Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Crowned Heads Broadway Epicure is a marbled dark brown and carries some lightly raised veins. The seams are smooth and the top cap on the head has a lifting edge around half of it. There are three bands, with the primary and secondary carrying a gold, red, white and blue color combination. The primary has the new style company design while the secondary denotes the line. The foot has a dark blue ribbon. The aroma from the wrapper is cedar and dark earth while the foot brings paper bag, cedar and earth. The pre-light draw brings an airy mix of cedar and dry earth, along with a mild spiciness on my lips.
Seth: The Crowned Heads Broadway Epicure is a good-looking cigar. The bands look great against the dark wrapper, and while this is the first iteration of the new Crowned Heads logo, it still has that Crowned Heads quality. It’s a clean look. The wrapper has a nice maduro coloring, and it has this raisin to coffee bean coloring. Some marbling throughout. Medium sized veins are present throughout with a nice coarse texture. Very rich aroma on the foot of earth, tobacco, spices and chocolate cake with some rich earth, leather and tobacco notes on the wrapper.
John: The Crowned Heads Broadway Epicure comes in cellophane with the cigar information and an integrated tear space so it remains intact when opened. There is a primary Crowned Heads band, a secondary Broadway band and a dark blue ribbon foot band. The cigar weighed 20.2 grams, and I measured the humidity at 62.4% with the Humidimeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included faint, sweet tobacco and wood with an additional faint note underneath. From the foot, I picked up a vegetal note, almost minty, along with earth and aged oak.
Jiunn: The Crowned Heads Broadway Epicure has a hearty maduro wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas consist of neutral candle wax and barnyard.

Crowned Heads Broadway Epicure

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with a slightly dry mix of dark earth and toasted cedar with a very mild black pepper. The retrohale is toasted cedar and rich earth. At an inch in, the black pepper increases a bit. As the third comes to a close, the dark earth is slightly ahead of the toasted cedar and both are a bit dry, with some black pepper in the back half of the profile. The strength was slightly below medium.
Seth: The cigar begins with strong pepper and espresso notes. Tobacco, cedar and dry earth are present as well with a finish of baking spices, leather and soft mocha. In terms of strength and body, I would classify the cigar as medium-full.
John: The first third gets going with sweet tobacco leading off, mixing with nutmeg as mildly dry wood takes the cigar into the finish. There is also a delayed light-plus earth component. A vegetal note moves into the center of the profile after a few puffs. The profile is balanced and restrained in the early portions. Sweet tobacco joins the finish as the cigar progresses, and some mild chocolate moves into the retrohale through the bottom half.
Jiunn: The first third has a flavor combination of sweet cream, buttered bread, sweet jammy prunes and dry cocoa. Retrohaling introduces spice in the form of spicier cedar wood as well as gives greater jammy prunes. The finish is dry with layered soft cedar wood. Strength is medium and body is medium-full.

Crowned Heads Broadway Epicure

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the profile becomes a bit drier and the earth increases its lead over the toasted cedar. At a quarter inch in, a light mix of cream and chalk joins the profile. The retrohale is now toasted cedar and rich earth with some mild black pepper. At an inch in, the toast level increases and the cedar edges a bit closer to the dark earth up front. As the third comes to a close, the dark earth is just ahead of the toasted cedar, with black pepper, cream and chalk in the back half of the profile. The strength bumped up to medium.
Seth: The second third is fairly in line with the first. Lots of tobacco, espresso, cedar and dry earth notes. Bits of baking spices, leather, mocha and pepper as well. Like before, it is medium-full in strength and body.
John: The second third begins with creamy sweet tobacco and dry wood, which lingers into the finish. Through the retrohale, nutmeg, earth and a vegetal note combine. The post draw takes on a general dryness as the cigar settles in. Approaching the halfway point, sweet tobacco leads off with light-plus wood defining the center of the profile and light-plus earth on the post draw.
Jiunn: The second third’s flavor profile shifts to tinny mineral and barnyard driven with aged cedar wood to follow. The minerals seep in all aspects (mouth draws, retrohale and the finish). Strength and body remains medium and medium-full, respectively.

