Cigar Review: Jericho Hill by Crowned Heads

Vitola: OBS (Robusto)
Size: 4.75″ x 52 ring gauge
Price $9.99
Purchased from Burns Tobacconist

Background

For 3 regular releases, our Nashville neighbors went to EP Carrillo Cigars in the Dominican Republic and the blending skills of company namesake Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Jr. Four Kicks, Headley Grange and J.D. Howard Reserve were all fine blends and well received by the public, and especially enthusiastic lovers of the leaf (leaf enthusiasts, you might say). When I had talked to Jon Huber, one of Crowned Heads’ principals, back near the founding of the company, he said they would love to work with My Father Cigars, but didn’t want to be “fifth, or sixth, or seventh in line.” More recently he told me that times have changed so there aren’t as many other companies competing for the time of the Garcia family…not that they are less busy, mind you…the company now makes MORE cigars per year, but for FEWER companies.

Huber often relates things to music, so it was no surprise when he likened the company to a band. They had made music with one producer for 3 albums (3 cigar blends with the same blender); while they were not unhappy with the results, artistic curiosity caused them to want to work with someone else. Call Las Calaveras an “EP” if you want to use a musical term…Crowned Heads worked with My Father on a limited release cigar early this year, then decided to work on an ongoing regular release. EPC is not out of the picture, either, as they produced The Angel’s Anvil (another LE, this time for the TAA).

That’s a long intro to bring us around to Jericho Hill, the 2014 “regular release.” In the original Crowned Heads offices, there were several very large pictures scattered around the room. With the need to move (for now) to smaller digs, there’s only room for one. Walk into Jon Huber’s office and you practically hear, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash!” coming from the wall. Cash was a true original, crossing musical boundaries of country, rockabilly, rock and roll, folk, and even rap, if you consider that he spoke (not sang) a lot of his lyrics years before “Rapper’s Delight.” Jericho Hill is inspired by Cash, with the name of the cigar referencing a line from Cash’s rendition of “Cocaine Blues” from his Live at Folsom Prison album (the song is actually a very old tune that went through various renditions, and has been recorded by over a dozen people). As an aside, what the name does not refer to is the fictional town created by Stephen King and placed in the universe of The Dark Tower; a town where a battle took place in days of yore…come to think of it, King snagged quite a few things from quite a few places…he probably took the name from the Cash song, too.

This preamble to a review has probably gone on long enough already, but there’s more…the Jericho Hill is available in four sizes to begin with. I’ve smoked one OBV (Robusto) and one 44S (Corona) before this review stick and opted to smoke another OBV for review. Filler and binder are all Nicaraguan on this blend, and the wrapper is a Mexican San Andres. Right up front I will remind you, dear reader, that I have traditionally not been the biggest fan of Mexican wrapper leaf; in particular, another blend using San Andres and made by My Father put me off Mexican wrapper for a couple years and I’m just now discovering how good it can be.

Also, Keith took a look at a pre-release sample of Jericho Hill a couple weeks ago. To see what he though, click HERE.

Prelight

I don’t often talk about the boxes the cigars come in…many of you don’t ever see them. For the most part, boxes end up being secondary to banding in the marketing process for that reason. In this case, the box is pretty cool, though. It’s got a rough-hewn appearance with dark stain and old west looking lettering on the box-top label. It looks “old”…and that’s a really good thin for this concept. The band is simple but effective. Black background with the type, border, coat of arms, and medallions rendered in a cream-colored satin foil or metallic ink, then embossed with details…a crown, a “CH” logo, the 3 stars of the Tennessee flag.

The wrapper leaf was dark chocolate in color with a toothy, rough texture and a good amount of oil that rubbed off on my fingertips. The cigar was lightly box-pressed…really just enough to keep from rolling around on my desk. I inhaled deeply from the wrapper and picked up notes of cocoa powder and earth. The foot had more earth, a bit of manure, and touches of cedar.

As usual, I clipped with my Xikar Xi and the resulting draw was excellent. The cold flavor was of coffee, earth, wood and anise.

Flavor

After lighting the Jericho Hill had a strong earthiness, with an understated dark fruit sweetness. There were the initial peppery blasts that one used to associate with Pepin blends every time, but are somewhat rarer these days. After a few puffs, things started to settle a bit and I got an espresso note on the finish and a solid red pepper burn on the nose.

The thing I dislike about San Andres wrapper is the tendency for it to overwhelm the blend with a bitter earthiness. Blended well, though, there can be a great balance between bitter and sweet flavor notes, though, and that’s what I was finding as I moved into the second third. The dry cocoa and earth bitterness of Mexican leaf definitely came through, but it was balanced out well with subtle sweet raisin flavors, along with continuing notes of cedar, coffee, and pepper.

As I cruised into the final third of Jericho Hill, I noted a bit of leather creeping into the flavor profile, which was still solidly earthy. The pepper spice had never gone away, but it started increasing again toward the end.

Construction

All samples of Jericho Hill I smoked had a great draw. The burn line was wavering, but even enough. The ash was solid and the color of concrete.

Value

Hovering around the $10 mark, depending on vitola, the Jericho Hill isn’t strictly a bargain, but the price is very fair for the experience delivered.

Conclusions

From the end of the first third through the end of the cigar, the best comparison I could make to something else you may have tried was to a Padron 1964 Maduro. The smokes share many basic flavor profile similarities due to the use of Mexican wrapper; with the Jericho Hill coming in at about 2/3 the price of the Padron, though, this cigar is eminently more accessible for most smokers. I found this to be on the low end of full-bodied and it had just a bit of a nicotine kick. After smoking the OBV and the 44S, I found the balance on the OBV to be more to my liking, but in the end, this is my favorite Crowned Head product since Four Kicks.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10