La Imperiosa Staff Review
Today, I’m smoking La Imperiosa from Crowned Heads, a boutique brand based in Nashville, Tennessee. I’m enjoying a 5.5-by-54 size, called Dukes. This hearty Nicaraguan handmade is produced at the My Father Cigars factory in Estelí, Nicaragua, where it’s blended by renowned cigarmaker José ‘Pepin’ Garcia.
Jon Huber and Mike Conder founded Crowned Heads in 2011. Conder retired in 2025, but Huber runs the company with Tim Ozgener, whose family owned and operated CAO before selling the brand to General Cigar Company in 2007. Huber worked for the Ozgener family at CAO before establishing the Crowned Heads company. Huber contracts with a variety of well-known cigarmakers, such as Ernesto Perez Carrillo and Pepin Garcia, to blend and produce his cigars. He often pays homage to his favorite musicians, including Johnny Cash and Led Zeppelin, with his releases.
La Imperiosa features a robust blend of Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos tucked under an oily Ecuador Habano Oscuro wrapper. The 5.5-by-54 Dukes size glistens with a chocolate-brown luster when I open a fresh box and slide off the cellophane, revealing a dark, attractive smoke. The wrapper shows a few thin veins around the cigar’s firm structure when I gently pinch it. A tempting aroma of dried fruit, barnyard, and molasses emanates from the wrapper, while tasting notes of milk chocolate and cedar mingle with hints of cayenne pepper in the cold draw after I slice the cap with my guillotine cigar cutter.
For the Dukes, I’ve decided to toast the foot with a cedar spill to slowly draw out the cigar’s woody intonations in the first minutes of smoking. Abundant tasting notes of roasted nuts, fresh hay, and rye toast follow a strong showing of black pepper and charred oak. A touch of sweetness comes into play towards the end of the first half. A unique combination of flavors characterizes the cigar as it progresses, balancing earthy, vegetal notes with subtle sweetness.
The second half of La Imperiosa reveals a heavy profile of seared oak, blackened meat, mesquite, and spice. The cigar performs effortlessly, offering an even burn and a firm, white-and-gray ash forming in stable increments of a couple of inches. An underlying barbecue quality leaves an impression as I peel off the band and prepare to devour the nub. The Dukes burns cool thanks to its chunkiness, but La Imperiosa is an intense smoke blended by Pepin Garcia. Don’t tackle it on an empty stomach.
The final phase is powerful and earthy with a lingering nuttiness. If you enjoy potent Nicaraguan cigars with Cuban-seed wrappers, like My Father La Promesa, or the Oscuro wrapper on the original San Cristobal, La Imperiosa is worth a try.
For maximum enjoyment, I would pair La Imperiosa with a stiff bourbon, like Bulleit, Knob Creek, or Four Roses, around a bonfire after a cookout. La Imperiosa cigars are handcrafted in four popular sizes. Pick out your favorite and add a few to your next order while this small-batch boutique blend is in stock. Let us know what you think.
