Staff, Author at Cigar Life Guy

Oscar Rodriguez: Beyond Smoke Towards Consciousness

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Staff

For Dr. Oscar Rodriguez of GTO Cigars, smoking is the cure. As someone from a long tradition of tobacco growers and cigar blenders, you should take his word for it. But don’t just offer him an infused cigar! Rodiguez talked to Cigar Life Guy about respecting the art of cigar blending, planning quality cigar events, and why everyone needs to calm down and “stay in their lane.”

Oscar Rodriguez’s First Premium Cigar

Cigar Life Guy: Tell me about your first premium cigar experience.

Oscar Rodriguez: It was on the family tobacco farm in the Dominican Republic. I was twelve years old, and it was our harvest dinner. I remember it was some Corojo because it was spicy. But it was a cigar my grandfather put together real quick. So, it was mild, but it wasn’t for me, my first time.

Consequently, I had been studying them, so I knew the process. I watched how they would draw and let the smoke move around their mouths. It was very similar to what they did when they drank wine. It was beautiful. I practiced in my mind. I knew one day this was going to happen.

Cigar-Making Tradition

Cigar Life Guy: You come from a long tradition of cigar-making. Tell us how you merge this tradition with creating new blends.

Oscar Rodriguez: I grew up being a blender. So, that was my superpower. My grandfather taught me that you have to work in different areas. So, we all learned how to select tobacco and do every process. We learned how to cure, ferment, and age. Then we learned how to roll. Once we were rolling, he picked out our best aptitude. Mine was always my tasting ability. I always had a different tasting ability. So, I became his blender, and I learned from him. He’d been blending in Cuba since 1930. It was beautiful to learn about art from him.

As I grew older, I loved to heal the land and animals, so I became a doctor. I intended to stay on the farm, which was big enough. We had horses and mules. And I wanted to do veterinary work, but I also wanted to treat humans. They have different bodies and skeletal masses, but it’s not that different.

As I grew wiser in medicine, my father and grandfather were still doing what they wanted to do. I would submit blends, and I had to correct them, fix them, and change them. But when they both passed away, I took over and started incorporating journeys. It’s like prescribing painkillers. (Laughs).

Smoking this cigar is like taking anesthesia. It’s so smooth. But if you smoke this cigar, it’s a cure. I created Hypnotic, which hypnotizes people. Being in the medical field, I want to describe your path and journey when creating a cigar.

Oscar Rodriguez Cigar Portfolio

Cigar Life Guy: Now, tell us a little about your cigar portfolio.

Oscar Rodriguez: It’s pretty extensive. In fact, many of our blends are very old. They’re traditional, very well-composed, and aged. So, it’s a long aging process for us.

We use our own proprietary tobacco, which is a novelty today. Every company out there is mixing because they believe that they have to source different shit to get different tastes. But they don’t have the resources.

Many people like the same thing. Usually, once a guy finds that brand, guys will stick to that forever. So, I don’t like changing it up. We have a mild, the Hypnotic, that’s a level one. An infused cigar was never a level. In fact, an infused cigar is never a cigar. (Laughs).

So, let’s establish that premise from the get-go. And the people who smoke them? I don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re not smoking. Actually, that has a different name. (Laughs). And I have yet to come up with one! But the Hypnotic is Level 1 — a mild smoke with a nice organic sweet tip. Then we have the Connecticut line, the Gold. After that, we have the Pain Killer Box Pressed Corojo, which is mild but spicy. So, you can grow into the other Pain Killers, all medium or medium plus. They’re different in the body.

People tend to confuse body with strength. The body is the weight of smoke and complexity. So, being full-body means having something completely changes three or four times. It’s not strength.

And we don’t do full strength.

Honduras and Nicaragua are notable for their strength. So, I can develop strength through aging, but it’s always a composed punch. And it’s never overbearing. To me, if you smoke, then you don’t want it to overwhelm you. So, you don’t want to start sweating or for it to make your heart beat. If it does, then you’re amping yourself up and that’s not smoking a cigar. In fact, you’re doing it all wrong.

Smoking cigars is one art where you cannot create your own rules. In fact, it has been done one way since 500 B.C. So, we’ll respect this art and tradition. Those that want to change it need to disappear.

If you turn smoking into a fad, then it means nothing. I tell everybody to respect the art because that’s how my legacy has continued for over 150 years. I’m the fourth generation, and the fifth generation is already stepping up. In fact, my daughters are raring to get going. Yet, even they respect the art. If you mess with it, it becomes nothing. It’s too beautiful and too easy. Why damage this?

The Cigar Community

Cigar Life Guy: You travel quite a bit and visit retail stores and cigar lounges worldwide. So, what makes the cigar community so unique?

Oscar Rodriguez: I love sharing. We stand on common ground. It’s beautiful to find these people. Some of the most incredible people are those who smoke.

But the ones who don’t smoke seem lost. They don’t flow. It’s like the guy who dances and can’t find his rhythm. When you smoke, you have “flow.” I always tell people, “How can I trust you if you don’t smoke a cigar?” (Laughs).

So, what’s the most beautiful thing about cigar smoking? If somebody asked me for ten dollars, I’d look at them and tell them to get a job. But I would give a guy a twenty-dollar cigar. You’re giving a euphoric pleasure.

It’s a beautiful community. We love each other. If someone has a flat on the side of the road and a cigar in his hand, then I’m pulling over.

GTO Cigars and Cigar Events

Cigar Life Guy: Your company likes to sponsor cigar events. Tell us about your most memorable event and what goes into making a great cigar event.

Oscar Rodriguez: Great planning is the most important thing. That sets everything apart. Too many people shoot from the hip and just throw it out there.

You can’t “wing” a great event. You have to know you’re providing a great event. But with all the accouterments, great libations, and hors-d’oeuvres, if you’re going to serve them, then serve the correct hors-d’oeuvres for cigar smoking. Consequently, if you’re going to eat fried chicken, you’re going to get grease all over your hands and fuck up your cigar! (Laughs).

Lower the music. I never work with a band. And if a band plays, then I shut down because we can’t talk to each other if I have to talk over the music.

Events are about chilling, proper planning, open air, being outside, or making sure that the space has a good filtration system. So, you don’t want to be in a smoke cloud. And if your eyes are burning, you won’t want to be there. The novelty of Dr. O is that I transform a rainy day into a sunny day. And I got the candy.

Oscar Rodriguez on Industry Challenges

Cigar Life Guy: What is the cigar industry’s biggest challenge today?

Oscar Rodriguez: The biggest challenge? There are a lot of people who have no credibility and are trying to stay in the forefront. Some people have no reason to be talking about this stuff. And there are way too many “influencers.” (Laughs). There are also too many people in the middle. Everybody is trying to make a dollar. But I don’t care about a dollar. I care about giving people an experience.

Do we need money? Yes, we need to pay the workers. But I’m not looking to become rich. Most people who do this try to fill their pockets at any expense. They’re producing a shit product that they’re overselling, or they have a great product that they got lucky with. So, there are too many people in the middle. We need to get back to quiet. Fewer people. Fewer people talking bullshit.

Everybody should stay in their lane. If you’re a consumer, then be a consumer. I’m an apex predator, but I’m not looking for fame. I still try to ride low. I don’t want to be seen. People could learn from that.

If you’re smoking a cigar, take the band off. I don’t care what you’re smoking. It doesn’t matter if you spent a hundred bucks. You’re burning tobacco leaves. (Laughs). If you want to throw away a hundred dollars, that’s fine. Let’s all check ourselves.

Ten or fifteen years ago, cigar smoking was something people only did in somebody’s backyard. Most people that are in the game now would have never had access. Lounges weren’t open to everybody.

Everybody needs to calm down and stop showing off. The first thing you see when someone has a cigar is they take a picture of themselves — a selfie. Selfie, Selfie, Selfie. I’m like, “What are you doing?” You see me taking pictures? I own the company. So, I could take my clothes off and dive into ten feet of tobacco, but I don’t do that. I take pictures for promotion.

Looking Ahead: Oscar Rodriguez and GTO Cigars

Cigar Life Guy: What’s next for GTO Cigars?

Oscar Rodriguez: We’re quietly steadily multiplying. We’re growing and coming to a town near you. We’re looking for global domination.

I want to increase awareness. My theme is to expand awareness of this wonderful passion by smoking high-quality tobacco and teaching people what’s good and what’s bad.

A lot of people have started smoking spam because a friend told them, “You gotta smoke this.” Do you know the owner? Then why are you beating your chest?

In Spanish, we say consencienizar, which means bringing consciousness. Teaching people this is good, this is bad. Learn it.

Smoke enough good cigars to learn what’s good.

Don’t trust everything you hear. You can doubt what I say but then doubt everybody. It will be hard for you when you get to the Dominican Republic and say, “Where’s Oscar’s farm?” Everybody will point South and say, “That’s the Rodriguez’s farm.” It’s 400 acres. You can’t miss it.

Check people on their bullshit. Anybody that shows up on my farm they’re going to work. We’re going to weed and feed (laughs). I’ll give them a cigar. That’s how it is.

We need more education and people to trust the right people. Look who’s talking. If we were talking about medicine, would speaking to a medical student or a guy working at a hospital be proper? Or would it be more prudent to speak to a physician? In the military, who talks? The highest rank. Everybody else shuts up and follows. There’s a reason for that.

When you have a producer, a manufacturer, not a brand owner. A brand owner can be Nelson’s plumbing. Nelson has fifteen plumbing trucks, and his hobby is smoking. He brings his shit in and calls it “Plunger,” and everybody says, “Smoke Plunger, Wow!” And now everybody is smoking Plunger, and I say, “But doesn’t it taste like shit?” I feel bad for these guys. No clue. I wish people would take the time to listen.

Follow Oscar on Instagram and learn more about GTO Cigars here.

Photo credit: Cigar Life Guy

Luis Cuevas of Casa Cuevas Talks Family and More

Posted on March 2, 2024 by Staff

From Spain to Cuba to the Dominican, the Cuevas family has been making cigars for over a century. Luis Cuevas of Casa Cuevas has proudly carried on the family tradition. He spoke to Cigar Life Guy about the pleasure of working with his father and son, the work that goes into the blending process, and the camaraderie that comes with living the cigar life.

First Premium Cigar

Cigar Life Guy: Tell me about your first premium cigar experience.

Luis Cuevas: My first premium cigar experience was in 1997 when the boom took off. Oddly enough, it wasn’t one of my cigars. It wasn’t a cigar that I was producing at the time. I didn’t have a brand, but my dad had the factory. We were producing for other people. So, I picked up a Macanudo Connecticut, the cigar to smoke back then. I was with friends who had been smoking cigars before I began smoking cigars-even though my dad had the factory. I should have smoked something that my father smoked (laughs), but I went to a shop and bought a Macanudo. We were hanging out, and after that, I kept on going. Look where I am now.

Casa Cuevas Cigars Are a Family Tradition

Cigar Life Guy: You come from four generations of cigar makers. What is it like following in your father and grandfather’s footsteps?

Luis Cuevas: Huge, huge shoes to fill. It’s a privilege, with my dad running the factory and my son helping out locally. It’s a blessing. How many people can say they work with their father and their son? I am super thrilled and super blessed. We try to keep business separate from family, so we don’t discuss business when we get together. We set aside time for it. For example, my dad is flying in tomorrow, and we won’t be able to discuss anything until Sunday morning. We’ll take about an hour or two and then be done. It’s regular family talk. We don’t try to mix the two. We keep things less job-like.

Merging Tradition with New Blends

Cigar Life Guy: Your family went from Spain to Cuba and eventually the Dominican Republic. Tell us how you merge the long cigar-making tradition with creating new blends.

Luis Cuevas: My great-grandfather emigrated from Spain to Cuba. My great-grandfather left the northern part of Spain, where he was a farmer, and went to Pinar del Rio, Cuba, a tobacco country. Since he had been a farmer in Spain, he became a farmer in Cuba, and the crop of choice was tobacco. So he kind of fell into it. Then, my grandfather took over and did very well.

Then, 1959 happened. By ’61, everything was confiscated, and he wound up going to the States in 1970. In 1983, my dad and my uncle decided to revisit the family business and opened up a factory in the Dominican Republic, and it’s been back and forth ever since. My uncle is no longer with us. My dad and I now have the factory. That’s the way it worked out. It came full circle. What my great-grandfather started in Cuba was reborn in the Dominican Republic.

New blends have been a lot of fun because my son is involved in the blending. As a younger palate, he has smoked a lot – a greater variety of cigars than I have. Because he worked at a major cigar retailer, he could smoke many different brands, and we incorporated that into the blending process.

The blending process is a lot of fun, but after a while, it becomes a lot of work because you go through ten or fifteen blends before you come out with something you like. If you smoke that much during a week, we’re talking a lot of cigars. It’s not a single malt. It’s not a puro. Let’s say the wrapper is from Ecuador or Mexico, and then the filler is anywhere from Columbia to Peru, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Pennsylvania. Everything is put together, like when you’re cooking. They’re ingredients. So we put them all together and create what we think the rest of the public will like. Keep our fingers crossed, and we will launch it. The transition wasn’t that tough because we had access to many different tobaccos from around the world and the factory and we just played around with the flavors.

A Little About the Casa Cueva Portfolio

Cigar Life Guy: You use tobacco from all over the world. Tell us a little about your factory process and the Casa Cueva portfolio.

Luis Cuevas: We initially started with a Connecticut, a Maduro, and a Habano. The Maduro is from Mexico. The Connecticut and Habano are from Ecuador. We started with those three wrappers because they were the best-selling in the United States. After that, we expanded into a couple of different vitolas. The Flaco 7×43. A shag foot 6×52. Eventually, we moved on to using Corojo, which we used for our Patrimonio. Then, last year, we launched our Cameroon, my son’s blend- Sangre Nueva- which means “new blood” because he’s the new blood from the family. (laughs). So, little by little, we’ve tried to use different wrappers to change the flavor profiles and to give the consumer various choices — a variety. You want to smoke a Connecticut? We’ve got it. You want to smoke a Cameroon? We’ve got it. You want to smoke a Maduro? We’ve got it — that kind of thing.

The Cigar Community

Cigar Life Guy: What is your favorite aspect of the cigar community?

Luis Cuevas: The camaraderie. Anywhere you go throughout the United States, and even the world, when you go to a lounge, they greet you like your family. They’ll say hello. They’ll always have a conversation. You sit around and talk to different people and get to know them; they come from all walks of life. You may be sitting next to a retired millionaire. Another guy is a student, and another guy is a dishwasher, and the one thing that brings everybody together is what you’re smoking.

If you want to level the playing field, just take off the band. That way, if a guy is smoking a house cigar because that’s what’s affordable to him and the other guy is smoking a fifty-dollar cigar, whatever that may be, once you take the band off, you’re just smoking a cigar. We’re breaking bread, so to speak. That’s my favorite part.

Any lounge we go to, everyone says hi. That’s the custom. If you’re by yourself, someone might call you over. I’m not talking about it as a brand owner but as a cigar smoker. We were in London at Fox’s, and they didn’t carry my cigar there. They had no idea who I was, but my wife and I went upstairs and conversed. It’s a unique type of thing. You don’t get it at a bar. You certainly don’t get it at a restaurant, but look at a cigar lounge, and you get that camaraderie.

Casa Cuevas Labor Challenges and The Sledgehammer

Cigar Life Guy: What is the cigar industry’s biggest challenge today?

Luis Cuevas: Well, it’s nice to know the FDA has stepped back a bit from crowding us. For a while, it got a little scary with all the rules and regulations. So that’s gone. The biggest challenge right now is rollers, which may surprise everyone. There needs to be more rollers for the Dominican, where we are, and Nicaragua and Honduras. So labor has become a challenge, specifically rollers. They work in pairs. One individual rolls the cigar, and the other puts the wrapper on, but both aspects have been a challenge the last year, and this year is not any better.

The Future for Casa Cuevas

Cigar Life Guy: What’s next for Casa Cuevas Cigars?

Luis Cuevas: Next, we are launching the Mandarria Oscuro, our 6×52. It means “sledgehammer”. The original one we launched in 2019 was a Habano. That cigar was born because we had a break-in at our local office here in Miami. They took a sledgehammer, broke into the back wall, cut into the humidor, and wiped us out. We tried to make light of it by coming out with a cigar that made fun of it when we went to the trade show that year in 2019. It was supposed to be a one-and-done, limited edition, but it took off and was no longer a limited edition; it was full-on production. This year, we came out with a Maduro version of it, an Oscuro. That’s the newest thing. We’re receiving our first shipment on Tuesday and will distribute it afterward. We’re excited about that project.

Cigar Life Guy: Have we missed anything? Please tell us anything else you’d like the cigar world to know.

