The cigar is made in the Dominican Republic for Crowned Heads under the watchful eye of EPC Cigars at Tabacalera LaAlianza. Ernesto Perez Carrillo has seen a lot of success, fast since he began he own label after a similar buyout but the Scandinavian Tobacco Group. One can say this was a match made in heaven as both have a similar past.

The cigar is available in four sizes, Corona Gorda (5 5/8” x 46); Robusto (5” x 50); Sublime (6” x 54); and Piramide (6 1/8” x 52). The suggested retail before local taxes is $6.95 to $8.65 per cigar.

Cigar: Four Kicks
Size: 5 x 50
Wrapper: Habano Ecuador
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Strength: Medium-Full
Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Four Kicks by Crowned Heads

Appearance and Construction: The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper on the Four Kicks feels a bit coarse with a few veins present although none of them stand out too much. There are some oils present and the roll of the cigar is perfect right down to the cap. The foot is well packed, with a nice dark tobacco bunching which is dead center. There is a nice weight to the stick with no soft spots. The band uses red and gold and it reminds me a lot of the Saint Luis Rey band is tapered on one end which makes it real easy to remove when the time comes.

Four Kicks Foot

Flavor & Notes: Once I clipped the cigar I took a cold draw from the Four Kicks by Crowned Heads and was treated to notes of earth and nuts. The foot of the cigar had a wonderful sweet molasses to the nose. A classic pre-light experience if you ask me. Once the cigar was lit, there was some subtle spices, citrus bordering on lemon extract, and a wonderful sweetness. As we progressed into the first third there was a nice citrus note that was dominant for the first inch or so before submitting to notes of wood, and molasses.  As I smoked the second third of the cigar I noticed the pepper slightly more than in the first third especially through the nose. The wood notes became the focal point with a sweet finish that continued to remind me of molasses. The last third of the cigar gets a bit heavier in body and turns it up a notch in strength. The wood notes become a well defined oak, some leather notes come into the mix but the finish of the cigar holds on to the sweetness that was the dominant note throughout the cigar.

Four Kicks First 3rd

Smoking Characteristics: Does it get any better than the construction of cigars coming out of Tabacalera LaAlianza? The cigar had a perfect draw with a slight resistance the way it should be. The cigar also had a perfect burn. This doesn’t mean it was always razor-sharp but it always self corrected when it got slightly off-center. The solid ash was light in color and held for half the cigar. The aroma of the smoke complimented the notes which helped make this an easy cigar to dissect. .

Four Kicks Second 3rd

Conclusion: One can’t help but compare cigars. It is human nature, to see how they compare to another. I happily state this cigar stands on its own. There is no hint of CAO and there is no hint of EPC. The cigar has it’s own identity and that is of a cigar that is simply incredible. It easily falls into my top 5 of the year and I will smoke it again when it is time to figure out Cigar of the Year. The cigar which is limited to 30,000 in the first release is only available at 66 retailers, and that makes tracking them down a bit difficult. I managed to get mine from Buckhead Cigars. The effort is worthwhile, because this cigar definitely lives up to the hype.

Four Kicks Last 3rd

Rating: 95
Price: $7.50 (Approximate)

Leave a comment below to win a baseball cap of the Crowned Heads logo. Deadline to enter is 1 pm Eastern Time Thanksgiving Day. Winner to be announced on Black Friday.

I recently reached out to Jon Huber asking if he would take the time to answer some questions, and he was kind enough to do so…

acigarsmoker.com: Jon Huber, a lover of music, and Nashville. How did you wind up in the cigar industry and ultimately with CAO?

Jon Huber: Back in 1995, I was at a crossroads in my life where I no longer wanted to just “have a job.” I didn’t want to dread going into work every morning; I wanted to do something I loved and be paid for it. At that time, I was getting really interested in wine and cigars. I loved that both were made by hand–with little or no machinery–I loved the romance, tradition, and passion each industry seemed to have. There was (and still is) something utterly noble about growing something from a seed, harvesting, cultivating, fermenting, blending, etc. One day, I was in a wine store here in Nashville and they had a copy of Cigar Aficionado (George Burns cover) at the register. I bought it, read it cover to cover, and started saving my money to purchase a few cigars each week. I became hooked. I was (and still am) a cigar ‘geek’ and kept the bands of the cigars I smoked in a journal; I took notes on each and every cigar I smoked. Soon thereafter, I knew in my gut that this was what I wanted to do with my life.

acigarsmoker.com: CAO is sold, and you are about to join the unemployment line. What was the thought process that led up to the creation of Crowned Heads?

