Juarez Cigars

The guys and gals at Crowned Heads teamed up with the (still) relatively unknown Tabacalera Pichardo in Estelí, Nicaragua for this more affordable cigar line. The idea was to create a budget-friendly alternative to the already established and very popular Jericho Hill cigars. In the U.S., this line is an in-house brand of Thompson Cigars, one of the major online retailers, which was acquired by STG (Scandinavian Tobacco Group) in 2018. This conglomerate also includes the number one in the U.S. market, the mail-order company Cigars International. Interestingly, former STG employees are now once again producing cigars exclusively for STG – so maybe that separation back then wasn’t quite so dramatic after all!

San Andrés Meets Sumatra: Complex Tobacco Blend from Mexico, Ecuador, and the Caribbean

Tabacalera Pichardo is now the fourth manufacturer Crowned Heads has partnered with. Until now, all Crowned Heads cigars were produced either at Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr. in the Dominican Republic, or by My Father Cigars S.A. (Don Pepin Garcia) and Jonathan Drew’s Drew Estate in Nicaragua.

From Drew Estate to La Alianza: Crowned Heads Relies on Renowned Manufacturers

These cigars use a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, a Sumatra leaf from Ecuador as the binder, and filler tobaccos from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Our colleague Charlie Minato from the U.S. blog Halfwheel.com wrote the following tasting note: “…Retrohales are equally as flavorful as they are bizarre: Dijon mustard, floral, a bit of onion powder and some crushed peanuts.” Wow, we definitely didn’t get any of that. Our tasting cigars simply tasted like “pure tobacco” – which is exactly what they’re supposed to. Harmonious, with a touch of natural sweetness and without any dominant pepper or bitter notes, they make for a very pleasant and mild companion at any time of day.