Crowned Heads Mil Días Sublime Review

2026-09-27  Five-Pack · 3/4 My Money · by Eric

Filed under: Cigar Bands · Field Repairs · Coffee & Cigars · Ecuador · Tight Draw · Habano · Ligero / Seco / Viso · Nicaragua · The Ash · The Wrapper · Retrohale · The Draw · Bitter Cigar?

Verdict: The Crowned Heads Mil Días Sublime is a Five-Pack (3/4) at about $12 street... a creamy, mild-to-medium smoke that stays sweet cream from the first draw to the last, and needed glue twice and a draw tool to get there. The flavor doesn't change much over an hour and fifty minutes, but what's there is good the whole way. A tight draw, a fragile wrapper, and a light bitterness that hung on the finish are what keep it out of box territory.

Brand

Crowned Heads

Line

Mil Días

Vitola

Sublime

Size

6 x 54

Wrapper

Ecuadorian Habano

Binder

Nicaraguan

Filler

Nicaraguan, Peruvian, Costa Rican

Made in

Nicaragua

Factory

Tabacalera Pichardo, Estelí

Street price

$11.25 to $12.50

Mil Días is Crowned Heads' first blend out of Tabacalera Pichardo in Estelí, released in 2020. The name means "a thousand days," which is roughly how long the blending took, and the four interlocking Ms on the band are both the letter and the Roman numeral for a thousand. Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and fillers from Nicaragua, Peru, and Costa Rica. The Sublime is the big one in the line at 6 x 54. I reviewed the Maduro version of this line in the Edmundo size back in August and it landed a Not Even Free. This is the original natural blend, and it's a different cigar.

The Setup

• Cigar: Crowned Heads Mil Días, Sublime (6 x 54). Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, Nicaraguan, Peruvian, and Costa Rican filler, made at Tabacalera Pichardo in Estelí.
• Street price: about $12 a single online, anywhere from $11.25 to $12.50 depending on the shop. Boxes of 21 list at $262.50 and sell for about $236.
• What I paid: about $12 a stick, my own money. I bought two of these at the same time about ten months ago and I don't remember where. This was the second one.
• Storage: the main Herf coolidor at 69%, about ten months of rest.
• When/where: lit up a little after 4:15 in the afternoon on the back deck with a slight breeze. At 5:15 it was 74°F, feels-like 75, and 38% humidity. A great afternoon for it.
• Smoke time: about an hour and fifty minutes.
• Food beforehand: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of raw milk for lunch, about four and a half hours before, with some coffee in between.
• First cigar of the day, paired with water.

Light Up and First Third

Pre-light this is a good, clean looking cigar. Fine, small veining, a double cap, and a slightly compacted but very well packed foot. The foot band did its job and came off perfectly, no cracks or damage to the foot under it. Nice simple band that looks clean.

Then the trouble started. I cut it with the Xikar XO straight cutter, a clean cut, and the cap cracked on me anyway. I had the glue sitting right there, so I fixed it before I did anything else and gave it time to dry. My first thought was the cutter blades getting dull. By the end of the cigar I didn't think that anymore. Hold that thought.

The cold draw is a mild tobacco sweetness, the same on the retro, with no tingle on the lips or tongue from the wrapper.

Toast and light: a super nice sweet cream. Once it's lit, a single draw is really nice sweet cream with a touch of nuttiness and a touch of leather on the finish. A double draw is the same profile with the nuttiness a little more prominent. On the retro there's no spice at all, a very creamy smoke texture, sweet cream on the palate, and a little leather on the finish. Very mild, no bitterness, and a very promising start.

The draw was a bit too tight for what I want from the first puff. Not enough to reach for the draw tool at first, but the tool was sitting on the table, and a few minutes in I decided there was no reason not to use it. After the PerfecDraw it was better, not perfect. I just don't like having to work on the draw.

Three quarters of an inch in, a single draw picks up a slight bitterness along with light nuttiness, light cream, and a very light leather. A double draw puts a lightly roasted nuttiness out front, with that slight bitterness behind it, more leather, and the cream farther back. The retro is where this cigar shines: no spice at all, a super creamy texture, sweet cream on the palate, and on the long finish some leather that mingles with the cream. The single and double draws aren't bad by any stretch, but you get a little bitterness on them, and you get none of it on the retro. Just sweet cream, and it's super enjoyable.

This cigar is a perfect example of why glue and a draw tool belong in your kit. With the crack I got on the cut and a draw this tight, it would have been a fight without them, and I don't like fighting a cigar while I'm smoking it.

Then, well into the first third, a second crack opened in the wrapper about a quarter inch up from the burn line. So it wasn't the cutter. This wrapper is just fragile. I put a dab of glue on it because it wasn't going to hurt anything, and the glue is flavorless. That was the right call. No further issues, no extra cracking, and the burn went right through it.

The ash through the first third was very nicely constructed. Tight, no flyers, nothing to tap off. A little bit of stacking going on, not dimes, but really good. The burn line was a little wavy and a few rotations kept it more than serviceable. No thought of grabbing a torch.

Just about at the end of the first third, a single draw was sweet cream, a slight bitterness, and a little leather, with the nuttiness gone for the moment. A double draw was the same. The retro picked up a light white pepper now, along with the cream and leather on the finish. Very pleasant.

Second Third

The first ash came off with a long ligero leaf standing in the dead center of the cigar, a sign of a nice construction job. And losing the ash did nothing negative. If anything it cut the bitterness. A single draw right after was all sweet cream, none of that slight bitterness that had been there with the ash on. A double draw was sweet cream with a very, very subtle tinge of bitterness and leather, and the nuttiness had dropped out. The retro was the same mild white pepper, not bad but definitely there now, and then sweet cream that lingers and makes my palate salivate. Very good.

Looking at it closely now, there's a slight amount of toothiness to the wrapper, very small. Strength was still very mild, maybe mild plus.

Two thirds of the way through the second third, the ash was still tight with one flyer, and I think that's where the glue was. The burn line was still slightly wavy and rotations kept it in check. A single draw gave that sweet cream, slight nuttiness, a little leather, and the bitterness was pretty much gone. A double draw was sweet cream, nuttiness, leather, and a tinge of bitterness at the finish. The retro was light white pepper, sweet cream, then a little leather on the long finish, but prominently sweet cream. Very creamy smoke texture and very good smoke production. The draw was slightly tighter than perfect, and it had been pretty good through most of the second third. Strength was somewhere between mild and medium, definitely not medium yet.

At the end of the second third, the burn line was still a touch wavy but had only needed rotations, and had been pretty sharp. The ash was really good, a couple more flyers on this one but not much. A single draw was some cream, a light spice, some leather, and a very faint light black coffee. A double draw was cream, lightly roasted nuttiness, and leather, and the bitterness was gone, which was nice. The retro was light white pepper and cream.

The second ash came off together and clean, with a point in the center again, less pronounced than the first one. The band came off completely clean, no imperfections under it.

Final Third

The first draw after the ash was still nice sweet cream and leather, with really no bitterness at all. A double draw was just heavier cream, lightly roasted nuttiness, some leather, and light black coffee in the background. The retro was a very light white pepper, which was a little strange because the pepper had definitely backed off, then really nice sweet cream and some leather. That earlier bitterness had basically dropped out. Strength was still midway between mild and medium. Nice cigar.

A little farther in, on the long finish, a slight bitterness came back and sat on the palate. About halfway through the final third, a single draw was cream and roasted nuttiness, with a light bitterness lingering on the long finish. It would be nice if that didn't exist, but otherwise it's good. A double draw was more roasted nuttiness, a little cream, heavier leather now, and that bitterness back on the finish, mostly on the tip of the tongue. The retro was a moderate white pepper, a little cream, and leather on the finish. Smoke production was really good.

The ash was still tight with a couple of flyers, and when I went to gently tap it, the whole thing fell. Still a slight point from the ligero. The burn went a little weird after that ash, so I touched it up, the only touch-up of the whole cigar. Right after, with the ash gone, there was more cream on both a single and a double draw, and then almost a Spanish rice kind of flavor before it changed into a slightly bitter finish. Very good smoke production, still creamy, slight bitterness on the finish, and leather.

I laid it down with a little over half an inch of unburned cigar left. Right at the end a single draw was cream, slight nuttiness, and a little bit of something spicy in the background, that Spanish rice flavor again but much milder. A double draw was more bitter, and on a double draw you get a good amount of heat on the lips and tongue. A single draw doesn't do that. The retro was a good amount of white spice. By then it was definitely medium strength, and had been for about the second half of the final third. Very creamy smoke texture and great smoke production through the whole final third.

Construction

• Wrapper: light brown, fine small veining, a very slight toothiness, double cap, well packed foot. And fragile. It cracked at the cap on a clean cut, then cracked again in the first third a quarter inch above the burn line. Both got a dab of PerfecRepair and both held fine after that.
• Draw: too tight from the cold draw on. I used the PerfecDraw a few minutes in, and it went from too tight to slightly tighter than perfect, and stayed there.
• Burn: a little wavy the whole way, and rotations handled it through the first two thirds. One touch-up, midway through the final third after the ash fell and it started burning weird.
• Ash: tight, very few flyers, a little stacking. The first ash held to the end of the first third and came off with a long ligero point in the center. The second came off clean at the end of the second third with a smaller point. The third fell when I gently tapped it midway through the final third, not what I was planning.
• Smoke output: very good the whole way, and really good through the final third.
• Band: came off completely clean at the end of the second third, nothing wrong under it. The foot band came off perfectly before the light.

Bottom Line

A creamy, mild-to-medium cigar that's sweet cream from the light to the nub, with roasted nuttiness and leather trading places behind it and a retro that stays creamy the whole way. The retro is the best part of this cigar. The pepper on it built slowly from nothing to moderate, and there was never a moment it wasn't comfortable. The flavor doesn't develop much beyond that, and I'd call that the honest trade: what you get in the first inch is what you get in the last, and it's good.

The knocks are all construction and finish. A draw that needed a tool and never got to perfect. A wrapper that cracked twice and needed glue both times. A light bitterness that came and went through the first two thirds and then settled onto the finish in the last one. None of it ruined the smoke, but a Box Buy doesn't come with that many asterisks.

Would I smoke it again? Yes... a Five-Pack (3/4). At about $12 it's a really good mild-to-medium smoke that's creamy throughout, and I'd keep a few around. I'm not going to rush out and buy a five-pack tomorrow, but I'll watch for a deal on one from Crowned Heads, and when it comes I'll put them in the humidor.

Best for: a morning smoke with a cup of coffee. This is a mild, creamy cigar most of the way, and I think the coffee would push that creaminess even further. Bring the glue and the draw tool.

My scale, one question only... would I spend my own money on this again? 4 Box Buy (box on hand, always) / 3 Five-Pack (yes, a few live in the humidor) / 2 Hand-Me-One (wouldn't buy it, wouldn't turn one down) / 1 Not Even Free (I'd rather smoke nothing).

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