Crowned Heads: CHC Serie E Hermoso No. 2 Cigars

Crowned Heads has earned a loyal following since its founding in 2010, and diehard aficionados of the brand are affectionately referred to as "the Court." In 2018, the release of the Court Reserve XVIII honored this fan base, and in 2021, Crowned Heads followed it up with the CHC Serie E — "CHC" for "Crowned Heads Court" and "E" for "Eruption."

Co-founder Jon Huber has never been shy about music inspiring his cigar blends, and Crowned Heads features a number of series based on musical allusions: Four Kicks (Crowned Heads' first cigar) takes its name from a Kings of Leon song; Headley Grange was once a famed English recording studio and rehearsal space; and Jericho Hill and Juárez both come from Johnny Cash's "Cocaine Blues."

The Serie E draws influence from Eddie Van Halen and the song "Eruption," and it's a fitting homage to the revered musician, who passed away in 2020. For Huber, smoking the Serie E parallels the sonic outline of that Van Halen instrumental. The short intro of bass guitar and drums mirrors the cutting and lighting process, while the intricate finger-tapping, classical triads, and arpeggios of Eddie's guitar solo are metaphorically captured in the cigar's complex flavor profile, the finish lingering on the palate like the song's climactic dive bomb.

As a cigar, the CHC Serie E is rolled at the Tabacalera Pichardo in Estelí, Nicaragua (the same factory that Crowned Heads relies on for Mil Días and Juárez), and it showcases an Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder, with fillers from the Nicaraguan growing regions of Jalapa, Ometepe, and Pueblo Nuevo. Packed full of flavor with strong notes of spice, Serie E is a bold sequel, of sorts, to Crowned Heads 2020 release of Mil Días — Huber describing it as the knock-out punch to the left jab that is Mil Días, the thunder to Mil Días' lightning.