Crowned Heads: Headquarters Sneak Peek

After completing the interview last Saturday, I caught a ride over to the new headquarters of Crowned Heads with Jon. My camera man had a rental car and we couldn't smoke in it, but fortunately Jon has no problem smoking in his vehicle. As he said, "What kind of cigar guy would I be if I didn't smoke in the car?" Actually, because of the no-smoking policy of the landlord of the new building, Jon told me he ended up doing quite a bit of "product sampling" in his vehicle while driving around.

He describes the new HQ as a "work in progress," and that is a very honest assessment. At present, Jon and the rest of the Crowned Heads team are working on temporary tables with few decorations on the walls, but the feel is that of an empty canvas and I look forward to seeing how the place takes shape over the coming months.

Without further ado, here is the video we shot at the new HQ (I do apologize if some of the sound is not great, but we elected not to go mic'd for this):

A couple other items of interest that came up during off-camera conversation:

The next few months will include Jon and Mike Conder interviewing potential manufacturers for the cigar line they will sell. A few prominent names were discussed and trips are already in the works, but Jon expressed a desire not to be the "sixth or seventh company" that a factory is contracted to do work for, and have to stand in line behind the other five or six for the finest product.

Crowned Heads will definitely be considered "boutique" in size and will start off with a very limited retailer network.

I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank Jon Huber for all the time he spent with us last Saturday at the cigar shop and the new office space. (And if you missed the interview, check it Part 1 and Part 2) Check out Crowned Heads' website, which includes the blog where he will be posting updates to the company's progress in creating their first cigar; you can find them, too, on Twitter and Facebook.

Thanks to Big Ivann (not his real name) for handling the lighting and videography duties (and for the use of his camera).

Thanks to UPtown's Smoke Shop and manager, Scott Partridge, for giving us the space to shoot the interview in. [Plug Time] If you're in the Nashville area, you really should take the time to drop in on UPtown's. They have an excellent cigar selection as well as a vast array of pipes and pipe tobacco...and old-time shaving equipment for those of you who don't grow a beard! They are located at 4001 Hillsboro Pike and their phone number is 615-292-6866.

I'd also like to direct you to a couple other blogs that have recently done interviews with Jon Huber...check out Toasted Foot's 3-part in-depth interview (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) as well as G.C. Puff's conversation about "the man, not the business."