Luis Cuevas: It’s an industry built on passion. It’s a kind industry. Everyone is here to help; we couldn’t do it without the consumers. When you see someone smoking your cigar, or they get to know you and say, “Hey, I like your cigars,” it’s a privilege. It’s an incredible privilege to be a part of someone’s humidor. There are a lot of choices out there, so if we’re just something they go to on occasion, it’s a privilege. It’s a people industry that’s what it’s all about.

Follow Luis on Instagram and check out the latest from Casa Cuevas here.

Photo credit: Casa Cuevas

6 Cigar Lounge Pet Peeves to Avoid

Posted on February 14, 2024 by Staff

The behavior of fellow patrons has peeved any regular cigar lounge goer at some time in their smoking career. Some of these things are so basic they often aren’t uttered aloud but are understood. Some folks need to catch up on the basics, so we’re writing them down. What are a few common cigar lounge pet peeves? Read on to see if you can relate to any of these. More importantly, if you’re new to the cigar scene, know what kind of behavior to avoid if you want to make a good impression.

Six Cigar Lounge Pet Peeves to Avoid

Curious about which pet peeves rank at the top of our list? Without further ado, here they are, compiled for your reading pleasure.

No Shoes

No matter how nice your socks are, please leave your shoes on in the cigar lounge for the love of all things holy. You aren’t at home. You are out at a public establishment. Wearing shoes — and socks — should be common sense, but enough people take shoes off that it is worth noting. Also, do you know how many establishments have signs that read: No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service? Also, some municipalities have statutory requirements for patrons to wear shoes. There isn’t some exemption for cigar smokers who wear shoes into the lounge that allows them to remove them. You have to keep the shoes on. You take your shoes off on the (commercial) airplane? Don’t do that either.

No Belt

Nobody wants to see your ass or your underwear. Wear a belt if an elastic waistband doesn’t keep your pants at your waist. Sidenote to newer, younger smokers: you are doing your best to “fit in” — the most counterproductive way to do that is to literally “show your ass” by not keeping your pants at your waist.

No Headphones

Nobody else should be subjected to both sides of your phone conversations and listen to whatever random videos you watch on YouTube or social media. Get a pair of headphones. If you make calls, even with headphones, be mindful of your noise level and consider moving briefly to make your call if appropriate.

Being a Cheapskate

Spend some money on something. Other articles delve more deeply into what’s appropriate or not regarding bringing your cigars to the cigar lounge. While we can also appreciate the importance of frugality, being “too cheap, too unwilling to spend money” in a cigar lounge is sure to spark pet peeves among regular patrons. The bottom line is to buy something and tip your server or bartender for the service they provide. This place does not run itself for free. And yes, the staff does talk amongst themselves and other patrons about cheapskates.

Political and Religious Talk

Have situational awareness of how you interact or converse with other patrons. Simply put, read the room and know your audience. If the place is relatively quiet, the rest of the lounge shouldn’t hear constant belly laughing, loud noise, yelling, or table slapping from your table. Conversely, if the overall noise in the lounge is higher, making a little more noise yourself is acceptable. As for conversation topics, stick to friendly topics. Smoking cigars should be relaxing. Most people aren’t looking for a political or religious debate. Avoid these topics unless you know the person you’re speaking to.

Wearing Fragrance

Fragrance of any form can interfere with a smoker’s overall enjoyment of a cigar and often tops the list of pet peeves for many cigar aficionados. Here’s why.

Some scents, like soap or deodorant, are challenging to eliminate and are generally acceptable. However, avoid heavy scents like cologne or perfume, which can overpower those around you or trigger allergies for others.

Even if scents or aromas don’t negatively impact you personally, respect for your fellow smoker in a social situation like a lounge dictates that you refrain from heavy fragrances. One of the best ways to draw attention to yourself as a “rookie” or “clueless” smoker is to show up smelling like a bottle of cologne. On the other hand, if you’re at your own home and want to drown yourself in odor and knock yourself out, you can even take off your shoes and forgo the belt.

The Final Word on Pet Peeves

Adapting to cigar lounge etiquette is necessary to promote peace, harmony, and balance for all cigar enthusiasts. Avoiding the above primary pet peeves will create a more enjoyable cigar lounge experience.

Photo Credit: Cigar Life Guy

Tobacco Kennedy on Cigar Life, Stogie TV and Magazines

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Staff

Surprisingly, Kennedy Achille, also known as Tobacco Kennedy or ‘T.K.,’ initially dismissed cigar smoking. However, as the story unfolds, the unexpected journey of Kennedy Achille into the world of cigars reveals a fascinating transformation. Once a friend introduced him to the cigar life, there was no turning back. From starting Stogie TV to launching Black Smoke Miami, T.K. has become a media force in the cigar industry and “filled a void” in the black cigar market. Today, T.K. talked to Cigar Life Guy about his journey from being a cigar novice to shooting documentaries for A.J. Fernandez and creating the first cigar magazine devoted to people of color.

Tobacco Kennedy: First Premium Experience

Cigar Life Guy: Before we delve into your journey, can you tell me about your first premium cigar experience?

Kennedy Achille: My first premium cigar experience was at a cigar lounge called Stix in Dania, Florida. I used to fight about cigars with my best friend Alonzo all the time. I didn’t smoke then, and he used to smoke cigars in the backyard all the time. We were roommates, and I’d tell him to keep it away from the house. He would say, “One of these days, you’re going to end up smoking a cigar.” Then I would say, “Yeah, I don’t see that happening. Good luck.” I went into the cigar shop (Stix), and it was a horrible experience because I covered my nose, thinking, “What is this place?”

I was anti-cigar smoking and anti-smoking anything. Next thing you know, Alonzo tells me, “Stop being a little bitch”. So he gave me a Connecticut cigar, the lightest of the light, a house blend. After the first hit, I looked at him and said, “Man, is this what I have been missing out on?” The next day, I came home with a thousand dollars worth of cigars. I was hooked. But here’s the crazy part. They weren’t premium cigars (laughs). It was a thousand dollars worth of house blends and infused cigars. So I’m walking around like I’m the damn man with a chocolate-infused cigar (laughs).

I elevated myself to this cigar shop (my favorite in the United States), Cuenca’s, in downtown Hollywood. I walked in, chest out like I knew everything about cigars, and purchased a Java (laughs). The owner, Miguel, a legend in the cigar game, was an old-school Cuban. It’s a tiny shop, and I light my cigar. In broken English, I hear Miguel say, “Who in the hell is smoking a chocolate cigar?” Everybody was looking around, and I immediately dropped my cigar, and one of the guys slipped me a New World. I had no clue. It was a New World by A.J. Fernandez. It blew me away. First of all, it was intense. I had just graduated from infused not even a year into cigars, and I was smoking my first premium, an A.J. Fernandez.

Tobacco Kennedy and Cigar Life

Cigar Life Guy: How did you get into the cigar industry? Additionally, what did you do before, and how does it help inform your current endeavors?

Kennedy Achille: I got picked up by A.J. (laughs). I also got hooked on the cigar experience. I initially thought there were only a few lounges in Florida, and friends had to tell me, “No, there’s a lounge over here; there’s a lounge over there.” The next thing I knew, I was jumping from lounge to lounge to lounge. And I thought people didn’t know enough about all these places, so I grabbed a camera and created this platform called Stogie T.V. — a YouTube channel that showcases the world of cigars.

I started going from cigar shop to cigar shop, but I wasn’t charging anyone. I just asked if I could promote their lounge and film it. In exchange, I’d get a cigar. And that’s precisely how it went. I started getting views, but they differed from what it was about then. I just wanted to do it. It grew and grew.

I went to the Great Smoke in Boynton Beach, Florida, and heard my name called out. It was a rep from A.J. Fernandez, and I didn’t know who that was then. They said, “We know who you are. We love what you do with social media. Come by the office. We want you to film in Nicaragua.” I thought they were pulling my leg. Nope. The following week, I went to the office. All types of gifts — shirts, hats, cigars, cutters, lighters, and boom, I’m on a plane to Nicaragua.

They were for real. So I did the documentary on the A.J. Fernandez facilities in Nicaragua, and when I came back to the States, the doors of the cigar industry blew open. That’s when it took off. I started getting brand calls asking, “Whose cigar are you smoking during your podcast? Whose shirt are you wearing? What cutter and lighter are you using?”