Crowned Heads Broadway Epicure

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the toast level becomes pretty heavy and the cedar is now even with the dark earth up front. At a quarter inch in, the black pepper is now in the middle of the profile. The retrohale is now heavily toasted cedar, dark earth and lightly zingy black pepper. At three quarters of an inch in, some minerality joins the profile. At an inch in, the minerality is now even with the black pepper in the middle of the profile. As the cigar wraps up, the heavily toasted cedar and dark earth are even up front, with the black pepper and minerality are in the middle of the profile and some chalk and cream in the background. The strength bumped up to slightly above medium.
Seth: The final third is a slight stepdown from the second third. The cigar has not crashed or become mineral heavy, but it is not what it was when it started. Lots of tobacco, espresso, cedar and dry earth present. Finish of pepper and baking spices as well.
John: The final third opens with creamy sweet tobacco and earth, with dry wood combining on the finish. Through the retrohale, nutmeg and earth team up. Earth moves further into the post draw as the third settles in. Mild bitterness combines with the wood on the post draw as the cigar approaches the halfway mark of the last third.
Jiunn: The final third is unchanged from the second third. Still focused on tinny minerals, barnyard and layered aged cedar. Strength and body finish the same medium and medium-full, respectively.

Crowned Heads Broadway Epicure

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy at times, but never needed any intervention, an the ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.
Seth: The burn was wavy throughout. I didn’t touch up the cigar, and there were times when it would correct, but then it would be wavy again.
John: The burn started straight, becoming mildly uneven through the bottom of the first third. It was mildly uneven again in the second third before straightening out. The burn line was straight through the final third.
Jiunn: Burn performance was nearly perfect. The only minor issue was a couple unburnt wrapper chunks within the first two thirds.

Crowned Heads Broadway Epicure

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: Draw was very good throughout. It had a nice level of resistance.
John: I measured the draw at 38 inches of water with the CigarMedics draw machine. Subjectively, I found the draw to be between ½ to one notch toward the open spectrum, which puts it in the ideal zone between open and resistant.
Jiunn: The draw was perfect, giving the ideal balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with a slightly dry mix of dark earth and toasted cedar with a very mild black pepper. The black pepper picked up a bit later. The second third saw the earth increase its lead over the cedar and a light mix of cream and chalk joined in. Later, the cedar increased a bit and the toast level picked up. The final third saw the cedar become even with the dark earth up front and the toast level became very heavy. The black pepper increased and some minerality joined in that matched the level of the pepper. The Crowned Heads Broadway Epicure had an average and mundane flavor profile focused around the dark earth and toasted cedar. It was fairly dry throughout and not an attention grabbing profile. If you are a fan of earth and cedar, you might really enjoy this, but it’s just not for me.
Seth: The Crowned Heads Broadway Epicure is an average cigar. It delivers a stronger Connecticut Broadleaf profile, but it lacks some complexities and is fairly one dimensional throughout. It got to the point where it was too much with the long finish. I would be interested in smoking the cigar in other vitolas, because I do believe that this blend can change with the ring gauge changes. It’s a cigar I would come back to again but not hunt down.
John: The Crowned Heads Broadway Epicure offered a restrained and balanced start, highlighted by sweet tobacco, nutmeg and some subtle vegetal notes. Unfortunately, the profile lost its balance in the second and final thirds, as dryness and bitterness began to weigh down the experience. The burn and draw were excellent throughout, but overall the flavor performance couldn’t sustain the promise of the first third. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 57 minutes.
Jiunn: This Crowned Heads Broadway Epicure had all the goodies on paper. Connecticut Broadleaf, NACSA and attractive sub $12 price point. While I did enjoy the dessert like first third, the vast majority of the cigar was filled with barnyard, tinny minerals and cedar. The profile lacked heft of body and dankness and was too rustic in especially minerals. Was glad to try it but I won’t be searching out for more.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.65

Cost/Point

$2.26

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.55

Cost/Point

$2.30

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$2.09

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.00

Cost/Point

$2.12

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Crowned Heads Broadway Epicure