Crowned Heads Returns to Tabacalera La Alianza for The Lost Angel 2023

After a three-year hiatus, Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. will once again produce the annual Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA) release from Crowned Heads.

The Lost Angel 2023 is a 6 x 54 toro extra that uses an Ecuadorian Sumatra hybrid C9 wrapper over an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Nicaragua. It will have an MSRP of $13.50 per cigar and is limited to 1,000 boxes of 20 cigars. Crowned Heads says it expects to ship The Lost Angel 2023 in late May.

“I think we spent more time in development of this blend than on any previous TAA release to date,” said Jon Huber, co-founder of Crowned Heads, in a press release. “It really began in early 2022 when Ernesto (Perez-Carrillo Jr.) presented this amazingly unique Ecuadorian (Sumatra) hybrid wrapper to us. It was dark and oily, but surprisingly sweet and rich. That was the jumping off point, and from there the blend was in development for the better part of a year.”

Crowned Heads has used a story for its TAA release. From 2014-2019, it was known as The Angel’s Anvil, but since 2021 the releases have been known as The Lost Angel, which the company says is a prequel to The Angel’s Anvil story.

Huber previously explained that The Lost Angel “explores the darker side of the story’s protagonist” by expanding on the original story: before the angel meets the blacksmith and regains his wings, the angel needed to fall from heaven. The Lost Angel was originally announced as a 2020 release that would be made at Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr.’s Tabacalera La Alianza S.A.; however, that cigar never came out. The 2021 and 2022 releases of The Lost Angel were made at Tabacalera in Pichardo.

The TAA is a membership group, which also includes approximately 40 manufacturers, that gathers annually to discuss issues facing the industry and retailers, as well as to have its annual trade show, a unique event that works on a group buying format in order to secure exclusive deals for these generally high-volume merchants.

During the event—which takes place March 26-30 at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic—the organization holds two selling events, one known as the Dream Machine where the retailers collectively order to secure larger discounts, while the other is a more traditional trade show. Typically, around a dozen manufacturers release new exclusive cigars for the retail members of the organization under the TAA Exclusive Series Program banner. Those manufacturers agree to give a portion of the proceeds to the organization, a minimum of 50 cents per cigar.

So far, Crowned Heads, Gurkha, Tatuaje and Villiger Cigars North America have announced their TAA 2023 releases.