It’s Monday, January 15, 2024, and Nashville just received its first snowfall of the season. This wasn’t just your typical snowstorm; it was more snow than Nashville reportedly receives in a typical year. This news-worthy event has Jon Huber, the co-founder of Crowned Heads, working from home rather than in the company’s Nashville headquarters, reminiscing on his company’s past and sharing details on its future.
Much like that January snowstorm that shut down Nashville, Crowned Heads’ rise to fame within the premium cigar industry has been anything but typical. It was in 2011 when Huber and his business partner, Mike Conder, first launched their company after their former employer, CAO, was acquired. Immediately, the two went to work on the company’s mission statement, which can be summarized as “…producing cigars of artisanal quality that are defined by a combination of excellent flavor, balance, and consistency.”
“The vision really hasn’t changed at all since 2011,” Huber shares from his kitchen on this snowy January day. “Where we went in a different direction that I didn’t think we would go was with the addition of the annual limited editions. Initially, I set out to just create brands; I was under the pretense in my mind that I would create one brand every year or two and ‘let’s build those brands and go forward and conquer it.’ Quickly, we saw that the marketplace was shifting, and people wanted to see new things.”
Since that 2011 launch, Crowned Heads has served up new things regularly. It is hard to compare Crowned Heads to any other premium cigar brand because, as Huber’s mantra goes, his company has always set out to carve its own path. In addition to being the company’s co-founder, Huber has taken on a creative director’s role since day one and draws inspiration from the most unlikely places. If you think Crowned Heads markets, promotes itself and acts differently from your typical premium cigar brand, you wouldn’t be wrong. Huber has drawn inspiration from other industries and sources, such as the craft beer movement, where those within it were continually searching for new releases.
Mule Kicks, Las Calaveras, Mil Días, Juárez and La Vereda are just a few of the releases from Crowned Heads that have helped grow the company and strengthen the entire cigar category. Huber, Conder and the rest of the team at Crowned Heads have never been afraid to push the envelope as they’ve blended tradition with innovation. Just how has Crowned Heads gotten to where it is today? How does Huber continue to innovate and keep things fresh? What’s behind Crowned Heads’ mass appeal? Jon Huber had much to say on these and other topics as he revisited the past and hinted at what was to come in the future.
Visionary Team Work
When Huber and Conder set out to create their own brand, both men knew they wanted to do something different from what was already available on store shelves. Conder, who had been Huber’s supervisor at CAO, knew he would be good at managing the logistics of the business. Huber was given the creative reins of the company and quickly understood what he was bringing to the table.
“I’ve always been more like the creative director at a fashion label as opposed to the guy that’s making things,” Huber explains. “As far as staying in that creative mindset, I don’t think it’s something you can do intentionally. You have to be at a point where you’re receiving; you’ve dumbed down your mind enough to receive the creative from outside of you.”
Huber draws inspiration from music, film and art. Take the company’s name, a deep-cut reference from The Wizard of Oz. He also wanted to create a brand that could evolve and would not be limited by its name over time. “I wanted something ubiquitous and ambiguous enough that it could apply to whatever. Crowned Heads could be a spirit; it can be a coffee; I wanted to have that latitude to create.”
Creating is just what Huber has been able to do over the years with the help of some key partners and individuals. One key figure in Crowned Heads’ story and in Huber’s life is E.P. Carrillo’s Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, famed cigar maker and owner of Casa Carrillo, formerly known as Tabacalera La Alianza, in the Dominican Republic. Crowned Heads’ Four Kicks brand is handcrafted there, as is one of the company’s most recent releases, La Vereda.
“A vast majority of our cigars are made with Ernesto. A lot of it has to do with relationship and trust,” Huber explains. “Ernie [Ernesto] is family to me. He’s always asking about my family, and he and I are like family. I love working with Ernesto. There’s a huge trust and relationship factor. If there’s anyone that’s on a Mount Rushmore of cigar makers, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo is definitely one of those up there.”
Gustavo Cura is another person who played a vital role in getting the brand off the ground in those early days, Huber reveals. As time progressed, Cura went on to run NACSA, a prominent cigar factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. Huber would later work with Cura to craft Crowned Heads’ limited edition releases Le Pâtissier and Azul y Oro, and there’s another release in the works that may drop during this year’s PCA trade show.
