Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier is a glossy, marbled dark brown that has some lightly raised veins and tooth to it. The seams are slightly raised while the caps are well applied. There is just a ribbon foot band which is a dark bronze/brown color, very close to the color of the wrapper. The aroma from the wrapper is earth and minerals while the foot brings lightly smoky oak and earth. The pre-light draw brings musty, smoky oak and some minerality along with a mid-level spiciness on my lips and tip of my tongue.
Seth: Finished with a wrapper that is a beautiful maduro coloring, it is toothy with plenty of oils. Veins are medium in size and present throughout. The Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier is firm in hand and rolled well. The wrapper gives off aromas of rich earth and damp wood, and the foot is showing notes of strong spices, rich earth, tobacco and barnyard qualities.
John: The Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier comes in cellophane, and has a UPC sticker that tears in half when the cellophane is opened. There is no main band, but there is a brown ribbon as a foot band. Aromas from the wrapper included cedar and an aged barn wood. From the foot, there was molasses and sweet hay.
Jiunn: The Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier has a rich, toothy, maduro wrapper shade. Veins are decently pressed, seams tight and bunch and roll even. Aromas from the wrapper tell of wet barnyard and cedar. Aromas from the foot give assertive white pepper and rich roasted nuts. Cold draw give rich cocoa.

Team Cigar Review: Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted oak, earth, black pepper and light smokiness. At a half inch in, some minerality joins the profile. The retrohale is toasted oak, earth, minerals with a light black pepper zing. At an inch in, the earthiness become dry and dusty. At an inch and a half, a light creaminess joins in. As the third comes to a close, the profile is toasted wood up front with dry earth right behind and some creaminess, black pepper and smokiness in the background. The strength was slightly above medium.
Seth: The first third begins with dark earth notes that have mineral qualities and richness as well. There are some charred wood notes, and I am getting some black pepper and creamy mocha flavors on the finish. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: A lot of flavors starting off with espresso, wood, nutmeg and mild earth on the finish. Post draw medium-minus intensity pepper starts after just a few puffs. At the same time, some creaminess joins the retrohale. Sweetness comes through the center of the profile, as light-plus leather joins the post draw. By the 10 minute mark, mild minerality joins the middle of the profile. Over the 20 minute mark, light-plus chocolate has joined. Approaching the halfway point, cedar and leather combine on the post draw.
Jiunn: The first third carries a char to the overall earthy profile. Charred cedar, white pepper and semi-gritty dirt basically sums it up. Retrohaling breaks away from the char, but it’s heavy with nostril scorching white pepper. The finish carries forward lasting mouth draw notes. Strength and body is medium.

Team Cigar Review: Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the dry earth is now even with the toasted oak up front. At a half inch in, the profile is a bit dry. The retrohale is toasted oak and dry earth with light amounts of smokiness and black pepper. At an inch and a half in, the black pepper is very mild. As the third comes to a close, some mushroom mustiness joins the profile of toasted wood, dry earth and light creaminess, black pepper and smokiness. The strength remained at slightly above medium.
Seth: The second third is fairly in line with the first third. I am picking up rich earth and mineral qualities, and the finish has charred wood, black pepper and mocha notes. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: Baking spices, bread and wood take the cigar into the second third, with wood lingering into the post draw. Nutmeg moves into the middle of the profile as the second third progresses. Earth and some mild bitterness settles into the center of the profile approaching the halfway point.
Jiunn: The second third starts to show small hints of cocoa, but it isn’t enough to sway me to think the flavor profile has improved. The core flavors are still there; charred cedar, white pepper and semi-gritty dirt. Strength upticks to medium-full, while body stays medium.

Team Cigar Review: Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the profile is toasted oak and dry earth up front. The creaminess and smokiness has departed while the mushroom mustiness and mild black pepper remain in the background. At a half inch in, the toast level picks up and a slight bitterness joins the profile. The retrohale is now just toasted oak and dry earth, but has a light pine mintiness to it. At an inch in, the pine mintiness makes it to the mouth draws. At an inch and a half in, the cigar has warmed up and the pine mintiness has picked up to increase the bitterness and it dominates the profile. The strength in this third remained at slightly above medium.
Seth: The final third delivers a lot of earth and mineral notes. There are black pepper qualities present as well, and the finish has this mocha quality with a lot of charred wood notes. Full in strength and body.
John: The cigar is wood forward into the last third. Some slightly tannic wood is present on the post draw, as light baking spices try to push through the wood on the main profile. Earth returns to the front of the profile with some minerality as it progresses. Approaching the halfway point, earth is leading the flavor profile.
Jiunn: The last third tapers back the white pepper spice and brings forth a leather component. The profile still has the same levels of charred cedar and semi-gritty dirt. Strength and body is still the same medium-full and medium.

Team Cigar Review: Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier

Burn

Aaron: The burn was slightly wavy at times and the cigar went out once in the final third. The ash held on in inch and a half increments.
Seth: Burn was inconsistent and wavy throughout. The cigar stayed lit, but I had to pay attention.
John: The burn is fairly straight through the review, with the ash consistently holding on in up to 1-1/2 inches.
Jiunn: The burn performance was a bit annoying. The cigar was spongey and seemed over humidified. This caused a very meek smoke production, causing me to draw and purge way too much.

Team Cigar Review: Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier

Draw

Aaron: The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.
Seth: The draw was restricted throughout, but never to the point where I was struggling.
John: The draw is perfect, right in the ideal zone between resistant and open.
Jiunn: The draw was a bit tight. Not a deal breaker though.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted oak, earth, black pepper and light smokiness. Some minerality joined fairly quickly and some creaminess a bit later. The second third saw the profile become dry. The final third took a step down as some pine mintiness and bitterness joined in and built up through the third. Overall, the Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier was fairly average. The profile had a number of components, but it was a bit dry and never elevated itself. The pine mintiness and bitterness had the cigar finishing on a down note. I wouldn’t see myself returning to this cigar as it was too earth focused and dry.
Seth: I keep thinking that the Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier is a blend that should have been released in a larger format. It seemed too rich and mineral forward in the earth department for such a small vitola. There was no complexity or depth. I’m not looking for transitioning, but a solid flavor profile that has character. This needed more cocoa and cream qualities. Even soft/sweet tobacco notes. Less earth, minerals, charred wood and pepper.
John: The Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier delivered some interesting flavor combinations in the first third, leaning towards the espresso and earth spectrum. The second and last thirds were still pleasant but lacked the dynamic nature of the first third. Draw and burn were both flawless. Most of the time Crowned Heads is a hit for me, so I feel like I’d revisit the Le Pâtissier again in the future to see if some age helped that second third harmonize better. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 41 minutes.
Jiunn: I believe the burn performance was ultimately what gave the Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier a less than desirable experience. The spongey cigar made for very meek smoke production. I had to give the same amount of purge and in draws every time I approached the cigar. The set of flavors was too earth driven, desperately needing a break from all the spice and wood notes. This is a pass for me.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.05

Cost/Point

$2.08

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

4.18

Cost/Point

$2.51

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$1.72

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.20

Cost/Point

$2.02

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier