Cigar: Crowned Heads Four Kicks
Size: Sublime (6 x 54rg)
Filler: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Price: $6.95 – $8.65
Individual Weight: 16.79g
Manufactured: Tabacalera LaAlianza S. A., Santiago, Dominican Republic
Press Release:
Originally Posted by :
“Crowned Heads LLC, the Nashville-based premium cigar company
committed to producing cigars of artisanal quality, announced today that it has partnered with E.P. Carrillo Cigar Co. to produce the first Crowned Heads brand. The cigar brand, “Four Kicks,” will be manufactured at Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. under the supervision of one of the cigar industry’s true icons, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo. The partnership not only marks the first brand release from the Nashville-based company, but it is also the first time in Perez-Carrillo’s distinguished 40+ year career that he has agreed to partner with a company outside of his own to produce a new cigar brand. “Ernesto’s career and tobacco knowledge is nothing short of legendary,” said Crowned Heads‘ Mike Conder, “and we are honored that he has opened his factory to us and shared his expertise.” Crowned Heads‘ Jon Huber commented, “Four Kicks’ is a concept that has been with me for over a year now. After an intensive 6 month search of the best cigar-makers in the business, it became clear to us that Ernesto was the choice to bring our vision to fruition.” Perez-Carrillo stated, “From our first meeting, it was clear that Jon and Mike shared our passion – to create a distinctive boutique brand that emphasizes quality over quantity. I’ve personally known Mike and Jon for a long time, and my family and I could not be more excited about working with them on Four Kicks.” Packaged in 24-count boxes, Four Kicks will be available in four shapes: 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 price will range from $6.95 to $8.65 per cigar.”
Pre-Light: “Us, us, us and them, them, them….” sings David Gilmour on Pink Floyds’ track “Us and Them” from their 1973 album, “Dark Side of the Moon” as I sit down to review this new cigar by Crowned Heads, the Four Kicks. I sit and listen, rolling the cigar between my fingers while occasionally lifting it to my nose to smell the different oils that I’ve activated by the heat of my touch. The song reminds me of all the differences between the smaller cigar brands and the big guys. When I say big guys, I don’t mean the family owned businesses around the world that work every day to grow the best tobacco they can, process it in house, and put it to market through small mom and pop shops like we all imagine our cigars coming from. I mean corporations. Like the one that caused Jon Huber of Crowned Heads to leave his position at CAO International in 2010 because of their new parent company moving the CAO headquarters to Richmond, VA from Nashville, TN leaving many of their longtime friends and family without work. “With, with, with….Without, without, without…” he continues, just as Mr. Huber continued his passion to create wonderful, complex, full-flavored boutique quality cigars for the people that brought him the success he’s seen, the throngs of cigar smokers worldwide that care more about the cigars they smoke than profit margins, overhead costs, and production quantities. No, it seems Mr. Huber wants to produce passionate cigars for passionate cigar smokers.
Being billed as a big smoke for the full-flavored cigar lover, I start to understand how this might be possible just by picking the cigar up. The cigar is rolled fairly firmly, covered in a satiny feeling Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. It is a beautiful shade of dark caramel, with a nice oily sheen to it without much tooth. The band is a very nice and understated design done in what looks to be a Ferrari red and gold pairing, with intricate embossed logos on either side of the main Four Crowns marking. The embossment on the right side is the Crowned Heads crossed-guns symbol, and on the right are three small lone stars. Of all the new cigars that have debuted recently, this is the one I’ve wanted to review the most. Its passion and story enthrall me to smoke this one, as I have long considered myself to be, how Jon Huber describes it, a “rebellious child, who evolved into an angry adolescent, and finally matured into an adult whose personality centered on excellence, confidence, and determination.” It sounds like just my kind of smoke.
A dry draw presents sweet woodiness that could be compared to a deep breath at a saw mill that hasn’t been run in 40 years. It has the definite complexity of cedar and ash, but without the sharpness that comes in fresh cut lumber. Smelling the foot provides the aroma of un-steeped Earl Grey tea bags. You even get the slight papery sweetness you find in your tea from the paper teabag.
Light: Wow. When blowing on the foot to check to see if the cigar is evenly lit, I am met with a mouth full of cream, almond, a bit of lingering spice at the back of the throat, and a wonderful hidden cinnamon note. Caramel starts coming through immediately on retro-hales and more leather starts to come to the forefront. I find very sweet and roasted flavors on smaller puffs, with larger draws producing a more floral flavor.