Jon Huber: You could actually see the writing on the wall (in terms of what would ultimately happen to CAO) for about a year before the actual announcement was made that CAO would be moving to Richmond. So it’s not like it hit me out of left field; I had some time to think about things. I knew I had to stay in the cigar business–it’s in my blood, it’s a part of who I am. I also knew I didn’t want to make a lateral move and just go do what I’d been doing for another cigar company. I wanted to take a step up towards the next level, i.e., be involved with my own brand, and do things the way I’d always wanted to do them. Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way; Mike Conder approached me outside of the office and asked if I’d be interested in doing something together. I said, “I’m in!” I’d been working with Mike in the marketing department (he was my boss) and I really enjoyed working with Mike. I’ve learned so much from Mike; I’ve always looked at him as one of my ‘gurus.’ From that point on, I couldn’t wait to walk out the front door (CAO) and get on with the next step. CAO was a wonderful chapter in my life; I will forever be indebted to the Ozgener family. But those last months there were absolute misery. I just couldn’t take all the corporate BS a minute longer. It went from being all about the love of the business and the product, to being all about the money, P&L reports, projections, 5-year plans, etc.

acigarsmoker.com: With the FDA looking to get involved in the cigar industry and smoking laws becoming Draconian was the decision more difficult?

Jon Huber: Those factors never crossed my mind or entered into my decision one iota. Those are legitimate concerns; however, I’ve always had faith in the general public in that the government will soon go to far and people will stand up for themselves and their rights and say, “enough!” Prohibition didn’t work the first time and it won’t work the second time, either.

acigarsmoker.com: Lately, it seems like everyone is releasing a cigar. Were you worried at all about the crowded market place?

Jon Huber: I was never worried about any other new releases, competition, etc. Worrying about those factors only distracts you from your task at hand. I felt that if we stayed focused on our vision and remained true to our philosophy, we’d come out on the other end with an excellent product that would ultimately find it’s audience. Honestly, I felt like the Stones when they were recording “Exile on Main St.” For the better part of this past year, we were holed-up in our space here away from everyone and just kept the blinders on and kept going forward.

acigarsmoker.com:  CAO was pretty corporate when you look at some of the small brands out there. How will having free reign of the marketing allow you to do things different?

Jon Huber: Being free from the corporate side of the business has been incredibly liberating. And when you’re ‘free’ you are more opened to creativity and your craft. We created ‘Crowned Heads’ to be the umbrella under which we would be able to create different brands–each brand with it’s own unique personality, taste, branding. In short, the way we’ve set it up, we won’t have to create each brand going forward to be consistent with the ‘Crowned Heads’ look and feel. Beginning with ‘Four Kicks,’ each brand will be very unique. I’ve always looked at this like a band. A band has a unique personality but it can record different albums, and each album can sound completely different than the previous one. Crowned Heads is essentially just ‘the band,’ and ‘Four Kicks’ is really just our first album. The next one down the road won’t ‘sound’ (taste, or look) anything like ‘Four Kicks.’

acigarsmoker.com: It’s been publicized that E.P. Carrillo will make Four Kicks for Crowned Heads. Can you let us in on some of the process that lead to the selection of E.P. Carrillo?

Job Huber: We knew the manufacturer selection would be one of the most important decisions we would make towards the long-term success and longevity of our company. In mid-January, we began actually evaluating manufacturers; we put huge sheets of white paper on the wall and we wrote out a list of about 15 different manufacturer choices. Then we created a rating system, of sorts, where we broke it out into various categories. Truth be told, cigar ratings played a small part of it but we were more interested in other criteria such as trust, integrity, experience, how many brands are being made there, etc. We narrowed down our list and in March we flew down first to Miami, then on to Nicaragua, for a series of meetings and factory visits. Ironically, Ernesto was the first person we met with; we had dinner with him and his son, Ernie. At that time, the topic of Ernesto actually making a cigar for us never even came up–we had a nice dinner, smoked a couple of cigars at his office afterwards, and he basically wished us luck and we went on to Nicaragua the next morning. So fast forward to late May, and we were evaluating all of our options and we kept coming back to Ernesto as being our ‘top draft pick;’ we just didn’t know if he was going to be open to doing something together. Keep in mind, up until then he’d never done a brand for anyone else besides himself. Fortunately, when we did approach him about the project he was very interested in working together. He felt that our philosophies lined up, that we both had similar approaches to the business end, and we both shared the same respect and love for the product.

acigarsmoker.com: I was recently in the Dominican Republic, and on the eve of your blog posting questioning the romanticizing of cigars I got into a bit of debate about the notes we taste in cigars. I said it was more about perception, then fact. Much like an aroma can trigger a memory, I feel taste is similar. However, in a recent conversation with an industry big-wig he said, “Despite the 5 tastes of salt, sour, bitter, sweet, and umami that we can distinguish certain notes such as cocoa, coffee, and more.” In fact, Umami is described as being meaty. We can distinguish the difference between milk chocolate and dark chocolate. We don’t refer to it as sweet, or bitter. Do you feel bloggers in general are helping or hurting the industry as you said in your words “romanticize cigars”?

