Cigar Review – Las Calaveras Décimo Aniversario
Brand: Crowned Heads
Vitola: Toro 6 x 52
Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Smoking Time: 49 minutes
Body: Medium
Flavor: Medium to Full
Price: $18.95
What Makes it Special:
Crowned Heads have now shipped all of the Las Calaveras Décimo Aniversario, a special 10th-anniversary release of their popular annual limited edition. The 6 x 52 toro features an Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and fillers sourced from the García family. Priced at $18.95 each and limited to 2,500 boxes of 10, this year’s sake honors four individuals who have passed away, with their initials on the cigar bands. The Décimo Aniversario, celebrating the series, was delayed but is now available after the Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2024 shipped in July. So, let’s get into this cigar and see if it is worth picking up should you see some in your local area or on your travels!
Visual/Prelight Draw:
The Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper of the Las Calaveras Décimo Aniversario is slightly darker than milk chocolate, with a bit of mottling and tooth, rough to the touch, oily, and an expertly applied triple cap. Despite a few visible veins, the cigar exudes sophistication and luxury. The wrapper emits a singular barnyard aroma, which, while simple to the uninitiated, excites aficionados. The foot adds sweet tobacco, figs, and a funky, earthy note. The cold draw reveals baking spices, barnyard, nuts, and earthy funk from the foot, with a subtle underlying sweetness, making for an intriguing and complex profile.
First Third:
In the first third of the Las Calaveras Décimo Aniversario, rich notes of chocolate, caramel, wood, leather, earth, and red pepper flake emerge as the initial light fades. A subtle floral note adds nuance, with a sharp burn line and compact ash resembling a stack of nickels. The cigar surprises with its complexity early on, offering flavors of wood, chocolate, baking spices, pepper, nuttiness, and floral tones. The smoke is nearly perfect, balanced by a fruity or citrus note that lingers on the palate. This medium-plus-bodied cigar is flavorful, with coffee and dried grass complementing the wood and chocolate notes as the pepper mellows.
Second Third:
As the cigar progresses, that funky, earthy profile combines with the prominent nuttiness, and a sweet, creamy texture emerges, providing a balanced smoke. Saltiness, espresso aromas, and caramel sweetness come to the forefront, enhancing the profile and making each puff unique. I did one corrective burn on each cigar in this third (two were smoked for the review), so I’ll do that here. Both of mine were purchased at the exact location and smoked after 2 weeks in my humidor, so your mileage may vary, and I don’t have many issues from Crowned Heads in this release.
Final Third:
The final third of the Las Calaveras Décimo Aniversario is like a director’s cut of the Second Third, with the main notes of Funky, earthy grit, and salted almonds still taking the lead. Additionally, I get flavors of coffee beans, cocoa powder, toasted bread, leather, cinnamon, and a hint of lemongrass popping up here and there. On the retrohale, you have the same raisin sweetness and black pepper as before. The flavor hits full, the body reaches medium, and strength ends up medium-plus.
Score:
With almost no discernable construction issues, ash behaved well enough not to be worth mentioning in the review, and it was a complex maze of flavors. I give the Las Calaveras Decimo a 94. If you’re into the flavors and strength I’ve described here or anything similar, you should try it. The pricing is on par with this type of special release, but if you spy it on any kind of deal below, grab it! Grab it right away! For your best pairing, I’d pair this with a big expresso or Columbian coffee in the morning or with a very caramel or brown sugar-forward whiskey.
Final score: 94! 
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