Crowned Heads Four Kicks (English)

Crowned Heads

Four Kicks

A little history or memory refresh: In November 2010, Jon Huber, C.A.O.'s director of marketing, decided to leave the company after Scandinavian Tobacco (which had acquired C.A.O. in January 2007) moved C.A.O.'s operations from Nashville to Richmond, Virginia, where General Cigar Co. is based. He was soon joined by three friends, also former C.A.O. employees. They decided to launch their own brand with a first line: Four Kicks, inspired by the song of the same name by the Kings of Leon, a rock band from Nashville. Huber says: The company we cared about, CAO International, Inc. was caught in the middle of a corporate merger between Swedish Match and ST Group (CAO's parent company at the time). The very foundation on which CAO had been built - people, relationships, integrity and loyalty - was disappearing. The end result would be that many of the people we considered family would soon be out of work and CAO would be torn from its hometown of Nashville, TN, and relocated to Richmond, VA.

When you see some 15 years of your life's work - your heart, your passion and your joy - come to an end, you are filled with many emotions. The song "Four Kicks" really spoke to me. It was filled with anger, rebellion, confidence and determination. It was these feelings that drove us to come together and create what would later become "Crowned Heads, LLC". 

Another rumor is also circulating, Kicks can be translated as kicks but also as kicking the anthill, to make things change. So since we know Jon's approach is to do quality craftsmanship, it is said that the name Four Kicks is not one but four kicks at the big C.A.O. and its superior the General Cigar Co.

They have their project, they have the name, now they need the manufacturer who will give birth to this cigar that focuses on a combination of excellent flavor, balance and complexity. Only one name matched their search: Ernesto Perez-Carrillo. () Don't get me wrong Ernesto is certainly not the only one making excellent cigars, there are many others, but he is at the top and moreover he is one of the few manufacturers who still work for customers in addition to their own cigars. End ().

As usual, the distributor Media Rueda has selected two modules in the range, the Corona Gorda and the Robusto.

For the packaging, no superfluous fuss, we go to the essential.

A raw box with the necessary inscriptions: the name of the range and the name of the module. As a lid we have a sliding system that resumes a wrought iron door topped by a decoration with a flower in its center.

We find the name Four Kicks in stylish letters that remind the wrought iron but also the vegetal side of the tobacco. The place where the cigars are made: Rep. Dom. And between the two we see two crossed pistols. But why pistols? Again, Uber gives us the answer: Four Kicks is about sticking to your guns, staying true to those you love and the hometown that brought you to the dance. Four Kicks is about turning your back on the corporate machine and making your own rules.

Finally on the bottom of the door is a compass rose with the S oversized compared to other directions, to remind us that they are attached to Nashville.

For the unique cigar ring, they opted for the red and gold with the name of the range and the door decoration with its flower in the center, on each side the representation of 3 gold coins with stars on the left and the guns on the right.

The colors of the ring have the particularity to highlight the cape and its milk chocolate color, we see here and there some veins that give it a beautiful aspect reinforced by a thin layer of oil.

Once cut, I notice that the air passes perfectly well, not too hard, not too easy.

The foot kisses and I remain in suspension because wow what a dose of black pepper, worse than the 5G suffered by Maverick, fortunately as on many new cigars this does not last very long and soon the pepper is wrapped in oak, freshly tanned leather and fat earth. This first layer of flavors will absorb the pepper which remains black but less present.

This will allow me to discover strong coffee, cinnamon and nutmeg.

And go for the retro-olfaction, it stings on the nose but it is very bearable, a sign of balance, which reinforces my nutmeg aspect.

I'm ± halfway through the cigar when I walk through a field of spring flowers sprinkled with dark chocolate.

My cigar will stay in this flavor palette until the end, and when I say the end it's warning mustache.

Throughout my tasting, this medium to medium plus cigar had a perfect burn, an exemplary draw and a very compact white ash streaked with a few light gray lines

The tastings were carried out on 5 specimens of Corona Gorda and Robusto, the first with a length of 14.28 cm and a cepo of 46, and the other 12.7 cm with a cepo of 50.

Wapper : Habano (Ecuador)

Binder : Nicaragua

Filler: Nicaragua

In conclusion: I rarely say it in these terms but I think I have discovered an exceptional cigar at a reasonable price and I don't know anyone in my circle who couldn't enjoy a moment of tasting with this range.

Not only the construction is perfect, the draw is exceptional but also the flavors and the power are perfectly balanced. Moreover as said in the article I practiced 5 tastings and none of them brought me a touch of disillusionment, not even at the level of the ring sticking. In general, I advise you to make your own experience, here I strongly advise you to test it.

Price at the time of writing: 9.40€ for the Corona and 9.90€ for the Robusto.

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