What made it so unique was that I was the only black doing it then. At my first trade show, you could count the amount of blacks on one hand. Now, we flipped the ground, but I was the only one media-wise back then. You had the legendary Sean Williams. Scott Chester. I remember a few faces: Cigar Mike. He’s my mentor. But at that time, it was rare for a media outlet to pump this kind of content. For a black guy to be in Esteli, Nicaragua, at A.J. Fernandez facilities and his house filming? It was unheard of. It opened everyone’s eyes, and I became the poster child, media-wise, for the black cigar industry. That’s how that took off.

Behind the Name: From Tobacco Kennedy to T.K.

Cigar Life Guy: As we explore your background, could you share how and when you acquired the nickname ‘T.K.’ (Tobacco Kennedy)?

Kennedy Achille: That happened in 2017. It was just “Hey, T,” and I was like, “What is T?” and they’d say, “Tobacco.” Then it was “Hey, K” and “Hey, T.K.”. And I was like, what is this? And they would say, Tobacco Kennedy. I had people calling me “Stogie,” “T,” “AT,” and “ATK.” I just accepted it and ran with it; I responded no matter what they called me, but “T.K.” is what stuck, so T.K. it is.

Educating the Cigar World and

Cigar Life Guy: You started Stogie T.V. and have written books for the cigar smoker. So, why is it important to educate the cigar world? Can you also describe the joy you get sharing your knowledge of something you love?

Kennedy Achille: I firmly believe that the more you know, the more you buy. At that time, there was such a vast amount of tobacco, and I didn’t know all the tobacco that was out there. I was only familiar with two or three brands, and when I got to the trade show, I was like, “Who are all of these people?” Who is this Rocky guy, Drew Estate, Avo, and who are these Padron people? I was blown away. When I realized people should have been more educated, I took it to heart. I thought, let me be a springboard, and I ran with it. Educating people on “this is this” and “this is that”. The result is that the more you know, the more you buy.

Tobacco Kennedy on Black Smoke Miami

Cigar Life Guy: The Black Smoke Miami is becoming a legendary event. How did you develop the idea, and what makes it such a unique event?

Kennedy Achille: The Black Smoke Miami filled a void. More blacks were watching my platform. More blacks were getting involved in various positions, working in lounges and becoming podcasters. I am following my blueprint and creating their blueprint. But there was still no cigar event that showcased people of color. I took a leap of faith.

At that time, I met people who owned lounges, cigar brands, or just regular people who enjoyed cigars. I wondered why there was not an event that catered to the black market. So, I created it by taking a leap of faith in 2017 and launching the event. My idea took off like wildfire and became the first cigar event that showcased people of color. It was a beautiful thing. In the first year, 800 people showed up. The following year, it jumped to 1,500. In the third year, there were 6,000 attendees. It blew out of control.

Founding the Black Smoke Magazine

Cigar Life Guy: As the founder and publisher of Black Smoke Magazine, you play a pivotal role. So, why is it essential to provide a platform for the Black cigar community?

Kennedy Achille: We do everything like everyone else does. But there needed to be a platform. There was no showcase. There was no black cigar magazine. The blacks you saw on Cigar Aficionado cover, such as Michael Jordan. Great, but we can’t relate to Michael Jordan. We’re not all multimillionaires. I wanted to put someone on the magazine that we can relate with. Someone that we can touch and feel, and that you see and can say, “Hey, I know that person.” I want someone we can relate with, even from a distance, like, “Wow, they’re from Tampa, or they’re from Georgia.” Someone you can say, “When I get there, I can meet them.” You won’t go to Chicago and say, “Hey, Mr. Jordan.” But it’s not going to happen. (Laughs). So, I created the platform because I needed to fill a void.

Cigar Life Guy: What have been your favorite feature stories and collaborations for the magazine so far?

Kennedy Achille: I’d have to go with the first feature story for the magazine. It featured Christine Morgan out of Atlanta, Georgia. With her mobile cigar lounge, a black woman makes big waves in the cigar industry. She has a huge mobile cigar lounge. In fact, it’s so big she hauls it with an F350. And for a woman, a black woman, in the cigar industry to do that was beautiful. But once again, what magazine was knocking on her door or our door to say, “Hey, we want to feature you”?

Cigar Wealth Spoiler Alert

Cigar Life Guy: As we wrap up our discussion, could you share what’s next for you?

Kennedy Achille: Spoiler alert. (Laughs) You got the exclusive. My new book is “Cigar Wealth”; it’s a book on how the cigar industry got to where it is. I teach those same methodologies to people who want to start their businesses. So, there are a lot of strategies and techniques that the cigar industry uses, and as an entrepreneur, one of the hardest things to do is to grow. I learned so much from the cigar industry. I put all those experiences and techniques into the book and applied them to entrepreneurship. Cigar Wealth will be available on March 1.

Cigar Life Guy: Have we missed anything? Finally, please tell us anything else you’d like the cigar world to know.

Kennedy Achille: You grow. I’m growing. In fact, I was the last human being to interview Orlando Padron. He taught me so much about growing. And you always learn something new. Even when I was interviewing him before his passing, he was still learning about tobacco. So I said, “But you’re Orlando Padron, The God of cigars!” (Laughs). You know, we grow every day. Although I have a new book coming out soon, who knows what will occur from that over the next ten years? All I know is I’m here to stay, and I’m here to grow.

Check out the latest from TK (Tobacco Kennedy), Black Smoke Miami, and Black Smoke Magazine here.

Photo credit: Kennedy Achille

From Passion to Principle Cigars: Darren Cioffi’s Cigar Journey

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Staff

The founder and owner of Principle Cigars, Darren Cioffi, may not remember his first premium cigar experience, but his extraordinary designs and extensive portfolio are challenging to forget. Cioffi, a self-proclaimed “paper” guy and cigar guy, entered the cigar life by collecting vintage cigar bands. His love of cigars grew with his passion for antique graphics and design. He talked to Cigar Life Guy about the joys of appreciating aesthetics, the pains of competitive slow smoking, and bringing the Principle brand home to the United States.

First Premium Cigar Experience

Cigar Life Guy: Tell me about your first premium cigar experience.

Darren Cioffi: I don’t have one. I am trying to remember when my first cigar was. There was no “aha” moment. I just eased into it. It was a result of travel and being around people who were into smoking and working in the Caribbean. It just became something I was doing. I honestly do not remember.

Vintage Labels and Design

Cigar Life Guy: Your interest in history and antiques started in high school. Tell us how you found vintage cigar labels and the tobacco industry.

Darren Cioffi: I started as a high school sophomore and dealt with three-dimensional things like clocks and books. I was doing more and more of that on Long Island, where I grew up. After that, I started selling at the 26th Street Antique Market in New York City on the weekends.

During the week in the summer, I started going down to Pennsylvania to the markets and the auctions to look for stuff to sell in New York. It was before I could drive, and I was in PA somewhere. My mother was driving me, and she saw this goofy shop and said, “Hey, why don’t you check out that place?”. I said, “No, just keep driving. You never find anything in shops.”

To this day, I don’t know why she insisted (she didn’t care about this stuff), but finally, I said, “Yeah, let’s check it out.” I went in and just got lost.

The guy was a paper dealer, and my life changed then. I went 100% into paper. That looks like advertising artwork, financial documents, stocks and bonds, autographs, and photography. But one thing that guy mainly had was cigar labels. The labels immediately fascinated me. They were a hundred years old and were Stone Lithographs. The cigar labels were stunning and rare, even though you could find them in groups.

I just went hardcore. From there, I started going to Europe looking for cigar labels and then going around the Caribbean. While there, I started smoking cigars.

It all happened at the same time. I was buying and selling tobacco-related artwork, and I also started dealing in vintage cigars, mostly because I was interested in the packaging and the design. Then, I realized that people were smoking that stuff, too.

The 1870s to 1930s is vintage to me. It’s a passion that grew simultaneously on all fronts. These days, I’m mainly dealing with other paper, not so much cigar stuff, but I’m still acquiring it. I have an enormous amount of it. I’ll start working through and selling some of that stuff someday.

Principle Cigars Band Designs and Presentations

Cigar Life Guy: You dealt with tobacco artwork before you smoked cigars, and Principle Cigars’ band designs and presentation are innovative and distinct. Why are aesthetics as essential to branding as taste?

Darren Cioffi: I’m a guy who is into antique graphics first and cigars second. From that perspective, I know more than what’s sound design and what’s terrible design. I know what works from a collector’s perspective. I understand what people desire and what they want to own in terms of graphics. Much of that translates to our inspiration for brand design.

