The Crowned Heads Four Kicks Capa Especial

By Tony Casas | December 7, 2020

As we close in on the holiday season I find myself out back enjoying what time I have with great weather before it becomes too cold for us desert folk. This week’s treats include a Crowned Heads Capa Especial paired with a bottle of Cigar City Brewing Hunahpu Imperial Stout.

The Good Stuff:

I have been a huge fan of Crowned Head’s Four Kicks line every since it was originally released so you can imagine my excitement when a four version, the Capa Especial was announced this year with joined the ranks of: Four Kicks, Four Kicks Maduro, and Four Kicks Mule Kick LE. The cigar is rolled at E.P. Carillo’s Tabacalera Alianza in the Dominican Republic utilizing an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and a mixture of Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. The Capa Especial is offered in a single 5 5/8 x 46 format, packed in boxes of 24 running $8.65 a stick. Huge thanks goes out to my guy JG for hooking it up with a handful of ’em!

• Size: 5 5/8 x 46
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Dominican / Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Full
• Price: $8.65
• Pairing: Cigar City Brewing Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout (Imperial Stout 11.6% ABV)

Prelight:

The Crowned Heads Four Kicks Capa Especial starts out with a very deep, dark brown wrapper that shines maroon in the sunlight. The wrapper’s texture is slightly toothy with a ton of oils coating it. The wrapper itself is very thick, and dense while the cigar carries no soft-spots and feels very tightly packed. There are a few mild veins and a good amount of natural tobacco webbing in the wrapper leaf leading up to the cigar’s round, double-wrapped cap. The cigar is then polished off with the traditional Four Kicks band only this variant comes in purple and gold with the additional of a gold foot band carrying the Crowned Heads crest.

The wrapper on the Crowned Heads Four Kicks Capa Especial gives off a mixture of musk and barnyard aroma while the foot of the cigar carries a bit of a sweet aroma with notes of earthiness and spice. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produced notes of oak, musk and prune.

First Third:

The Crowned Heads Four Kicks Capa Especial starts out with a blast of pepper that left my tongue and lips tingling. After the first few draws the pepper subsided and I was left with and awesome musk-forward flavor profile containing pecan, raisin, dark chocolate, oak, and black pepper. The draw is absolutely incredible as every little puff I take kicks out massive clouds of thick, white smoke which hangs around for what feels like forever before dissipating while the cigar releases very small amounts of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Crowned Heads Four Kicks Capa Especial and the pecan flavor is now leading the charge backed by bold musk and oak over softer chocolate and raising notes. This is a great tasting cigar. The retrohale really brings out the pepper that has since exited the experience so I don’t find myself doing that too often. The cigar has been burning like a dream and I haven’t had to reach for my torch yet. I close out the second third with a little bit of a nicotine kick already.

Finish:

Not much has changed in the final third of the Crowned Heads Four Kicks Capa Especial and that’s a good thing. The pecan and musk are still at the head while chocolate, oak, and raisin are all hanging out mixing it up. It took me an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I just wished it lasted a bit longer. I experienced no harshness, nor any extended heat and never once had to reach for my torch to touchup or relight the cigar.

Overview:

It’s no surprise that I absolutely loved this cigar. The Crowned Heads Four Kicks Capa Especial falls right in line with the rest of the portfolio. The cigar absolutely delivered on both taste, complexity, and overall smoking experience. It’s very likely that this one will fall in my top 10 cigar list as its one of the best cigars I have smoked all year.

Pairing:

Today’s pairing takes a look at a beer that should be either in any stout lover’s cellar, or on their radar. Cigar City Brewing’s Hunahpu’s Imperial stout is a 11.6% brewed with Cinnamon, Vanilla, Cacao Nibs and Chile Peppers. The beer leads with a nice dry cinnamon backed by a ton of dark chocolate, roasted malt, pecan, and toffee with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with more chocolate, vanilla, and a very nice, light Chile flavor. This beer is wonderful and the flavors married up beautifully with the Crowned Heads Capa Especial without overpowering the cigar. The cigar itself added a bit of sweetness to the dryer beer resulting in a beautiful pairing.