Mil Días Maduro Sublime

Two years after debuting the original Mil Días line, Crowned Heads released a maduro-wrapped version of the blend named Mil Días Marranitos Edición Limitada 2022. The 5 3/4 x 52 robusto extra incorporated an Ecuadorian Sumatra maduro wrapper that replaced the Ecuadorian habano wrapper used on the other vitolas in the line, although the internal blend remained exactly the same.

In January 2024, the company announced the third incarnation of the Mil Días line—and the second version with a maduro wrapper—the Mil Días Maduro. While the Mil Días Marranitos Edición was a modified version f the original Mil Días, the new Mil Días Maduro is a new blend built from the ground up, including a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper covering an Ecuadorian habano binder and filler tobaccos grown in the Condega, Jalapa and Ometepe regions of Nicaragua.

“Mil Días Maduro is an extension to the original Mil Días brand that we announced back in July of 2020,” said Jon Huber, co-founder of Crowned Heads, in a press release. “What’s important to note, however, is that the Maduro blend is not simply a re-tread of the original blend where we just swapped the wrapper leaf out. Mil Días Maduro is an all-new blend from the outside to the inside that we felt was worthy of bearing the Mil Días brand name. We began working on the Mil Días Maduro blend with Eradio Pichardo in the summer of 2023. The result is a cigar with a flavor profile that is dense and lush, layered with notes of dark chocolate, baking spices, with excellent structure and a pepper component that is most noticeable on the retrohale.”

There were three different vitolas of the Mil Días Maduro at launch, all packaged in 20-count boxes:

• Mil Días Maduro Edmundo (5 3/8 x 52) — $10.95 (Box of 20, $219)
• Mil Días Maduro Sublime (6 x 54) — $12.50 (Box of 20, $250)
• Mil Días Maduro Topes (4 7/8 x 56) — $12.25 (Box of 20, $245)

As is the case with the rest of the Mil Días blends, Mil Días Maduro is made at Pichardo’s TacaNicsa factory in Estelí, Nicaragua and boxes started shipping to retailers in February.

• Cigar Reviewed: Mil Días Maduro Sublime
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: TacaNicsa
• Wrapper: U.S.A. (Connecticut Broadleaf)
• Binder: Ecuador (Habano)
• Filler: Nicaragua (Condega, Jalapa & Ometepe)
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Robusto Extra
• MSRP: $12.50 (Box of 20, $250)
• Release Date: February 2024
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Covered in extremely attractive dark brown wrappers that feature quite a bit of oil as well as some obvious mottling, the Mil Días Maduro Sublimes are exceedingly rough to the touch. There are no major veins that I can see and no soft spots, but all three cigars are quite firm when squeezed. Aromas from the wrappers include wet hay, earth, barnyard, woodiness and light vanilla bean sweetness, although one cigar features significantly more of that sweetness than the other two do. The feet of the cigars smell distinctly of raisin sweetness, followed by creamy cedar, dark chocolate, espresso beans and some generic nuttiness. After straight cuts, the cold draws bring flavors of creamy almonds, cedar, powdery cocoa nibs, cinnamon, leather and more even more raisin sweetness.

All three cigars start off with a combination of dark chocolate and caramel sauce sweetness as well as some very light spice on my tongue. Charred meat and cedar quickly take over as the main flavors of the profile. Secondary notes of gritty earth, cocoa nibs, espresso beans, saltine crackers and lemongrass show up at various points, while the retrohale features plenty of black pepper and a dark, fruity sweetness that reminds me of blackberries. Flavor is at full while both the strength and body end the first third at a solid medium. In terms of construction, all three cigars give me no issues whatsoever when it comes to their respective burns, smoke production or draws.

The cedar note that was prevalent in the first third recedes to the background during the second third and it is replaced by a stronger powdery cocoa nibs flavor that joins the charred meat note at the top of the profile. Additional flavors include not only the aforementioned cedar but also more gritty earth, citrus peel, bitter espresso, hay and plain oatmeal, while the blackberry sweetness on the retrohale shifts to a caramel sauce sweetness. The flavor remains at full, and while the body stays put at a solid medium, the strength increases slightly to land at a point just over the medium mark. Each of the three cigars has issues with their burn lines, but two of the three eventually correct themselves—the other needs a quick touch-up with my lighter—while the draws and smoke production continue along their excellent paths.

Leading up to the final third, there are very few changes in the profiles of the Mil Días Maduro Sublimes, but I am enjoying the flavors so much that I hardly mind. Charred meat and cocoa nibs lead secondary notes of espresso beans, creamy cedar, almonds, hay, sourdough bread and light cinnamon, while the amount of black pepper and caramel sauce sweetness on the retrohale remains about the same compared to the second third. The flavor stays at full, but both the body and strength increase to land at medium-plus and medium-full, respectively. Thankfully, the burn lines are one aspect that do change—for the better—as all three cigars give me no issues in that regard, while the draws and smoke production continue to be trouble-free until the end.

Final Notes

• The original Mil Días line name means 1,000 Days in Spanish and according to Jon Huber, co-founder of Crowned Heads, he was given some blend samples by Luciano Meirelles and Eradio Pichardo—both co-owners of Tabacalera Pichardo—back in 2017. From that point it took about three years—or roughly 1,000 days—before the finished blend was actually released.
• I have said it before, but it bears repeating: I absolutely love the simplicity of the Mil Dias logo and the quality of the main band.
• The original Mil Días Sublime took seventh place in halfwheel’s Top 25 of 2020, while the Mil Días line was awarded the fifth place in The Consensus that same year.
• All three cigars ran into burn issues during the second third, but only one of them—my second one—needed to actually be touched up with my lighter to stay on track.
• While the lengths for all three cigars were very close to six inches, the ring gauges for two of the cigars came in at quite a bit less than 54.

• Crowned Heads lists these cigars at 6 x 54.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time for all three samples averaged two hours and four minutes.
• If you would like to purchase any of the Mil Días Maduro Sublime cigars, site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Famous Smoke Shop, JR Cigars and Smokingpipes have them in stock on their respective websites.