We always create products that look like they could be from a certain period, not just in the period’s style. Many people who know us think, “Oh, Principle Cigars is Art déco” because our Aviator series is Art déco. It’s true, but even within Art déco, many schools exist. Aviator is American late 1940s industrial era Art déco, whereas Accomplice is more 1930s French style with some Art nouveau holdovers. Petits Provocateurs is a hardcore French turn-of-the-century Art nouveau, like perfume model branding. Angelique is 1960s style. Martinique is 18th Century Island Colonial.

We work with many styles and stay as accurate to them as possible. We desire to make the product look like it could be from that period on the shelf. If we do that, it will be attractive to educated consumers who understand the design and those who lack the knowledge but find it appealing. It’s showing them something they haven’t encountered in their regular life. But great design is great design. It will speak to them on some level.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying product design. You go to a liquor store and see how many innovative wine bottle labels there are. Sometimes, I smoke a cigar because I appreciate the design. I’m not saying that it’s guiding my decision, but why can’t I take joy in the attractiveness of a product I’m consuming, as well as the essential attributes of that product, like taste and performance?

The Principle Cigars Portfolio

Cigar Life Guy: You are known for not taking shortcuts when blending tobacco. What does this mean to you, and what sets Principle Cigars apart?

Darren Cioffi: This is a hands-on project. I make cigars in seven different factories now, and I’m involved with every leaf in all of them. We work with other people because they all have different strengths. From the design to the blending to the mechanics to the positioning of everything behind this product, it’s my passion. It’s not a guy knocking on the door of a factory, selecting a blend to market. I don’t care about the marketing. Smoke my cigars. Sell my cigars. Don’t do it. It’s fine. I have a long-term approach. I do this because I love it.

I’m never out there hustling. It’s all about creating a product that is as beautiful as I can. The product will work for me if I stay true to that principle. For people who take the time to process our cigars- those who pay attention to it, look at it, taste it — it’s evident. I never like to be in the position where I tell people, “Hey, smoke this because…” But of course, I want people to try my stuff, and I would like to think the product speaks for itself when they do.

Principle Cigars Portfolio of Premium Smokes

Cigar Life Guy: Principle boasts a broad portfolio of cigars. Tell us about some of your favorites.

Darren Cioffi: We do a lot of stuff for a smaller company. That results from being passionate and wanting to create different things constantly. When we have something small and interesting, we want to share it with people.

Sometimes, we have products we don’t promote because we know we will only make a few thousand cigars. They’ll get out there to some folks and those paying attention, but if we promoted and distributed them properly, people would only sometimes experience them. We’re in a lot of different countries. The byproduct of how we do things results in a wide product range.

We have something called the Cocktail Collection, a series of cigars designed to pair with five different cocktails from different periods with branding specific to those periods. But we scrapped it over the last few years because we have so much stuff coming out. Instead, we use the Cocktail Collection as an umbrella to sporadically release cigars within the series.

We just came out with the Tiki, the Mai Tai companion, and I am chain-smoking that cigar. There’s a Robusto that’s widely available, and then there’s a Toro. We have a co-branded space with Industrial Cigar Company in Frisco, Texas, so we created a Tiki Toro for the new room — a cocktail lounge called Fuselage.

It’s all I’m smoking these days. It’s bright and effervescent and just as gorgeous as can be.

Another cigar we released, but we have yet to make a big splash about it because we only made about two thousand cigars, was a Tenth Anniversary Aviator called the Espoir. It’s a 9.5 by 46 gauge cigar. We made these in January 2023, so they have exactly one year on them now.

I’m a fast smoker, but I like big cigars. I like cigars that last a long time. The problem is that larger cigars with relatively large ring gauges can eat up if you puff them like I do. So I made this 9.5 by 46. It’s complex. It’s a rich Aviator, as you might expect, but its long size and narrow ring gauge regulate the heat level where I can puff the hell out of it for two hours and maintain the flavor. I don’t lose it to overheating like other larger cigars. So the Espoir and the Tiki are my two go-to’s.

Cigar Life and the Challenges of “Slow Smoking”

Cigar Life Guy: You have traveled worldwide and spent time with some exciting and eccentric people. Who is the most interesting person (or people) you have shared a cigar with?

Darren Cioffi: I don’t have a good answer for this. You never know when you’re going to find inspiration from people. When you do what I do, you meet many people.

I always admire those who have the brainpower to categorize every person they’ve met and remember what pleasant conversation they’ve had with them or what cool thing they were talking about. But I am not that guy. I show up at a place I have been a year or two before, and I might recognize the faces and have vague recollections. However, I could improve in categorizing everyone’s names and what we discussed. The benefit of doing this is you meet a hell of a lot of people.

You never know when the spark will light and a casual conversation in a cigar lounge will become exciting and unique. Thankfully, it happens more frequently than you would expect.

A First for Cigar World Championship

Cigar Life Guy: You were the first American to win the Cigar World Championship. What was that experience like, and why is it essential to savor a premium cigar?

Darren Cioffi: It’s a different activity. It’s not that I’m just so great at it. For whatever reason, I can do it. I went, not knowing I could do it, and I won. Because I won, I kept doing it for a while. It’s part of why we’re a primarily European cigar brand today. It gave us enormous publicity when the company was only a few years old. But it’s a different activity.

The slow smoking you do to compete isn’t smoking to savor the cigar. When you’re smoking a cigar, even slowly, to experience the cigar, you need all of the tobacco burning simultaneously, so you are getting that complete recipe of wrapper, binder, and fillers all combusting and combusting at a low temperature. So it’s not that you’re smoking slowly to maximize enjoyment; you’re smoking appropriately to do so. And that level of appropriateness changes based on the combustibility of the blend. Ideally, you’re blending a cigar so it combusts in unison and correctly delivers the blend recipe.

But anyone can smoke too slowly. If you’re not paying attention to your cigar, you’re tunneling and burning the tobacco inside. You can tell. The taste goes away because you’re not getting the recipe. Smoking slowly for enjoyment — too slow is too slow.

You have to smoke so that everything is burning, but you’re also maintaining temperature. When you’re smoking slowly to compete, you’re just smoking a dot, and you’re moving that dot around the cigar. At times, you’re intentionally smoking on the inside, and then you’re going to move that burn to the outside.

You don’t want to burn the entire cigar at the same time as you would if you were smoking for enjoyment because then it’s going to go too quickly. Toward the end, it’s incredibly harsh. There were times I could barely stomach it because you’re smoking in such a way that it is just destroying your palate.

The game is enjoyable. The camaraderie is enjoyable. Winning is undoubtedly enjoyable, but there’s nothing pleasant about the smoke when trying to win.

Branching into the U.S. Market

Cigar Life Guy: Principle Cigars has been around for ten years. What can the world expect from it in the future?

Darren Cioffi: You can expect more of the same. We have a year of more releases than we did last year. You can expect the strengthening of some of our partnerships. We’re going to be doing more with Carillo in the coming years. We’re excited about some new partners we have yet to make public. I expect growth, not only in new markets, but we are starting to pay more attention to the homefront. We have taken a passive approach to the United States because our focus has been overseas, but in the coming years, you’ll see a lot more in the States for us.

Cigar Life Guy: Have we missed anything? Please tell us anything else you’d like the cigar world to know.

Darren Cioffi: Check us out for yourself. I’m accessible. I love when people tell me what they like, and I can suggest a cigar for them. I love to talk to people who can articulate what they enjoy and don’t enjoy about cigars and open their eyes to new things that may fit into what they’re looking for. I’m here. I hope to see more of you in the coming year.

Check out the latest from Principle Cigars here and Follow Darren and Principle Cigars on Instagram.

Photo credit: Principle Cigars

Life Assurance: 5 Compelling Reasons to Safeguard Your Future

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Staff

As we welcome a new year, I’ve been reflecting on a few things, like the importance of getting life insurance now instead of later. Too often, many of us wait. After all, why buy life insurance if you’re young, healthy, or even if you have existing coverage? Believe it or not, many compelling reasons exist to opt for coverage. Some of those reasons are obvious, while others … not so much. So, let’s go over the top five reasons life assurance is essential for all cigar enthusiasts and why now is the best time to buy coverage.

Embrace Uncertainties with Life Assurance

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee tomorrow. After all, life is full of uncertainties. Forgive the bluntness, but we all die eventually. Most often, you get life insurance to protect against premature death. If you’re a younger person (say, below age fifty), the concept of death is sometimes abstract. “Yeah, that’s for old people!” (said with a chuckle).

