2012 when Crowned Heads released their very first limited edition cigar, the legendary Mule Kick. That cigar was based on the Four Kicks blend (CH’s first regular release, dating to late 2011), but used a darker-than-normal wrapper leaf. They also added a little more ligero tobacco to the blend to make it kick just a little more. You can read my review of that stick here.

Did I mention that the Mule Kick is legendary? I think so. It sold out very quickly and the only way you generally hear about it these days is when someone is smoking one of their last sticks from the box they bought…I did so about 4 or 5 months ago. I bring up the Mule Kick because of the story page that was included in the 2015 version of The Angel’s Anvil. I’ll print the whole thing, but pay close attention to the last paragraph:

A ‘fallen angel’ is a rebellious angel that has been cast out of Heaven, and many Biblical commentators have used the term fallen angel in tales of deities and demons for centuries.

Legend has it that there was one fallen angel, in particular, who fell to Earth from the heavens, finding himself alone and lost. Unlike other fallen angels who were content to wander the earth in a soulless state of purgatory, this angel became bound and determined to find his way back to Heaven.

The angel soon realized that his only way back would be for him to forge a new set of wings by which he could ascend back to the heavenly skies.

He walked the countryside for days and days, until he came upon a blacksmith. The blacksmith gave the angel a hammer and an anvil, and said to him, “With these tools you will forge your new wings. With these wings, you will announce the words, ‘Ascend Word He,’ and you will find your way home.”

The Angel’s Anvil 2015 blend was inspired by the first Crowned Heads Limited Edition, i.e., Four Kicks Mule Kick LE 2012. An Ecuador (Habano) wrapper finished a binder-filler combination that is comprised of all Nicaraguan tobaccos. The result is a flavor profile that is rich yet balanced, and a step up in body from the 2014 edition of The Angel’s Anvil–TAA Exclusive.

You read that right…The Angel’s Anvil 2015 is a blend inspired by the Mule Kick. Wes Thornton, one of CH’s brand ambassadors, confirmed that the blend is very close. The size is very close, too…same ring gauge and only about 1/8” shorter. As with all its predecessors (TAA 2014, Four Kicks and Mule Kick), this cigar uses Nicaraguan fillers and binder, along with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper leaf. Oh, and “Ascend Word He”…the letters are an anagram of Crowned Heads…better than “Dancers Wed Ho, “ I guess. 🙂

2 Angels: 2014 and 2015 editions together

Prelight

The artwork is essentially the same as last year’s Angel’s Anvil, but with the colors altered. The same tactic was taken with Las Calaveras for this year’s release. In both cases I think this year’s color scheme is better. The Angel’s Anvil has a black and red primary color scheme with some white letter, a cream colored background in the center of the band, and a smattering of gold foil and embossing.

The wrapper of the cigar itself was a milk chocolate brown shade and had a nice amount of oiliness to the eye and under my fingers. Sniffing it, I got a rich, sweet earth note, while the foot had notes of earth and cedar. The cold draw was very good and featured flavors of wood, hay and earth.

Flavor

I’m a big fan of the Four Kicks blend. It was my favorite cigar for quite some time after it was released and is still in my Top 10 all-time blends and one that I direct many people to when they ask for a “medium-bodied smoke.” So I have to say that this Angel’s Anvil 2015 doesn’t taste much like a Four Kicks when lit up. I got a solid earthy note, a decent amount of cedar, some black coffee bitterness and a touch of dark fruit sweetness. The retrohale had roasted nuts and black pepper. To me it’s a long way from the hay, molasses, and earth with minor touches of cedar and pepper that I normally get from Four Kicks…but it’s still pretty great. My guess is that the higher priming wrapper and additional Ligero upset that original blend’s balance a bit, but it finds it in a new place that is higher up the scale of body and strength.

During the second third, the cedar died off a bit but there was still a great earthiness at the core, along with an interesting interplay of coffee and fruit.

The last third saw the continuation of earth, coffee and subtle fruit notes, while the body ramped up into the full range.

Construction

The draw was great, the burn line was even enough, and the ash was solid…all equals great construction.

Value

At a touch over $10 a stick—and with so many other limited edition cigars priced at $14, $15, or even $20—this limited edition is actually a very good value.

Conclusions

A week after they arrived in my local shop, The Angel’s Anvil 2015 is an excellent cigar with a full body and nice amount of complexity. And I don’t think it’s done…after all, the Mule Kick got better over the next couple months. I think this is a cigar with a tremendous potential for aging, so I would suggest buying as many as you can afford now before they disappear. With only 70 or so TAA shops in the country, tracking them down won’t be the easiest thing to do, but I do know of at least one place to get your hands on them…Click Here.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10