Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2023 LC54

Every once in a while, I’ll get into a conversation with a fellow cigar smoker about annual limited edition releases, namely which ones I’m excited about, which have been disappointing, which have been around for longer than we recognize, and of course, which one in a series was the best.

Crowned Heads’ Las Calaveras line has certainly earned its place in the discussion among the most well-regarded annual limited editions of the modern era. A good part of that is due to the quality of the cigars, but the fact that 2023 is the 10th edition of the line can’t be overlooked as a testament to its success and staying power.

The line dates back to 2014, when Crowned Heads announced that it was teaming up with My Father Cigars to create Las Calaveras, a line created to honor those who have passed away in the past year, with My Father producing the cigars at its factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. Not only was it a new line, it marked the first time that Crowned Heads released a cigar that wasn’t produced at E.P. Carrillo’s Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. factory.

Since 2016, Crowned Heads released four vitolas of Las Calaveras each year: three are sold in 24-count boxes, while a fourth size is only offered in a four-cigar sampler that contains one of each vitola. That trend continued with the 2023 release:

• Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2023 LC50 (5 x 50) — $12.95 (Box of 24, $310.80) — 1,500 Boxes of 24 Cigars + 3,000 Samplers of 1 Cigar (39,000 Total Cigars)
• Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2023 LC52 (6 x 52) — $13.95 (Box of 24, $334.80) — 1,500 Boxes of 24 Cigars + 3,000 Samplers of 1 Cigar (39,000 Total Cigars)
• Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2023 LC54 (5 5/8 x 54) — $14.95 (Box of 24, $358.80) — 1,500 Boxes of 24 Cigars + 3,000 Samplers of 1 Cigar (39,000 Total Cigars)
• Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2023 Belicoso Fino (5 1/2 x 52) — 3,000 Samplers of 1 Cigar (3,000 Total Cigars)

The sampler has an MSRP of $54.95.

“We’re bringing the Broadleaf back for ’23,” said Jon Huber, co-founder of Crowned Heads, in a press release. “I’ve held My Father Cigars and the Garcia family in such high regard, especially when it came to their use of Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and the resultant blend expressions. The 2023 Las Calaveras blend has so much going on in terms of what you’d expect from a My Father Broadleaf blend, everything from pepper to chocolate to earth, all impeccably and consistently balanced. We’re also featuring a first in the 2023 Las Calaveras Sampler, as this will be the first time we’ve featured a Belcoso Fino as the Sampler exclusive vitola, and the first time we’ve produced that vitola with My Father Cigars.”

With the four vitolas for the 2023 release, the Las Calaveras brand now stands at 38 cigars:

 

• Cigar Reviewed: Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2023 LC54
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: U.S.A. (Connecticut Broadleaf)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 5 5/8 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Robusto Extra
• MSRP: $14.95 (Box of 24, $358.80)
• Release Date: July 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: 1,500 Boxes of 24 Cigars + 3,000 Samplers of 1 Cigar (39,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2023 LC54 has the kind of wrapper I could easily spend several moments inspecting. It has a generally even color that’s a bit darker than medium and lacking oils, thus giving it a very dry, matte finish to my eye. The veins, however, are lighter in color, sometimes just a tick or two, sometimes several ticks, which immediately catches my attention. The seams on one cigar really stand out visually, with closer inspection revealing just a slight bit of a lip where the edge isn’t flush. On the other two, they still catch my eye, though all are flush, rather it’s that some noticeable veins get cut off and seem to come to a point. While the cigar looked dry, I do find a bit of oiliness with my fingers when I start checking the firmness. There’s not a lot, but it’s more than what my eyes would have suggested. As for that density, all three cigars are rather firm, with some few-and-far-between areas of slight give. The foot has an interesting aroma that consistently starts by reminding me of slightly sweet chewing gum, nothing obnoxiously fruity, but just that underlying aroma. It soon adds an intertwined mint and fresh wood, which leads me to melted mint ice cream, then wheat toast, dry earth, and a bit of cool cream on the finish, making for an impressively layered introduction to the cigar. The cold draw is nearly perfect in terms of airflow, smooth and easy but neither loose nor restricted. It’s not very dynamic with flavors, as I get a bit of damp tobacco, some baked brownie crust, and a very faint touch of sweet liquid, reminding me of rum and cedar. Eventually, my lips start to tingle from the tobacco, signaling that it’s time to light the cigar up.

The Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2023 LC54 lets off a wonderful aroma as it is being lit, as a combination of a rich campfire and warm coffee grounds find their way into my nostrils. There is a good amount of chalky pepper in the retrohales, giving a vibrant and somewhat contrasting accent to the flavor. As the retrohale evolves, it loses some of the chalk and becomes a brilliant part of the experience, and with a tempered amount of pepper, it’s easy to retrohale on every puff. The flavor is fairly mellow, with some creaminess carrying peanut butter, some light earth, a touch of light chocolate, and just a pinch of pepper. There’s a slight sharpening of the pepper towards the end of the section, and the earthiness gets just a touch drier and crispier, sort of like an overcooked brownie. Flavor is medium, body is medium-plus, and strength is mild thus far. Construction is highlighted by solid smoke production, while the draw is maybe a tick firm and the burn line doesn’t stay as sharp as I would prefer.

The start of the second third doesn’t shift the flavor very much, and at times, there are puffs where I think the cigar is holding back a bit, something I noted in another recent review where it felt like the flavors weren’t quite ready to be as forthcoming as I would have liked. The profile sits in a spot where it’s on the dry side but not necessarily mouth-drying, as the profile offers a light and dry earth, a bit of dry wood and some black pepper, with what creaminess the cigar previously offered having departed. There’s a bit more physical sensation from the black pepper as it lingers on my palate and tickles the top of my throat after puffs, just enough to be slightly irritating but not completely off-putting. A subtle bit of chocolate creaminess emerges as this section comes to a close, not quite chocolate milk due to being a bit denser of a flavor, but not too far off. With where the flavor profile is at, retrohales continue to carry the cigar with a slightly brighter expression of the flavors and with a mild pepper that keeps things accessible and enjoyable. Flavor is still around medium intensity, body is medium-plus, and strength is medium-minus. Construction is still very good, as the burn line issues generally resolve themselves, the draw is smooth and slightly firm, and combustion is generally very good. There are spots where I need to touch up or relight the cigar, usually due to learning the pacing rate the cigar needs to stay lit.

The final third starts by developing a slightly chalky, slightly mineral edge that hits the tip of my tongue with just enough intensity to capture my attention and have me make note of it. Besides that, the flavor remains pretty close to the path it laid out earlier, though I get more dry earth with a bit of a rocky edge, while the nuttiness, toast and dry wood have faded further into the background. The flavor turns toasty in the final inches, giving the profile a new type of crispness that it hasn’t had thus far, and a profile that competes to deliver the most enjoyable puffs to this point. Each of the three cigars hit a point where combustion really becomes an issue, right about where there are two inches left, leading me to wonder if there might be some excess humidity trapped in the head of the cigar or if there’s simply some heavier tobacco that needs me to puff more frequently in order to burn through. The cigar gets a few ticks heavier with more earth here, while the black pepper shifts a bit as well but doesn’t increase intensity. Then there’s a shift to a really rich campfire flavor that meshes damp wood and smokiness quite well, a flavor I wish would have appeared earlier and in more quantity, as the increased labor required to smoke through the final inches detracts a bit. Flavor finished medium-full, body is medium-plus, and strength is medium-minus. Other than the aforementioned burn issues, construction remains very good and largely issue-free.

Final Notes

• I’ve written about cigars released for holidays and similar events before, but while smoking the Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2023 LC54 and writing up some other stories, it dawned on me that Día de Los Muertos has been tied into more cigars and accessories than I would have guessed.
• Most recently, Altadis U.S.A. announced that it was releasing the Trinidad Espiritu No. 3 on Oct. 31 in honor of Día de Los Muertos.
• A search of muertos revealed tie-ins that include the Sweet Jane Dia de los Muertos, Black Label Trading Co.’s Santa Muerte, a lighter and cutter from S.T. Dupont, the XIKAR Las Calacas cutters, and a Les Fines Lames Le Petit cigar knife.
• Thinking back to some earlier conversations I had with Charlie Minato, I noted a bit of frustration in not being able to review cigars ahead of the holiday or event they celebrate. For instance, we ran a review of the Father’s Day-themed Punch Dad Bod in August 2023, more than two months after Father’s Day. I bring this up to give kudos to Crowned Heads for having Las Calaveras available well ahead of the Día de Los Muertos.
• While I’m not inherently crazy about the color of this year’s band, which I would describe as egg yolk yellow, I love seeing the colors in the collection side-by-side.
• I didn’t pick up any strength from the Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2023 LC54, something I’m a bit surprised by as there were some spots like some strength would complement the profile.
• I was quite surprised by the smoking time, though it became apparent early on that this wouldn’t be a fast-burning cigar. None of them presented issues that would be immediately identifiable as slowing things down, and each cigar finished pretty close to one another in final smoking time.
• That said, as part of our weighing and measuring process, Charlie Minato noted that “these cigars seem damp and are very heavy,” with Humidimeter reading of 68, 68 and 67.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was three hours and 30 minutes on average.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co. Cigars Direct, Corona Cigar Co., Famous Smoke Shop and JR Cigar carry the Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2023 LC54. Cigar Hustler doesn’t list the LC54, but carries the LC50.