In 2023, one of my best childhood friends died in a plane crash. Later this past year, one of the most beloved members of the Atlanta cigar community, barely thirty years old, was murdered near his home downtown. While she hasn’t passed (and God, we pray she beats it), I learned last week a college girlfriend of mine is living with advanced cancer. The point is stuff happens even if we’re too young, too healthy, or too something else to die. Embrace life’s uncertainties by acknowledging them as a potential reality, then get the coverage you need. Avoid waiting for something to happen.

Secure Your Coverage While Eligible

You qualify for life insurance based on your health. While you may not die today, waiting to get life insurance can cost you more. That’s more true if you experience a health event or become critically or chronically ill, such as with cancer, heart disease, or a million other things. These illnesses can prevent you from getting the life assurance and coverage you need. Or, they can make your coverage more expensive and more limited. Instead of a $100,000 policy, a critically ill person might only qualify for a $5,000 or $10,000 policy — and at a steep price to boot!

In the past few months, I’ve had a handful of prior clients call and ask about getting another policy, only to be declined coverage. Usually, these calls are the best calls you can get: the client already knows and trusts you. They’ve been successfully paying for the current policy. They got through medical underwriting before, and you don’t have to chase them!

So what happened?

In each case, their health changed, making them less attractive to the insurance company. As a result, the insurance company denied their application for life insurance coverage. However, some clients anticipated the insurer declining their coverage and decided not to apply.

Lock in Affordable Protection Now

Life Insurance Will Never Be Cheaper For You Than Now. Many factors drive life insurance rates, including:

Mortality rates
Macro-economic factors like interest rates
The operating efficiency of the life insurance carrier

The future cost of a 20-year term policy for a 40-year-old may cost less than it does today, or it may increase. However, over the last few decades, life insurance rates have declined as life expectancy rises and carriers become more efficient (e.g., leveraging technology).

The one-factor driving insurance rates that remains the same is your age. Every year you wait, you pay a higher rate than you would have the year before because you’re a year older.

Get Covered Before Health Issues Arise

As part of the underwriting process, many insurers ask applicants to go through a brief medical exam, and this may include lab work. Of course, this also depends on the amount of coverage requested, the applicant’s health, and other factors. Usually, this is a routine event, with nothing unexpected found, mainly if the individual receives routine medical care. But now and then, something unexpected emerges.

Thirty-plus years ago, Magic Johnson famously was diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). What most people don’t know is he learned of the ailment while undergoing bloodwork related to a life insurance policy he was considering.

Closer to home, I was at a cigar event, and out of the blue, a fellow Brother of the Leaf came up to me, hugged me, and told me I’d probably saved his life. I didn’t recognize him immediately, but his case returned to me as he told his story. He’d been declined for an insurance policy a while back. His PSA was off the chart. I told him, “Forget the insurance; I’m telling you one man to another, go see your doctor and get this checked out!” Turns out he had prostate cancer. He got treatment and beat the cancer. But not for applying for insurance, he might not have known until much later, and treatment may not have been as effective.

Enjoy Non-Tobacco Rates Even Though You Smoke Cigars

Of course, you probably already know this if you’ve been keeping up with Cigar Life Guy over the last few years, but that’s what we do. Cigar Life Guy gets you non-tobacco rates on life insurance no matter how many cigars you smoke. We’ve been doing it for a while now, and it works.

Cost — even perceived cost — is a barrier that prevents many people from getting the life assurance they need. Don’t let your love for smoking cigars or your perception of what coverage will cost stop you from getting life insurance.

Life Assurance Q&A:

1) Getting declined after a previous approval for coverage is not uncommon, but it is also not the norm. If your health is the same or similar, don’t let this prevent you from applying for another policy.

2) What happens to your existing policy if an insurer declines your coverage for a new policy? The short answer is you still have the existing policy, and assuming you were truthful about your health at the time of the original application, there’s nothing to be concerned with relative to your current coverage.

Editor’s note: Cigar Life Guy Founder Dave Arlinghaus wrote this article.

Photo Credit: Cigar Life Guy

Lovely Cigars: An Interview with Mike Gehm

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Staff

Green Bay, Wisconsin, is not the first place that comes to mind when considering cigars. However, Green Bay has a tobacco tradition dating back to when the Packers won Super Bowls in the NFL. Mike Gehm and his partners at Lovely Cigars uncovered this cigar tradition in Titletown, Wisconsin, and are now sharing it with the cigar world. Gehm talks with Cigar Life Guy about becoming part of cigar life history in Green Bay, reviving a brand, and taking the time to enjoy a premium cigar.

Mike Gehm’s First Premium Cigar

Cigar Life Guy: Tell me about your first premium cigar experience.

Mike Gehm: I’ll give you two experiences. The first cigar I smoked was an “It’s a boy” cigar. My dad had these things probably from when I was born. They were in a tin can. I found them when I was twelve. I took one outside and smoked it.

My first good cigar was a Fuente. It was from the Short Story or Work of Art collection. I’m unsure which, but it was fantastic. It was the first time I detected a ton of flavor and could pick out different notes. It was at my friend’s bachelor party. We had not planned to go to a cigar lounge and did many things around Green Bay. We did a tour of Lambeau Field and ended up in Appleton, about 30 miles south. My buddy saw a cigar shop, and we stayed there the rest of the night. That was the first time I smoked great cigars and fell in love with them.

Getting Started in the Cigar Business

Cigar Life Guy: Tell us how you started in the cigar industry. What did you do before, and how does that help inform what you do with your current business?

Mike Gehm: Initially, I would go down to Appleton with the same friend who got married to that same cigar shop. We would go down there a few times a year, pick up cigars, and hang out because it was the only cigar shop around. We went down for the Final Four to smoke cigars and watch basketball. While talking, I asked, “Why isn’t there a place like this in Green Bay?” I told him, “We should do this. We should have one,” he said, “Ok, let’s do it.” That’s the kind of person I am. I get crazy ideas like that, and I run with them.

I’ve been in sales since I was nineteen. I would go out and meet people and help them solve problems. I helped fix their issues with the solutions I provided. It doesn’t matter what job I have; that’s what I do.

So, I was trying to solve my problem. Since Green Bay didn’t have a cigar lounge, we started selling cigars out of my office for about a year and a half.

We would go to events and set up wholesale accounts and everything. After about a year and a half, we opened the cigar lounge, and that was how it started. That was about sixteen years ago. But we were one of the first places in the country to have a 24-hour high-access cigar lounge.

We had a small retail area open nights and weekends, and our members accessed the lounge with key fobs 24 hours a day.

Behind the Lovely Cigars Name

Cigar Life Guy: You named your cigar line after a historic Green Bay tobacco company. Tell us the story behind it and the importance of honoring tradition and history in the cigar industry.

Mike Gehm: When I had the cigar shop, I looked at the history in our area and the industry.

The cigar business is a handshake industry. It’s all about relationships with people. I love it. But if you look at all the old Cuban brands or the story behind what happened when everybody left Cuba and took seeds with them to continue growing. To honor that is a fantastic thing. It’s also a massive piece of our American cultural heritage. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, eight out of 10 men smoked cigars — that’s just what it was like. Everyone smoked back then.

Not that people talk much about it, but Green Bay also had one of the largest unions in the country — the Local 162, and it started as a cigar rollers union. It’s easy to see that history is lost to many people when you understand the heritage. People don’t want to talk about it because it’s tobacco-related or it gets lumped in with everything else. That’s sad because so much history is involved. People who were rolling cigars back then and were part of that industry are the ones who kept it going. It’s an essential piece of history that no one talks about, and I wanted to honor it.

My three partners and I saw the cigar brand Ain’t They Lovely. It dates from the late 1800s. The Reis family started the company. I found the box in an antique store, and when I first opened it up, the craftsmanship, artwork, and history just jumped out at me. It seemed like such a cool thing to bring back. It’s something that we’re losing because nobody is talking about it. We need to be conscious of where we came from. If we don’t know where we came from, how do we know where we’re going?

Design and Cigar Branding

Cigar Life Guy: Your boxes have a distinct design that honors the historic line. Tell us about the inspiration behind it and how it helps with branding.

