A Four Kicks with Jon Huber
Jon Huber made a visit to the Cigar Aficionado offices the other day. It had been far too long. Jon had been a principal at C.A.O. International Inc., and he left that company to form Crowned Heads LLC. Jon has been busy working with the rest of the Crowned Heads crew on Four Kicks, their first brand, which debuted late last year.
It’s a fine cigar brand, made by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo in the Dominican Republic. It’s Ernesto’s first brand made under contract for someone else.
Jon was in town to give Greg Mottola and myself a first look at the newest size in the Four Kicks line. In previous blogs I remarked how it was brave and bold for Huber and company to come out with old school cigar sizes that eschew the thick cigars so popular today. This new size, called Selección No. 5, is the thinnest yet.
The cigar is 6 1/2 inches long by 44 ring gauge, which would be classified as a lonsdale in our taste tests. The samples were stunning, really well made with mounted heads, beautifully stretched Ecuadoran Habano wrappers, Nicaraguan binders and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos. They were young, but tasty, with almond flavor, with a touch of cedar and nutmeg. As it burned, it grew earthier, and remained very balanced and easygoing.
As we smoked, I turned on the video camera and let Jon describe the Four Kicks philosophy, and to talk some more about the new cigar. Take a look.
Four Kicks had a strong debut in the December 6 Cigar Insider, with an 88, two 90s and a 91-point score for the Corona Gorda. Look for a tasting of this new size, which should be out by mid-April, in an issue.
Jon had more to say about future plans for Crowned Heads, which you can read about in Tuesday’s Cigar Insider, along with more details about this particular cigar.