Jon Huber: Ahhhh…the infamous ‘blogger’ blog. That created a lot of interest; however, I think a lot of people took what I said out of context. In that blog, I said that I AM a fan of the ‘flavor descriptive’ type of marketing; I just think sometimes it goes too far. I also said that ‘some’–not all–bloggers seem to be taking on a bit too much ego. I wasn’t making a blanket statement towards all bloggers. I think the online cigar community (including bloggers) has helped the industry tremendously. Together with social media, the blogger community has changed the way we (cigar manufacturers) get our message out. It has largely changed the scope of how business is done. That all said, I still maintain that a little less ego (with certain bloggers) would be a welcomed breath of fresh air. I’m just saying, keep things in perspective.

acigarsmoker.com: 2011 will end with a limited release of Four Kicks before a larger release. What can we expect from future releases? Will you stay with E.P. Carrillo or venture out to other factories?

Jon Huber: Our focus is to slowly build Four Kicks production and distribution as much as our supply (tobacco) will allow. Controlled growth follows behind keeping the cigars consistently excellent. It all begins with the right tobacco, and the right processing of those tobaccos–that is where Ernesto is a genius. You can expect to see a shape extension or two to the Four Kicks line next year, and we are entertaining the concept of releasing one size of a brand that would be released in full in 2013. In fact, I’ve been smoking sample blends for that potential project this past week.

acigarsmoker.com: Can we expect to see you make in store appearances in the near future on a national level?

Jon Huber: If anyone is actually interested in that, yeah I might rear my ugly head in a few stores next year. Seriously though, we are very determined to build this brand (Four Kicks) on the quality of the cigar and not on a ‘personality’ or a ‘face.’ We will be selective and focused towards in-store events; there are no plans for any ‘Grand National Tours’ or 50 cities in 60 days.

AL East: Boston Red Sox
AL Central: Minnesota Twins
AL West: Oakland Athletics
Wildcard: New York Yankees

NL East: Philadelphia Phillies
NL Central: Cincinnati Reds
NL West: San Diego Padres
Wildcard: San Francisco Giants

World Series Champions: Boston Red Sox

Of course I reserve the right to make a change if the Yankees manage to go out and get a starting pitcher before opening days.

The Sunday Links:

• Toasted Foot has a great3 part interview with Jon Huber, who launched Crown Heads this past week.
• Stogie Guys give a quick smoke review of the Nestor Miranda 20th Anniversary Danno.
• Stogie Review has a review of the My Father Le Bijou.

Til next time..

This is what Jon had to say about his relationship with “corporate” life,

“I can tell you that it feels damned good to be free of the corporate chains and choke hold that was our dear friends we knew and loved (I say that with tongue firmly planted in cheek) as ‘ST Group.’”

Because Jon Huber has been with the CAO brand for so long, his departure leaves many questions surrounding successful lines like the La Traviata, Brazilia, Italia, the MX and LX series, etc.

Well, a few days ago, Jon was spotted wearing a baseball cap with the lettering CH – which prompted many to speculate that his new company will be called Casa Huber. We learn today that it will be called Crowned Heads. It seems that the brand is still under construction because Jon Speculates that he will have something to showcase for this year’s IPCPR. Sure hope he makes it.

As for his cigars, it looks like he has yet to find his blend and had to say about how he’s going to choose his blend:

…it’s like when you meet the woman you wanna spend the rest of your life with; you just KNOW.  Up to that point, you’ve dated women who have each had their assets and good attributes–but there was a certain ‘something’ that just wasn’t ‘there’…..and then you meet THE ONE.  And then everything changes.  You stop thinking about other women.  You stop looking at other women.  All you can think about is her; and you know it is right.  It feeeeeeels right.  You eat, sleep, breathe, and dream…….HER.  Do you know what I mean?