Mike Gehm: Bringing back that old brand, bringing it back to life, adds a tremendous amount of history to our brand. We don’t have this long lineage of family history owning a cigar brand. We have a massive drive to be as successful as possible and bring this back to the populace. It’s such a remarkable story. We love the artwork so much that we wanted to stay accurate. For instance, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the cherubs on the original box looked pretty innocent, like angels. But today, if we reprinted that same thing, it would look like toddlers smoking cigars (laughs). We needed to make a change. So we took what was there and added some ladies, which plays off the “lovely” theme.

We wanted it to be eye-catching and for people to say, “Wow, I want to know more about that,” when they saw the box. So, we named our second line “162” after the cigar rollers union. We wanted to emulate some of the simplicity of that time, so we went with cabinet-style boxes. There was an “RB” logo at the bottom center of the original artwork, and we made it to LV for Lovely Cigars instead of Reis Brothers. We wanted to honor it and show how incredible the history is and why people should be interested. If we were redoing it, that would be fine, but for us, it’s more about being part of that history and bringing that out.

Lovely Cigars and Connecting with Community

Cigar Life Guy: Besides fine tobacco, you have said one of your passions is connecting with people. What makes the cigar community and cigar life so unique?

Mike Gehm: You hear it everywhere. Whenever somebody talks about it, I could be next to a doctor or lawyer. I could be beside a guy welding all day, but it doesn’t matter. We’re all doing the same thing, enjoying the same product together. When people get together, everything drops away, and you connect with people on a deeper level. You get to know people better and understand what they’re looking for. However, you get to be there for them. The community is fantastic. It’s almost as if it’s pulled out of history and dropped into now, and it just hasn’t changed. You can go down to Nicaragua or Honduras and work with people, and it’s handshake deals. It’s just not like that in society today. Instead, slow down and enjoy a cigar. You can’t be running from here to here and be busy with many other things. You need to enjoy a cigar, which is a special thing when you do that together. It’s different from how the world works today, and that’s what I like about the community.

Lovely Cigars in Green Bay

Cigar Life Guy: It gets cold in Wisconsin. What’s the cigar scene like there?

Mike Gehm: When I opened a cigar shop 16 or 17 years ago in Green Bay, there was no cigar culture. The shop is still there. I’m no longer part of that shop, but it’s still open and a thriving community today. Over the last fifteen years, it’s grown quite a bit. With smoking bans and everything that’s happened, Wisconsin has a law that allows cigar smoking in cigar establishments. That’s been vital to maintaining that in Wisconsin. Summer is the big time around here when it’s nice out. People in Wisconsin get out in summer. That’s huge regarding retail sales and things, but the community continues throughout the colder months. There are cigar lounges. People have cigar lounges in their houses. They still get together to smoke. It’s definitely there; you just have to be part of it.

The Future of Lovely Cigars

Cigar Life Guy: What’s next for Lovely Cigars?

Mike Gehm: There’s Dylan, Keith, and me, and in general, our main goal is to have consistent growth, and we want to take care of the shops we work with. We are trying to be consistent and present with the shops and want something other than backorders. We want to avoid creating those kinds of issues. We’re in about 42 shops right now. We want to get ourselves up in that 100-shop range. That’s where we would like to see ourselves. Getting there in a positive way where we’re seeing consistent growth is important.

We have the Elegante X2 Ain’t They Lovely, the original cigar we came out with. We have the No. 162 in three vitolas– Churchill, Robusto, and a Corona. Then we’re working on a new line. I’ll leave the name out of it right now, but the new line will have two wrappers, a Connecticut and a Maduro. So we’re looking to add to what we already have. We’re hopeful we’ll have some of those for the show in Vegas.

Final Thoughts

Cigar Life Guy: Have we missed anything? Please tell us anything else you’d like the cigar world to know.

Mike Gehm: We want solid partnerships with the retailers we work with. We’re not selling directly to any users. We’re not looking to have an online store where we’re undercutting people. I came from the cigar shop side of things, and the guys I partnered with at Lovely Cigars used to go to the shop, and one of them worked at the shop after I was out of it. So we all have this history of wanting shops to succeed, and that’s the ultimate goal here. We want to be successful through cigar shops. That’s where people get the most education. That’s where they learn from other people, other aficionados. They learn from all of the people at the shop. That’s what good shops do. They help people understand their path and what cigars they’ll like, and they help find new cigars. That’s where I want to be. That’s what we’re looking for. Anybody who feels they’d like us to be part of their shop, talk to us. We welcome those conversations.

Follow Mike and Lovely Cigars on Instagram and check out the latest from Lovely Cigars here.

Photo credit: Mike Gehm

Jake Wyatt Cigars: Interview with Gerard Abajian

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Staff

Gerard Abajian knows that cigar life is all about people. He began in the retail side of the cigar business but built rapport with customers. He also surprisingly spent ten years as a firefighter before co-founding Jake Wyatt Cigars with Neil Garcia. Together, they created some of the most aesthetically unique cigars in the industry. In this interview, Gerard talks with Cigar Life Guy about staying true to himself, the story behind those boxes of 22, and how his company innovates how local cigar shops present cigars.

The First Premium Smoke

Cigar Life Guy: Tell me about your first premium cigar experience.

Gerard Abajian: I would say it happened during the mid-90s. I was with my dad in the backyard. And he had just started as a retailer in southern California and bought a Dominican El Rey del Mundo. He cut it in half and shared it with me, but it was nasty. Then he brought out some cut-up watermelon from the fridge and between puffs said, “Refresh your palate with the cool watermelon.” The cigar was more palatable after that. It was at night, and we were sitting in the backyard. So that was the occasion. Just me and my dad and him telling me about the cigar business he just embarked upon. He had always been a smoker — cigars, pipes, cigarettes. That was the beginning of my cigar journey.

Starting Cigar Life

Cigar Life Guy: Tell us how you got started in the cigar industry. What else did you do before, and how does it help inform what you do with your current business?

Gerard Abajian: I started working at my father’s retail store when I was about nineteen. I learned how to use the cash register and talk to people by describing the cigars I liked. I had done car sales before, so I had some sales experience and prospected different people based on their personalities. That affected how I would approach people from the minute they walked in the door.

The worst question to ask is, “Can I help you?” They would say, “No.” So, I looked for an icebreaker. I figured they were coming for a cigar, so they have a favorite. I’m curious what it is. So I would ask, “Hey, how’s it going? Welcome. What’s your favorite cigar?” It was easier from there. They would tell me their favorite cigar, and I would say I’ve smoked it, and ask them what they thought about it. We became friends. So, that’s always been my approach. Sales have helped in my industry.

Cigar Life Guy: You have been open about your struggles with addiction. How has that changed your perspective on life in general, as well as cigar life?

Gerard Abajian: I was pretty young when I kicked my addiction. I was a teenager. I struggled with school — not intellectually. It was more due to my absence and attendance. Once I kicked the habit at age 24, I developed my spiritual life and focused on how to kick a habit.

I went back to school and studied fire science technology. That landed me a job with our local fire department, which has over 80 stations. I did that for ten years. My father passed away in 2015, and I was still with the fire department. That’s when Neil (Garcia) and I partnered. We started working together and going online. From there, we got invited down to the Dominican Republic. That’s how we came up with the Jake Wyatt Cigar Company.

We visited several factories that gave us samples of what they could produce for us, all according to the flavor palate we wanted. Unfortunately, I always felt in the dark. I wanted to understand the makeup of cigars, how to blend a cigar, and the difference between tobacco. For instance you have Corojo, Criollo.

There are many different varieties of tobacco. It’s not good if someone plans on making my cigars, and I don’t know what’s in them or what the percentages are. So we started our tiny factory out of a little hut. Now we have a factory which is a different entity on its own called Casamorabo. (House; Love; City) That’s a 20,000-square-foot space. Casamorabo now produces Jake Wyatt Cigars, which is a separate entity we own. Now, it’s just about selling cigars.

The Story Behind the Jake Wyatt Cigars

Cigar Life Guy: Jake Wyatt is named after your sons. Can you tell us the story behind it?

Gerard Abajian: Coming up with a name that means something is challenging. You can go through all sorts of different names on a list. One day, I was sitting around playing with names. I’ve always liked a strong and bold name. You have Dunhill of London and Davidoff of Geneva. So, you have these strong names in the industry that have a legacy. Out of nowhere, I thought about Niel’s son, Jake. Then, I considered my son, Wyatt. When I put those names together — Jake Wyatt Cigar Company — it sounded good. We thought about it without making it permanent. And we kept playing with names.

