Cigar Review: Crowned Heads Headley Grange Corona Gorda
18 Nov 2013
Not being a Led Zeppelin fan, I wouldn’t know the drums in “When the Levee Breaks†from “Moby Dick.†Not that it really matters. We are, after all, smoking, not beating out a rhythm.
After a successful, but limited, debut in 2012, Headley Grange went on to become Crowned Heads’ second regular line. It is available in five regular vitolas and a limited edition drumstick, released earlier this year. The corona gorda is 5.6 inches long with a ring gauge of 46. I paid about $8 each for the most recent sticks.
The blend comprises a familiar combination: Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper with binder and filler from Nicaragua. Headley Grange, like Four Kicks, is rolled at Ernesto Perez-Carrillo’s Tabacalera La Alianza factory in the Dominican Republic. I consider that the cigar world’s equivalent to the Good Housekeeping Seal when it comes to quality and consistency, and it surely is in this case.
From appearance to draw, burn line to ash, Headley Grange is first-rate. My initial smoking impression was that this cigar is a bit milder than Four Kicks and that held up throughout. The predominant flavor is deep, rich tobacco with a light layer of spice at the back of the throat.
About halfway down, Headley Grange ramps up a bit, becoming, in fact, a bit sharp. That quickly dissipates, though, and by the final third, it’s again smooth with just a little spice.
This cigar is well worth trying. Descriptive words that come quickly to mind are satisfying, rich, and deep. What I don’t think you’ll find are much complexity or surprises.
I give the Crowned Heads Headley Grange a paradiddle and a rating of three and a half stogies out of five.
[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]
photo credit: Crowned Heads
I am a big Led Zeppelin fan, so I thought I’d share the following from Wikipedia about Headley Grange, in case folks are wondering about the connection:
“Headley Grange is a former poorhouse in Headley, East Hampshire, England, UK. It is best known as a recording and rehearsal venue in the 1960s and 1970s for bands such as Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, Peter Frampton, the Pretty Things, Ian Dury and Clover… Parts of Led Zeppelin's albums Led Zeppelin III, Led Zeppelin IV, Houses of the Holy, and Physical Graffiti were composed and/or recorded at Headley Grange. Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant wrote most of the lyrics to Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ there in a single day. The Led Zeppelin song ‘Black Dog,’ which appeared on Led Zeppelin IV, was named after a black Labrador Retriever which was found hanging around Headley Grange during recording.”