1/3rd: The first third really woody and full of a macadamia nut creaminess that coats the mouth. Surprisingly however, the taste doesn’t seem to over linger. It washes clean with a simple swallow or inhaled breath through the mouth. The leather on this one is thick and meaty. There is also a sweet floral component I have yet to nail down just yet. What is surprising to me so far about this cigar is the buttery smoothness of the smoke while being full flavored and relatively medium to full-bodied. As I near the end of the first third, I’m reminded of the Tatuaje Petite Black Label I reviewed recently. This cigar shares many of the same flavors for me, with the caramel flavor being more pronounced in the Four Kicks.
˝ Way: Dominant flavors of leather and roasted red bell pepper are most noticeable now. The bell pepper isn’t so much a flavor as it is a recognizable sweetness followed by a slight hint of spice. There is a bit of nougat that also finds its way onto my tongue in-between puffs. It is more of an aftertaste than a flavor to be found by puffing. Nearing the end of the first half, the cigar smoke starts to present some astringent like flavors when double puffing. The spiciness has subsided for the time being, and now is enjoying what I would call “wood heaven”.
Final 3rd. The final third starts off with a sweet nuttiness that I can compare to candied pralines. The spice has completely disappeared now, leaving me with wonderful warm, soothing touches of aged tobacco similar to a Saint Luis Rey. The cigar has developed very nicely, and has remained consistent in the areas of flavor and body. The complexity of this cigar is relatively deep; although there are more complex I’ve had in the past, albeit at a much higher price point. In a much appreciated find, the band comes off without hassle on this cigar. Something that far too many cigars fail to provide in my opinion, making the enjoyment you’ve had while smoking it dissipate when you go to remove the band, and end up struggling with it, making ash fall all over yourself.
Final Thoughts: For the money, I have yet to find a cigar that is as joy inducing as this cigar has been the past two hours. From the very get go I was surprised by the complexity of its character, the subtle undertones, and the development and marrying of the flavors found in the last few inches. I was also caught off guard by the amount of nicotine found within. This cigar made me a bit dizzy by the end of smoking, and required two glasses of water to remain hydrated properly. All in all, this is one of the best smokes I’ve had in a long time. The consistency in flavors made smoking it a pleasure and I look forward to reviewing the other Four Kicks vitoilas in the future. That being said, the roll did have a couple of soft spots and the ash didn’t hold on quite as sturdy as I like, but I don’t discount it in the quality department as it did not affect the burn character or flavor in any way. In my opinion, if you have the opportunity and a couple of bucks, do yourself a favor and grab a Four Kicks as soon as you can, as I can see this one being a fast seller.
For the full review, high resolution pics, and the final score, head over to The Daily Tobacconist
[Reply]
Originally Posted by Bad Finger:
I use four wheels for my comparisons usually that can all be found on google if you are so inclined.
The Tea Tasting Wheel, a Chocolate Tasting wheel, a Coffee tasting wheel, and finally a Cigar Tasting Wheel. Sometimes, when I find a taste that is hard to describe the specific flavor, I take a puff, close my eyes, and imagine it. If that doesn't jog the memory, I tend to use the wheels to help me classify the type of flavor I am tasting.
Let me give a bit of backstory. My grandfather was a rancher/butcher in the Spokane Valley from 1905 through the 1960's, and when I was old enough I decided to go to Culinary School (after the first dot.com crash of the late 90's). My specialty was as a Saucier (Sauce-eee-ay: The person who makes the sauces in a classic French kitchen) and butcher (still have my great grandfathers scimitars from Solingen, Germany 1890's). We were trained in school to be able to taste a sauce from a tasting spoon and be able to break the taste and aroma down into individual components (similiar to how a dog tastes its food). I seemed to be more adapt to this than most of my peers, and decided to use my palette torwards tasting instead of preparing after I graduated. I started out writing about wines in the Willamette Valley region here in Oregon, doing write ups for the Internationl Pinot Noir Celebration in MacMinnville, Oregon, and a few other wineries that I had friends working at.
For the past three years I've been keeping a journal for my tasting notes, often spanning 5-6 pages each. When I began to run out of space, my wife suggested putting my thoughts online to save paper. A week later when explaining the situation to my buddy who is a cigar reviewer for the Examiner.com, he said he also thought it was a good idea as I have very detailed descriptions of flavors that he thought people would enjoy reading. So in December of 2011, I decided to finally put my money where my mouth is (literally) and start a review site. So far we have had wonderful success I feel, with feedback from every cigar manufacturer we've reviewed so far.
We just hope that the people who like to buy cigars find our write-ups to be honest, detailed, and descriptive. Anything after that is just bonus plume.
:-)
[Reply]
:-)