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Cigar Review: Crowned Heads Four Kicks Corona Gorda

12 Nov 2013

I once tried smoking my way through a large number of La Flor Dominicanas. Of course, with so many lines, new releases, and limited editions, there was no way I’d get them all.

With Crowned Heads, it’s a much different story, although I still may not make a sweep. That’s because of special editions, such as Mule Kick and Drumstick, that aren’t easy to find. But I can certainly get through the standard lines: Four Kicks, Headley Grange, and J.D. Howard Reserve.

Four Kicks is rolled in the Dominican Republic by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo and was Crowned Heads’ debut production after Jon Huber left CAO and formed the new company.

The Corona Gorda measures 5.6 inches long with a ring gauge of 46. Retail is about $7 individually and $150 for a box of 24. The binder and filler are Nicaraguan and the wrapper is an Ecuadorian Habano.

As with much of Crowned Heads, there’s an interesting mix of old and new. For example, the name comes from a Kings of Leon song, while the intricate red and gold embossed band wouldn’t look out of place on a mid-century Cuban.

I smoked a couple of Four Kicks not long after they came out a couple of years ago—check out the 4.5-stogie review by Patrick S. from that time—but only recently devoted the care and attention necessary to do a review. As you’d expect, the basics are well covered: construction, draw, burn, and smoke production are first-rate. Every one I’ve smoked has performed the same.

When it comes to taste, Four Kicks is a bit different. There’s a range of spices but little of the pepper often associated with Nicaraguan tobacco. While some elements, such as a sweetness, appear and disappear, complexity is achieved more by a variation of the intensity of the spices as you smoke. The finish is light and smooth. I found lighting with a cedar spill successful as the woody flavor mixes well with the spices.

The best compliment I can give Four Kicks is the more of them I smoke, the more I enjoy them. For me, the Crowned Heads Four Kicks Corona Gorda earns four stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

4 Responses to “Cigar Review: Crowned Heads Four Kicks Corona Gorda”

  1. Cigar Seeker Wednesday, November 13, 2013 at 2:41 pm #

    It is interesting that you would decide to take on a cigar that was also reviewed by another Stogie Guys blogger. Are there other cigars that have received multiple reviews here?

  2. George E. Wednesday, November 13, 2013 at 2:59 pm #

    Yes, there are a few. We don't really shy away from doing the same cigar, though it happens only occasionally. I don't know how you'd be able to search for that, though. Any thoughts from a computer savvy reader?

  3. Lionel Thursday, November 14, 2013 at 9:03 pm #

    overrated cigar IMO

Trackbacks and Pingbacks

  1. Cigar Review: Crowned Heads J.D. Howard Reserve HR46 | The Stogie Guys - Wednesday, December 11, 2013

    […] review, my third for regular Crowned Heads lines (see my reviews of Four Kicks and Headley Grange here and here), focuses on the most unusual. The cigar is definitely different, one that didn’t […]