It would not be too much of a stretch to say that Crowned Heads was spawned by CAO. Or, at least, by some of the former major  movers and shakers over at CAO. 

The year was 2011, and Mike Conder, the former Senior VP of Marketing for CAO, had just announced that he was forming his own cigar brand with another former CAO employee, Jon Huber. Conder and the former Director of Lifestyle Marketing had convinced a creative media manager and a graphic designer from CAO to join them, and with their help, Crowned Heads was launched.

But flip forward fourteen years, to the spring of 2025, and Mike Conder has retired from the cigar industry, relinquishing his role as CEO of Crowned Heads to a name some of you may recognize: Tim Ozgener. For those of you who are not familiar with this gent, it is worth noting that Tim emerged on the cigar scene by working closely with his father, Cano A. Ozgener, to run a little business bearing his dad's initials: CAO.

While that little nugget of information sinks in, we must mention that, yes, Conder, Huber, and Ozgener did work together at CAO Cigars for a number of years. Ozgener was also one of the first investors in Crowned Heads, back when the company was still percolating on the back burner. As the story goes, the boutique cigar brand side project was spawned by the sale of CAO to the Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) in 2007, at which point the writing was on the wall for the trio of cigar execs, and they decided to branch out on their own.

Currently, Ozgener is serving as the acting CEO over at Crowned Heads, while Mike Conder has become a consultant of sorts to the company. Furthermore, Ozgener's own line of smokes, OZ Family Cigars, is distributed by Crowned Heads, which explains why there is a cigar listed below bearing this information.

With our little history trip complete, it's time to take a closer look at the blends below, and to rewind the tape to PCA 2025, where we met up with Jake Sanders of Crowned Heads, to chat a bit about cigars and the industry in general.

Crowned Heads Mil Dias

As the story goes, this blend took nearly three years to perfect, or 1,000 days, which not so coincidentally, is what the words Mil Dias mean in Spanish. First released in August of 2020, this balanced blend has gone on to be one of the hottest sellers on the boutique cigar market, as it features an Ecuadorian habano wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder, and exotic fillers from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Peru.

An early standout in the Crowned Heads lineup, Mil Días offers a luxurious, medium-to-full-bodied smoking experience with a complex blend of flavors. Expect notes of milk cocoa, cinnamon-strong spices, coffee, and a touch of citrus, all wrapped in a flawless sun-grown wrapper. 

Crowned Heads Mil Dias Maduro

Serving as a bolder, maltier take on the original, the Mil Días Maduro delivers a rich, full-bodied experience that comes packed with depth and complexity. On the outside, this stick sports a medium-colored Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper that hails from the U.S.A. This is backed by an Ecuadorian habano-seed binder, and a filler blend constructed from tobacco grown in the Condega and Jalapa regions of Nicaragua, as well as the volcanic island of Ometepe.  

The result is a cigar with strong notes of dark chocolate, espresso beans, black pepper, molasses, leather, and dried stone fruits. This an excellent suggestion for those searching for a luxurious, fairly full-bodied after-dinner smoking experience that delivers a long, satisfying finish.

Crowned Heads Broadway

Broadway isn't just the latest and greatest smoke to be released by Crowned Heads, but it's also the first blend to showcase the company's all-new branding. Inspired by Nashville's happening Broadway party scene, this oily stogie delivers a refined, medium-full smoking session studded with rich notes of cream, cedar, subtle spice, and roasted tree nuts. This is one smooth, yet ultra flavorful premium cigar blend, and pairs perfectly with casual backyard barbecue parties and special occasions alike.

Taking a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper and draping it over a binder from Nicaragua, and then packing fillers from Estelí, Jalapa, and that island of Ometepe down in Nicaragua inside, this smoke promises to provide broadleaf fans one hell of a ride.

OZ Family Cigars Karatoba

Bold, rich, and unforgettable, Karatoba is a hybrid name that was created by Tim Ozgener to encapsulate the overall vibe of the blend. "Kara" is the Turkish word for darkness, while "Toba" is a nod to Lake Toba in Indonesia. Referencing the roots of his family's Turkish heritage, and then combining it with a tip of the hat to the seed strain that made the dark, oily cigar wrapper a reality is a pretty creative touch in our opinion. Almost as creative as the cigar itself. 

Karatoba marks the fourth installment in the regular production line from OZ Family Cigars, and its debut heralds a new standard for the company when it comes to full-bodied cigar complexity. Covered in an Ecuador-grown Sumatran seed wrapper leaf, and paired with a Nicaraguan binder and premium Nicaraguan and Dominican long fillers, this brand new blend is marketed for having a savory, spicy, and slightly sweet cigar flavor profile. That translates to seasoned meats covered in black pepper, maple syrup, and plenty of loamy topsoil, all encapsulated in a clean, medium-to-full-bodied stogie.

Tobacco Nerd Note: Be sure to check out the mini-series from Tim Ozgener called "Exploring My Father Cano’s Humidor" on his Instagram page. His late father's cigar collection was absolutely massive, and the treasures encapsulated within the confines of that personal walk-in humidor are nothing short of tobacco time capsules.