Eradio Pichardo is another regular collaborator for Crowned Heads. At Pichardo’s factory, TacaNicsa, Crowned Heads’ Juarez and Mil Días are made. My Father Cigars, whom Tatuaje’s Pete Johnson introduced to Huber, is another manufacturing partner who has helped bring Huber’s visions to life. My Father Cigars produces several Crowned Heads cigar lines, including La Imperiosa, Jericho Hill and the annual Las Calaveras.
Closer to home, Crowned Heads has a dedicated sales team constantly on the road and interacting with retailers led by Miguel Schoedel. Then there’s Conder, Huber’s longtime friend and business partner, who prefers working behind the scenes. All of these individuals and others have helped expand on the vision Huber and Conder sketched out in 2011, and without them, the brand wouldn’t be where it is today.
A Personal Touch
From the over 33,300 Instagram followers to the constant flow of retailers at Crowned Heads’ booth each year at the annual PCA trade show, it’s not out of line to say Crowned Heads has something unique. One of those things is how Huber has carefully built Crowned Heads to be more than just a cigar brand; it’s a vibe all of its own.
“What makes our brand unique is the fact that we set out to create an aspirational brand. And by aspirational brand, I meant something that, whether somebody smoked cigars or not, they could aspire to the ethos of the brand,” Huber states. “I wanted to use Crowned Heads as an example. I wanted it to say, ‘Go out and follow your heart and do what you’re here to do.’ That’s what makes us different. I think people aspire to Crowned Heads’ ethos of ‘carve your own path.’ People definitely vibe with that message.”
Creating something to aspire to is a path that’s taken Crowned Heads from boutique status to one of the industry’s most well-known. Still, Huber is not ready to take a victory lap anytime soon. “I’m still waiting for that moment to say, ‘Oh, we made it!’ I think when you have that moment, you’re either about to sell the company or you’re going to retire because otherwise, what’s the point?”
Huber has no defined benchmark for when he will ever be able to proclaim that he and Crowned Heads had reached the level of having nothing more to accomplish. Worrying about Crowned Heads’ status in terms of “making it” isn’t something Huber says he spends much time on. He enjoys the journey and the work of continuing to develop the company’s vision and giving himself—and others—something to aspire to.
Despite going into its 13thyear in business, there’s still a lot of growth in store for Crowned Heads. Distribution continues to be a focus for Huber. The company has made reinvestments, including a number of new hires expanding its sales team. “That’s been our biggest thing: being able to get guys out there who will actually do what’s required. As we keep climbing through those barriers, it takes hiring more people.”
As much as Crowned Heads is in the business of premium cigars, it’s also easy to see how much of the company’s success relies not on the cigars it makes but on the relationships it forges with manufacturers, factories and consumers alike. Over the course of Crowned Heads’ impressive growth and evolution, Huber sets aside the time to handwrite thank-you notes to those who order the company’s swag items from its online store. He also maintains the company’s social media, personally making sure messages get responded to and posts are commented on and acknowledged, and that’s in addition to posting photos and videos regularly to keep Crowned Heads’ many fans in the loop of what’s new with him and the company.
There’s a lot that’s yet to be revealed that Crowned Heads will be releasing at this year’s trade show and beyond. But what Huber feels is most important to communicate to you, the reader of this article, and to those who have supported Crowned Heads over the years, is his sincere gratitude.
“I am grateful to everybody who will read this and for their support, from retail to consumers. A lot of people are very nice and thank us for doing what we do, and I’m like, ‘We couldn’t do it if it weren’t for people supporting it.’ That starts with retailers and is because of the consumers. So, thank you very much for letting us still do this for so long.”
Crowned Heads is a sponsor of this year’s PCA trade show. You can visit them at booth 11041.
– Photography by Kurt Ozan. Story by Antoine Reid, content director at Premium Cigar Association (PCA). You can reach him at [email protected].
This story first appeared in PCA The Magazine, Volume 1, 2024. To receive a copy of this magazine you must be a current member of PCA. Join or renew today at premiumcigars.org/membership.