The Crowned Heads Angel’s Anvil 2017 TAA Exclusive

By Tony Casas | May 30, 2017

I hope that everyone had a fun, safe, and memorable Memorial Day weekend as we keep those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in our thoughts and prayers. I ended my weekend out back with a Crowned Head’s 2017 Angel’s Anvil paired with a bottle of Jester King’s Das Wunderkind!

The Good Stuff:

Another year, another Angel’s Anvil. This has steadily become one cigar I seek out year after year. Starting in 2014 The Crowned Heads have released a cigar they have dubbed “The Angel’s Anvil”. The initials for the blend “TAA” also stand for what the cigar celebrates, the Tobacconists Association of America. This small group of around 80 retailers meet annually to gather and share cigar related resources. The Angel’s Anvil is only available through these select manufacturers. You can read our review of the 2014 here, 2015 here, and 2016 here. While the name remains the same year after year, the blend does not. This year the Angel’s Anvil 2017 features a Habano wrapper along with an undisclosed binder, and filler. Like the previous 3 versions, the 2017 Angel’s Anvil is created at Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr’s Tabacalera La Alianza factory. The cigar is offered in a single 6 1/2 x 52 format. Each box comes packaged with 20 cigars which run $10.50 a stick with only 1,000 boxes produced. I purchased mine over from our friends at 2 Guys Smoke Shop.

Size: 6 1/2 x 52
Wrapper: Habano
Binder: Undisclosed
Filler: Undisclosed
Body: Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $10.50
Pairing: Jester King Das Wunderkind! (Saison 4.5% ABV)

Prelight:

The Crowned Head’s 2017 Angel’s Anvil starts out with a medium brown wrapper which is consistent in color for the most part with the exception of a few smaller orangish-brown splotches scattered throughout the wrapper’s leaf. The wrapper itself is laid seamlessly over itself show casing some very small veins, darker natural webbing in the leaf as well as a slightly oily, decently toothy texture. The wrapper feels fairly dense while the body is very tightly packed as I find absolutely no soft spots leading through the cigar’s thick body up to its round triple cap. The cigar is polished off with a gold, manilla, and black embossed version of the Angel’s Anvil band.

The wrapper on the cigar gives off a good amount of musk, cedar, and spice while the foot of the cigar smells much more natural with a bit of mossiness, dirt, natural tobacco and earthiness. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar double bladed cutter. The Cold draw is very grainy with lots of earthiness, spice, and some underlying black pepper.

First Third:

The Crowned Head’s 2017 Angel’s Anvil starts out with a big pepper blast which only lasted for a few puffs. After the pepper subsides I am greeted with a good amount of bold cedar and musk backed by some citrus, and a good amount of pecan and lots of grainy natural tobacco. The flavor profile on this cigar is pretty unique and so far incredibly enjoyable. The draw is perfect. Each puff kicks out a ton of thick, white smoke which hangs around for quite some time before dissipating. The burn line is a bit wavy, but razor sharp as it leaves behind a great trail of tightly compacted medium gray ash which held on for almost an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

There’s this awesome vanilla flavor pouring into the Crowned Head’s 2017 Angel’s Anvil into the second third. It marries up well with the citrus and cedar being backed by musk, pecan, and some subtle coffee notes. The retrohale helps bring a bit of the spice and pepper back into the mix making the cigar pretty complex. The burn line is still a bit wild but I haven’t had to reach for my torch, so no complaints here. I close out the second third with nothing in terms of a nicotine kick.

Finish:

The vanilla and citrus have really ramped up into the final third of the Crowned Head’s 2017 Angel’s Anvil along with the cedar making for a great flavor profile. While the strength of the cigar has remained in the medium range, the cigar is now up in the full bodied arena. It’s not everyday that you encounter a cigar so full on flavor yet so easy smoking. It took me two hours to take the Crowned Head’s 2017 Angel’s Anvil down to the nub and I experienced absolutely no harshness or extra heat. While the burn line was wild at times I never once had to touch up or relight the cigar.

Overview:

It’s easy to see why The Crowned Heads have quickly become one of the hottest cigar manufacturers in the industry. Jon Huber is extremely meticulous and that attention to detail is on display with each and every cigar coming out of his hands. The 2017 Angel’s Anvil is an extremely complex cigar that won’t knock you on your ass which is exactly what I look for in a cigar. The flavor profile is enjoyable, and suited my palate very well while the smoking experience was nearly flawless. I’m glad I scooped up quite a bit of these as they are extremely limited and will sell out soon.

Pairing:

Another Jester King. That’s right. Cause Texas rules. This time we take a look at one of my favorites by them, the Das Wunderkind! As we all know by now Jester King is a brewery from Austin, Texas the specializes in farmhouse ales. The Das Wunderkind! is a 4.5% Saison. The beer leads with lots of citrus, hints of vanilla, floral, lactic acid, and sourness with an extremely light mouthfeel before finishing clean and crisp with more acid, citrus, slight hop, and more sourness. This is a perfect example of what I look for in a farmhouse saison. Crisp, clean, and flavorful. The vanilla and citrus notes is what really pulled me towards this pairing and it made for a great mate with the Crowned Head’s 2017 Angel’s Anvil.