Well, to me it’s just like that with blends and, yes, creating the ideal manufacturing scenario.  I remember when we were developing La Traviata […] At that time, we could articulate what the cigar should taste like, what it should smoke like, what it should look like–but it wasn’t there.  We had literally gone through 21 different ligas in search of the La Traviata blend.  Then, I recall that I had just come back to Nashville after a few days on the road doing Rock N Rolled in-store events [and] I was pretty much told “..you have to smoke that sample on your desk–now.”  I remember that I was maybe 1/2” into that 6” x 50 sample and said to myself, “THIS is it.”  I knew we had found her…THE one.  And from that point on, I knew in my skin that we had a home run.  I couldn’t stop thinking about that blend.  I only smoked THAT blend.  Every day.  For weeks.  Months.  Ultimately, that blend became C** La Traviata.

And so I’m hoping we will soon find ‘her’….‘the one.’

That’s interesting – I didn’t realize that Jon felt that way about awesome blends. On the consumer side, when I find an awesome blend, I’ll remember it. But soon, I’ll try to find an even better one.

And where does one start up a new cigar company? New York? Miami? Nope – Nashville. There’s one thing certain for Mr. Huber – and that’s respect. Mad props to the man who decided to stay in the once underdog luxury tobacco town of Nashville. Frank Sinatra would be proud of you, Jon, for your choice to do it your way.

Now let’s see if your new smokes are any good.

CAO MX 3

These cigars have been on my list to try since I first heard them mentioned on twitter and having just received them from W Curtis Draper in Washington DC I couldn’t wait to smoke one. Normally I smoke 2 cigars or 3 cigars before I write a review here on my site. But with this cigar I am reviewing it on the fly on twitter and setting up the post for you all to read.

According to Jerry over at The Stogie Review:

The story behind the MX3 is that it is one of the 11 original blends that CAO stocked in its Escaparate at CAO HQ in Tennessee. It was created exclusively for the CAO Escaparate. (The Escaparate houses 330,000+ cigars in an ‘in-the-round’ walk-in humidor).

Over the course of the past 5 years, CAO made the decision to make some of their Escaparate blends/brands available at select retail tobacconists across the country W. Curtis Draper’s has the exclusive on MX3 and is available in two sizes (robusto and a torpedo).

The CAO MX3 are available ONLYat W. Curtis Drapers in D.C. (800) 572-2382. Tell them you heard about the cigar at stogiereview.com and decided to order based upon the review at acigarsmoker.com

Cigar:CAO MX3
Size: 5 x 50 (Robusto)
Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: CAO Secret (My Guess: Connecticut Broadleaf)
Binder: CAO Secret (My guess: Brazilian Maduro)
Filler: CAO Secret (My Guess: First 2, plus a small pct of another)
Strength: Medium/Full

Appearance and Construction (18/20): The first thing that amazed me was the amount of oils on this cigar. The wrapper had some veins but nothing out of the ordinary. The roll of the cigar is perfect, with the seams hard to find. The cap is well placed and there are no soft spots.  The band has been reworked to a silver label with black writing. A secondary band the name of W Curtis Draper which I can understand, but could do without…

Flavor & Notes (28/30): After using my multi tool cutter from Xikar to clip the cap I was eager to get the pre-light notes, and I was amazed by the rich notes prior to smoking. After lighting the cigar the notes reminded me of a rich chocolate cake. As we continue through the first third of the smoke I am in heaven. The chocolate begins to fade and the espresso notes take center stage. As the cigar enters the 2nd third, the notes of coffee are joined by some earthy notes. The cigar remains rich, but it steps down a notch from the first third. The final third of the cigar had some cedar notes before slowly regaining the richness found in the first third. So in a sense, this cigar came full circle with the final notes being a strong espresso with some earth.

Burn/Ash/Draw (25/25): The burn of the cigar was fairly even with the oils visible around the burn line of this incredible smoke. The tight ash is white as it burns and turns dark as it cools down. The draw had a slight resistance which slowed down the smoking speed. This turned out to be a good thing otherwise I would of smoked it too fast and not have gotten the true experience of the MX 3.

Overall (23/25): One of the best maduro cigars I ever had, and this cigar ranks #2 for me in cigar of the year voting. I am totally floored by the rich flavors, great construction and the flawless burn. The one draw back is that W. Curtis Draper is the sole retailer with these cigars so instead of supporting my local economy I will have to support the economy of a power hungry Washington DC and order these by phone.  I actually burned my fingers and lips smoking it all the way down til I could hold it anymore.

Rating: 94
Price: $11.00