Crowned Heads Mil Dias Mareva Edicion Limitada XX

Crowned Heads Mil Días Mareva Edición Limitada XX

In 2020 Crowned Heads and ACE Prime came together and formed a strategic alliance. Under the alliance, ACE Prime Cigars would now be produced at Crowned Heads. At the same time, Crowned Heads would continue to leverage ACE Prime’s factory, Tabacalera Pichardo. Prior to the alliance, Crowned Heads had worked with Tabacalera Pichardo to produce the Juarez Cigar. A few months after the alliance was cemented, Crowned Heads would announce its latest regular production offering called Mil Días – the second regular production release to come out of Tabacalera Pichardo. Today we take a look at a special limited edition size from the Mil Días line, the Mil Días Mareva Edición Limitada XX.

The name Mil Diás translates to “1,000 days.” It’s a reference to the near-three-year journey that was taken to develop this blend. The project started in 2017 when Tabacalera Pichardo co-owners Don Eradio Pichardo and Luciano Meirelles presented Crowned Heads co-founder Jon Huber with an initial sample of the cigar. Over the next “Mil Días” or three years, the two would work on iterations and refining the blend, and eventually, the officiall Mil Días blend was introduced to market in 2020.

Without further ado, let’s break down the Crowned Heads Mil Días Mareva Edición Limitada XX and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECFICIATIONS

Blend and Origin

The fillers of the Mil Días incorporate Nicaraguan, Costa Rican, and Peruvian tobaccos. I believe the use of Costa Rican and Peruvian tobaccos marked the first time Crowned Heads used this in a regular production release. The remainder of the blend consists of an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan binder.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Peru
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Tabacalera Pichardo

Vitolas offered

The Mil Días is offered in four regular production sizes. Typically Crowned Heads will add limited-edition additional sizes. Shortly after the release of the core Mil Días line, a 5 1/2 x 42 Mareva was added and the 7 1/2 x 49 Escogidos was released in 2021.

The Mareva size was packaged in 30-count boxes with a total production of 1,000 boxes.

Escogidos: 7 1/2 x 49 (Edicion Limiada 2021)
Mareva: 5 1/2 x 42 (Edicion Limitada 2020)
Corona Gorda: 6 x 46
Edmundo: 5 3/8 x 52
Double Robusto: 6 3/8 x 50
Sublime: 6 x 54

Packaging of the Crowned Heads Mil Días Mareva Edición Limitada XX; Photo Credit: Crowned Heads

Appearance

The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper of the Mil Días Mareva had medium brown color with a strong rosado tint to it. There was a thin layer of oil on the wrapper. Upon closer examination, there was also a slight amount of mottling. This was a relatively smooth wrapper with some thin visible veins and wrapper seams that were well hidden.

The Mil Diás had a white band with a large red “M” reminiscent of the Minnesota Twins logo in the 1990s. A gold circular ring encapsulates the M. On the left side of the band is the text “MIL DÍAS” in large black font.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

Prior to lighting up the Mil Días Mareva, a straight cut was used to commence the cigar experience. Once the cap was cut off, it was on to the pre-light draw. The cold draw had notes of earth, floral, cedar, and nut. This wasn’t the most exciting pre-light draw, but since the pre-light draw is not factored into the numerical score or value rating, there was no loss of points here. At this time I lit up the Mil Días Mareva and awaited what the smoking phase would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The Mil Días Mareva opened up with notes of cedar, natural tobacco, nut, herbs, and a slight cherry note. As the cigar experience progressed through the first third, the natural tobacco and herbal notes moved into the forefront. The wood, nut, and cherry notes were secondary. On the retro-hale was a layer of black pepper.

During the second third of the Mil Días Mareva, the herbal notes moved into control as the primary note. The natural tobacco settled in the background with the nut, cedar, and cherry notes. Meanwhile, the background notes were joined by some black pepper notes. Both the black pepper and cedar notes increased.

The last third of the cigar experience saw the herbal notes in control. There was now much more in the way of pepper and cedar on the tongue. There were notes of natural tobacco, nut and hints of cherry remaining. There was some harshness and muddling of the flavors by the time the cigar experience came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

In terms of the burn, the Mil Días Mareva performed very well. This was a cigar that maintained a straight burn path and had a relatively straight burn line from start to finish. The resulting ash was a very light color gray. The ash was on the firm side. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both were ideal.

Burn of the Crowned Heads Mil Días Mareva Edición Limitada XX

Draw

The draw to the Mil Días Mareva had what my colleague Ben Lee has termed the “milkshake draw” – meaning it had a slight amount of resistance. This is something I consider a positive. At the same time, this was a low-maintenance cigar to derive flavor from.

Strength and Body

The Mil Días Mareva is a cigar that started out with medium strength and was medium to full in body. There was a nominal increase in the intensity level of both the strength and body along the way. In the end, the Mil Días Mareva stayed in the medium strength, medium to full range until the end of the smoking experience. In terms of strength versus body, the body maintained the edge throughout the smoking experience.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

When reviewing a cigar, flavor is the most important category – and it is one that no matter how you slice it is the most subjective category. The Mil Días Mareva Edición Limitada XX checks a lot of boxes in terms of construction, complexity, burn, etc. However, the one box it didn’t get high marks on was the flavor. It doesn’t mean I dismiss this line as it’s possible this blend in another size could win me over. In the end, I don’t want to completely dismiss the Mil Días Mareva either, so it’s a cigar I recommend trying a sample of and seeing if this cigar aligns with your flavor profile.

Summary

Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Herbal Notes, Nut, Cedar, Cherry, Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Good