JD Howard Reserve HR50 by: The Crowned Heads

The HR50  has a reddish rustic looking wrapper that smells of Cedar and Hay.  The dimensions of this cigar are 5 1/2 X 50.  I usually like cigars that have smaller ring gauges because I feel you get more flavor from the wrapper with less filler inside, so I selected the 50 ring gage and usually if a cigar brand has a 46-50 I usually am drawn to those sizes.  This Cigar is made by The Crowned Heads who have been on fire, as far I'm concerned and have put out several good smokes.  This Cigar is named after Jessie James, the outlaw, who lived in Nashville under the assumed name, JD Howard, while hiding from the law.  Crowned Heads headquarters is in Nashville and decided to make this cigar as a tribute to the Outlaw.

The cigar starts out spicy, but yet not overwhelming. The spice is mild but gives excellent flavor.  If I had to narrow down the exact spice I would say its closest to a Jalapeno flavor but not in spice intensity.  After a few puff's the Jalapeno is met by a Cedar that has a flavor that its been in a BBQ pit and has a little char on it.  The finish gives a hint of earth and the cedar.  The construction on the first inch is wonderful, and has a razor sharp burn.

At the half way point the cigar mellows out as far as the Jalapeno is concerned, although its still there in the background. A sweet earthiness and charred cedar have take over.  After a few more draws after the half way point the first ash drops off, after staying on for over two inches.  The next puff gives a musty, sweet earth, followed by more cedar.  The cigar is Delicious, Crowned Heads has another fantastic cigar on their hands.  Its complex with different flavors on each draw but very balanced and even.

The last two inches start to get warm but never drops the flavor.  It adds in a chard tobacco taste but keeps all the cedar, earth, and spice with hints of a natural sweetness.  This is a great combo that I wished would have lasted longer.  I sat the cigar down for the last time at the 1 hour and 8 minute mark.

Price: $8.75
Appearance: 92
Draw: 95
Burn: 95
Flavor: 93
Burn Time: 89

Overall Score: 93

If my top 5 of 2013 list went to ten, this would have been number 6.