La Vereda No. 54

Typically, when I write about cigars getting more expensive, these days, I’m referencing price points in the $30 or $40 range. However, over the summer, I wrote about the new La Vereda, the most expensive line from Crowned Heads. It starts at $18.40 and also marks the first time that a Crowned Heads cigar has an MSRP of $20.

To me, the most notable part of Crowned Heads’ announcement of La Vereda wasn’t the price—or the Vegueros-like packaging—but rather this quote from Ernesto Perez Carrillo Jr. of Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. and E.P. Carrillo:

La Vereda is a blend I’m truly proud of and would have loved to have had as a brand in our EPC Cigar portfolio, but I’m happy that Crowned Heads has it as they are part of our extended family.

It stood out to me as an incredibly cool thing to say something along the lines of, “this blend is good enough, I’d be proud to sell it for myself.”

As for the blend, it uses a shade-grown wrapper from Jalapa, Nicaragua, a binder that is also from Jalapa, and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Crowned Heads says that the filler tobaccos are all aged for at least three years.

In addition to using aged filler, Crowned Heads says that just seven pairs at Perez-Carrillo Jr.’s Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. factory are allowed to make the cigars. Furthermore, those workers were asked to slow down and roll cigars at just 60 percent of their usual production rate.

• Cigar Reviewed: La Vereda No. 54
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera La Alianza S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicaragua (Shade Grown Jalapa)
• Binder: Nicaragua (Jalapa)
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua
• Length: 5 5/8 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Double Robusto
• MSRP: $20.60 (Box of 20, $412)
• Release Date: Aug. 8, 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Brooks Whittington ended up picking which of the three cigars out of the box I use for this review. We try to just randomly grab cigars, and the three cigars Brooks ended up picking don’t look the same. The wrapper color is a darker milk chocolate color with above-average mottling—at least on two cigars—and darker-colored veins. One cigar has a wrapper that is covered in mottling, like zebra stripes. The overall appearance isn’t the cleanest, something that seems more a result of the bumpy texture of the cigars and less to do with the wrapper. The wrapper reminds me of the smell of wet leather with some added acidity and barnyard. There are some sweeter elements, but the acidity and barnyard are much brighter. The foot smells similar, though with more of a traditional leather flavor joined by some raisins and brown sugar sweetness. There’s still some acidity and a brighter smell. The first cigar I smoke has a fairly open draw with mild amounts of floral, metallic and peanut flavors. It’s medium, fragrant and smooth. The other two cigars are more medium-full and have draws with normal resistance levels. Flavor-wise, they have cedar and chocolate over some blueberry, orange sweets and floral flavors. On one cigar, I notice some white pepper on the lips.

Each La Vereda No. 54 starts with flavors I’d call grainy and potato-like. Depending on the cigar, that can be Pringles, mashed potatoes, grains, buttered popcorn along with sawdust, then black pepper, creaminess and white wine. Intensity-wise, the cigars are around medium-plus or medium-full, though they end up being very different because of the different draw resistances. The potato flavors eventually give way to bread and nuttiness, all of my notes use the descriptor of “soft” to describe the first third flavor, meaning I find the flavors to be more fragrant and less direct than some other cigars. Secondary notes include creaminess, lemon, herbal flavors, white pepper and unripe fruit. The finish tends to be sharper with herbal flavors, unripe fruit and a bit of harshness. Retroahles are consistently led by nuttiness, followed by leather, white pepper, menials and creaminess. They finish with a salted cracker flavor along with semisweet waffle batter, leather, earthiness and some nutmeg. Flavor is close to full, body is full and strength is medium-full. The texture of the flavor tends to be slightly rough, never seeming to find a sweet spot in the first third.

For the first part of the second third, the La Vereda is a crisper version of the first third. That noticeably helps the flavor profile, but it doesn’t remove all of the harshness, at least not until after the halfway mark. The salted cracker note becomes more prominent, and the nuttiness adds sweetness and creaminess, making it more of a peanut butter flavor. Mild earthiness is underneath, and toastiness is occasionally present, but it’s not a buffet of flavors. Fortunately, what flavors are present are enjoyable. For better and worse, the finish ramps up. That includes a more intense nuttiness—not peanut butter—and toastiness, but also some of the unripe fruit, touches of pepper and some of the harshness that I found during the first third. At various points after the halfway mark, each cigar changes thanks to the introduction of a pencil lead-like toastiness. While it’s present in both the mouth and nose, it’s much more impactful in the retrohale, where it beauts out the nuttiness for the top spot. The retrohales finish with saltiness, leather and some brighter fruits, but when the pencil lead is active, it overwhelms everything else. Other times, I find some dry pasta and cranberry sweetness but neither are close to being as strong as the pencil lead. Flavor is full, body is full, and strength is medium-full. All three cigars need at least one touch-up during the second third.

Somewhat similar to how the second third started, the final third is very much taking the elements present before and making them even richer. The pencil lead flavor mixes with some toastiness and envelopes most of the palate. Creaminess helps to bring out some saltiness, reminding me of lighter roast espresso, along with pretzel flavors. The largest change is that the harshness has almost entirely subsided, which helps further the smoothness. The finish has creaminess leading pretzels, mineral flavors, crisp Champagne and some generic fruitiness. Retrohales seem to be more savory than before. There’s toastiness and meatiness over some mild mint and creaminess. While the harshness stays away during most of the final third, consecutive retrohales will lead to it returning on the finish. It’s joined by minerals, creaminess and a softer flavor that reminds me of egg whites. Flavor is full, body is medium-full, and strength finishes close to medium. Two cigars need touch-ups both to help with combustion and uneven burns.

Final Notes

• Crowned Heads has often created packaging that looks quite similar to Cuban cigar packaging. This is about as flagrant as any attempt short of the Headley Grange/La Especion bands.
• There’s a touch of irony that this packaging appears heavily inspired by Vegueros, one of the least expensive Cuban cigars, for the most expensive cigar in Crowned Heads’ portfolio. The overall effect also reminds me of the Cohiba Behike BHK and Guinness beer.
• While I like having the information that just seven pairs are allowed to make the cigars and that they were asked to slow down, among the three cigars I smoked, that added level of care didn’t show up. The three cigars had different draws and minor combustion issues. It wasn’t below average, but it certainly didn’t scream intentional added effort.
• The first cigar I smoked was the one with the loose draw and the bumpiest of the trio. It was so bumpy the cigar didn’t seem to be straight, which made photographing it a bit more difficult than normal.
• I found that two of these cigars had the quality of a newer, unaged Cuban cigar. The flavors were bold and distinct, but with a roughness that seemed like it was not only negatively impacting the flavors I could taste, but also restraining some other flavors from emerging.

• While I found the cigars had some notable differences during the smoking process, they were about as consistent cigar-to-cigar specs-wise as any. This isn’t the absolute best numbers I’ve seen in any category, but it’s rare to see three cigars consistent in all three categories: length, ring gauge and weight.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time ranged from two hours to two and a half hours. This variance seemed mostly related to the difference in draw tightness.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Cigar Hustler, Cigars Direct, Famous Smoke Shop and JR Cigar carry the La Vereda No. 54.