Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2022 LC54

In 2014, Crowned Heads released the first cigars in a series that has gained a nearly mythical status among fans of the brand. The name of the series is Las Calaveras—which translates to The Skulls from Spanish—and according to the company, it was inspired by the Mexican holiday of Días de los Muertos, otherwise known as days of the dead.

Inspiration for the packaging—and specifically, the art of a skull used on the band and boxes—came from Las Calaveras Catrina, a zinc etching by José Guadalupe Posada, and the cigars are meant to commemorate the memories of people who had died the year before. The limited edition series is released annually, although the vitolas, production numbers and blends change yearly.

The newest version is the first Nicarguan puro to be released in the series, capped off with a corojo 99 wrapper. When it debuted in 2014, Las Calaveras was the first line in Crowned Head’s history that was not made at My Father Cigars S.A. in Estelí, Nicaragua, the first line from Crowned Heads to not be made at Ernesto Perez-Carillo Jr.’s factory in the Dominican Republic.

“The corojo oscuro wrapper results in a flavor profile that, in my opinion, is reminiscent of the signature ‘My Father’ style of delivering classic Nicaraguan structure and intensity, while retaining complexity and balance,” said Jon Huber, co-founder of Crowned Heads, in a press release.

As has typically been the case, this year’s release includes four vitolas, three of which are being sold in 24-count boxes while a fourth size—the 6 1/2 x 40 petite lancero—is sold exclusively in a sampler that contains one of each of the vitolas.

The Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2022 cigars started shipping to retailers on July 19, 2022.

• Cigar Reviewed: Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2022 LC54
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicaragua (Corojo 99)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Toro Gordo
• MSRP: $13.95 (Box of 24, $334.80)
• Release Date: July 19, 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: 1,500 Boxes of 24 Cigars + 2,500 Samplers of 1 Cigar (38,500 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

With its combination of supple milk chocolate brown-colored wrapper, large vitola size and skull logo on a pale blue band, the Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2022 LC is difficult to miss. That wrapper is slick to the touch with almost no tooth at all that I can discern, although there are a couple of small veins running up and down its length. Light notes of cedar, generic nuts, leather, earth, manure and sourdough bread are obvious as I bring the wrapper to my nose, although none are more aggressive than the others. Aromas from the foot are a different matter, as a strong and distinct dark chocolate note combines with slightly less noticeable notes of peanuts, earth, barnyard, sweet hay, nutmeg and black pepper. After simple straight cuts, the cold draws bring flavors of peanut shells, leather tack, black pepper, cinnamon, creamy cedar, coffee beans and sweet hay.

The foot of the Edición Limitada 2022 LC54 is fairly easy to light and leather tack is the most immediate flavor to show up, along with some light spice and pepper, neither of which are even close to being overwhelming. After about 10 puffs, the main flavor combination of peanuts and toasted bread take over the profile. Secondary notes include dry hay, earth, cinnamon, roasted coffee beans and cocoa nibs that flit in and out, while one of the cigars features a slight broccoli note on the finish that is unfortunately only present for short time before disappearing into the ether. The retrohale features plenty of black pepper and honey sweetness, the latter of which seems to be gaining strength as the cigar continues. Flavor ends the first third solidly in the medium range, while both the body and strength are just under medium though rising. There are absolutely no issues whatsoever when it comes to construction, as all three cigars feature excellent draws and burn lines as well as plenty of thick, gray smoke.

Creamy peanuts and toasted bread continue to top the profile during the second third of the Las Calaveras, although there is also a new mineral saltiness that has become noticeable on my lips on all three cigars. Additional notes of cedar, leather, hay, cinnamon, espresso beans and bitter dark chocolate are obvious at different points as well, while the combination of black pepper and honey sweetness has increased in strength on the retrohale as well. Flavor increases slightly to a point just over medium and the body is at a solid medium while the strength is slightly above the medium mark. In terms of construction, my first cigar has an issue with burn that necessitates attention from my lighter—the other two cigars have no problems in that regard—while both the draw and smoke production continue along their excellent paths on all three cigars.

The final third continues the trend of the previous two thirds when it comes to having main flavors of toasted bread and peanuts, something I am more than fine with. Secondary notes include earth, cedar, espresso beans, creamy hay, leather and a slight citrus peel. The retrohale is also relatively unchanged, with the same black pepper and honey sweetness adding a bit of complexity to the profile until the end of the cigar. Flavor finishes the cigar at medium plus while the body and the strength remain at a solid medium and slightly above medium respectively. Construction-wise, my first cigar continues to have enough issues that the burn needs to be corrected a couple of times to keep on track, but the other two cigars have no problems with the burn, and the draw and smoke production on all three cigars remain excellent until I put the nubs down with about an inch left.

Final Notes

• This year’s Las Calaveras release is dedicated to four people who have passed, each of whom is identified by their initials included on the band.
• While Las Calaveras does not come close to the series with the most different cigars in it—hello, Tatuaje Monster Series—the 34 entries probably puts it in the top 10.
• Past releases in the Las Calaveras Series have done quite well when it comes to the halfwheel Top 25: the line took the 4th place in 2014, 14th place in 2015 and 18th place last year.
• This is one of those cigars that gets bitter and ashy very quickly if you puff on it too hard or too fast, so my advice is to keep it slow and easy.
• I love the pale blue color used for this year’s release, as it continues to make it easy to differentiate the different years by band color alone. This was not the case for the bands used for the first three years in the series, all of which featured a white background with different detail colors.
• All aspects of the construction were extremely good on two of the three cigars, with straight burn lines, copious amounts of smoke and excellent draws. My first cigar ran into burn issues during the second and final thirds, but they were easily corrected.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time averaged two hours and two minutes for all three samples.
• If you would like to purchase any of the Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2022 LC54 cigars, site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Corona Cigar Co., Famous Smoke Shop and JR Cigar all have them in stock.