But I kept coming back with this timeless, bold, strong name — Jake Wyatt Cigars. I really like it. It represents our boys and who we are. I’m not a third- or fourth-generation Latin cigar producer with a Latin name. I’m also not trying to fake it by giving you something I’m not. I don’t speak Spanish. I’m not Latin. I live in the United States. That’s who I am. Neil is an athlete. I came from the fire service. So, we have a lot of grit behind our character. At the same time, we present ourselves as gentlemen. We put our hands out first. We always say hello. And that’s what Jake Wyatt represents. We’re always putting people ahead of us.

Cigar Life Guy: Your line also has a connection with baseball and the number 22. What’s the story behind that?

Gerard Abajian: The box count of 22 is a nod from when Neil played baseball; he was jersey number 22. His brother inspired me to become a firefighter, and he just retired as a fire chief of Burbank. He played for the L.A. Heat, a football team composed of firefighters. He was a linebacker and wore jersey number 22. When Jake played baseball, he also wore jersey number 22. I think Niel’s dad might have played baseball in his community with jersey number 22 as well.

Innovation, Presentation, and Aesthetics in Cigars

Cigar Life Guy: You put a lot of thought into design. So, why are aesthetics and presentation so important for Jack Wyatt Cigars?

Gerard Abajian: We have two collections. The Gourmet Collection are the only cigars with artisanal accents on them. And the Connoisseur Collection doesn’t have those accents because the focus is more on the connoisseur. It’s a complex cigar. But that’s not to say the Gourmet isn’t. Anyway, when we initiated and completed the design for our Gourmet Collection, our goal was to have individuals take pictures of the cigars.

Everybody is using Instagram and TikTok to become cigar reviewers, bloggers, or just as a fan base. So, if you’re going to take a picture of Jake Wyatt Cigars, we want it to be a little different. Making the cigar shape, other than a Parejo, is different. Perfectos, Salomones — you can’t streamline that business model. So we thought of something in a traditional size — a Robusto, a Toro, whatever it is. And what can we do differently?

We came up with the accents using different colors of tobacco. It takes us an extra two days to make the Gourmet Collection because of the artisanal accents that need to be applied after they’re rolled. And that department doesn’t even know how to roll cigars. All they know how to do is apply accents.

Jake Wyatt Cigars Accessories and Apparel

Cigar Life Guy: Besides cigars, you carry a variety of accessories and apparel. How do you want consumers to see your brand?

Gerard Abajian: People like our clean, symmetrical look. Our shirts have some design on them, but nothing too obnoxious. We keep it very presentable. And you can wear them to any occasion. The colors are timeless, not loud, which also makes them presentable. They’re timeless. Our staff members also wear our polo shirts. And many people like wearing them when they’re golfing.

Hats are another thing. Our hats are something people desire all the time. In fact, any time we go to trade shows or any time we go to events, they want to buy our hats. We sell a lot of hats. It’s somewhat of a hipster look. We use a leather patch that looks like it’s stitched on, and it has an ironworker look to it that appeals to people. The way I would describe our apparel is timeless and minimalist. It’s good for any occasion. Golfers gravitate to it. Golfing. Boating. Car enthusiasts. It has a clean look, a gentleman’s apparel.

The Future for Jake Wyatt Cigars

Cigar Life Guy: What’s next for Jake Wyatt Cigars?

Gerard Abajian: We just launched the JW Maverick. Right now, we’re focused on distribution, and it’s doing very well. We’re keeping up with production, and we rebranded our entire portfolio. We have new cigar bands with a new design, and the boxes have fresh designs. We also introduced our four packs, which are available for every cigar we make in a Robusto and Toro size. And four-packs help retailers with introducing a cigar to somebody.

The box bears the image of the cigar and a QR code you can scan. It takes you to a 30-second video demonstrating the first, second, and last third of notes you’ll experience while smoking the cigar. And this is on every cigar band. Before buying the cigar and second-guessing whether you’ll like it, you have an interactive video of what to expect. There’s also a QR code on the four-pack and the box.

The inside lid of the box is called a vista. Now, we use the vista as the footprint. It has a diagram of every single cigar inside that box. So the diagram for the Maverick Toro is one Toro chopped in thirds and a diagram of what hints and notes a smoker will experience. We break down the cigar construction, the make-up, where it’s from, what the size is … all of it. So if the retailer is too busy, he can attend to somebody in the humidor, and as customers glance over our product, we do the work for them.

Shelf talkers are sometimes intrusive to other brands sitting below that shelf. They hang down and blind other brands. So, this makes it easier to stand out. It’s all there for you, streamlined and clean. As a boutique company, we’ve never seen anyone take that approach to give you the depth of information on a product.

We also brought out our display trays, which allow retailers to place the box on top of a display. They are actually like wings that spread out into trays. And now you can display four-packs. The tray within a tray slides out, and now you have a footprint of 33 inches of 70 cigars. Usually, within our industry, 33 inches would be about three boxes, and it’s Robusto, Toro, and Gordo. It all looks the same.

With our display, it’s the same space. However, you are not only showcasing three sizes, but we’re also allowing you to display four packs. The real estate is much more appealing. There’s some decoration going on within that 33 inches rather than it being a flat, three identical boxes, which look like an assembly line. It’s more decorative and catches the eye. Thirty-three inches is what everyone scans when looking at a shelf.

Jake Wyatt Cigars: Final Words

Cigar Life Guy: Have we missed anything? Please tell us anything else you’d like the cigar world to know.

Gerard Abajian: I think there’s a perception that we are a high-end cigar. They say, “We’ve heard of you.” However, when I ask them what they think our prices are, they usually say $18 to $20. So, maybe it has to do with design. But I want people to know we are very competitively priced.

Follow Gerard on Instagram, and check out the latest from Jake Wyatt Cigars here.

Photo credit: Jake Wyatt Cigars

Stolen Throne Cigars: Interview with Lee Marsh

Posted on November 20, 2023 by Staff

Lee Marsh, the founder of Stolen Throne Cigars, was a prolific cigar smoker long before he started making them. Now, he’s making a name for himself and the Stolen Throne line by doing things his way. Marsh talks about the recent premium cigar victory over the FDA, connecting with the consumer, and the importance of not rushing anything when making cigars and cigar life.

The First Premium Smoke

Cigar Life Guy: Tell me about your first premium cigar experience.

Lee Marsh: That’s funny. I don’t remember my first premium cigar experience, but I was probably about fifteen the first time I had a quality cigar -meaning a handmade cigar. My uncle was in the Marine Corps and brought some back for me. We were hanging around when he gave me my first cigar. I remember the first premium cigar brand that piqued my interest. I also remember what I enjoyed about cigars and started the journey. It was the original Camacho Corojos when the Aurora family was still making Camacho. I vividly remember my first Corojo, and it was instantaneously one of those times when you have a cigar and say, “This is different.” It started from there.

Lighting a Fire: Getting Started in the Cigar Business

Cigar Life Guy: Tell us how you started in the cigar industry. What did you do before, and how does it help inform what you do with your current business?

Lee Marsh: I’ve always been a consumer. I’ve been a passionate cigar smoker for years. I was working in compliance and tech, and I traveled a lot. So, I spent a lot of free time in cigar shops and cigar lounges around the world. It kind of just grew. And the first time I visited a farm in the Dominican Republic, it subconsciously lit a fire in me. I just kept coming into conversations that if I made cigars, I would do this or that. And finally, it was a “Shit or get off the pot” situation. So I went all in. I met with Noel (Rojas) through a couple of mutual acquaintances, like Island Jim, and we just hit it off immediately. A week later, I was down in Nicaragua, and we started the ball rolling on what would become the Crook of the Crown.

Stolen Throne Cigars: Doing Things Their Way

Cigar Life Guy: Stolen Throne is an evocative name. How did you come up with it, and what’s the meaning behind it?

Lee Marsh: That was the hardest part about getting the company going. The Crook (of the Crown) was well before we had a name. But naming the company and the brand was difficult because I didn’t want something that I had to fake or pretend. I wanted it to be authentic and transparent about who we were and what we wanted to represent. It’s rooted in the sense of making your place at the table — doing things your way. The Waylon Jennings style, like outlaws and being a badass. It’s about doing the things you want to do.

Cigar Life Guy: You released the limited edition Phantom Queen at last year’s PCA and the Yorktown Fleet line in 2023. When people smoke your cigars, what do you want them to associate with your brand?

Lee Marsh: Realistically, when you smoke a Stolen Throne Cigar, you’re on our journey of tobacco with us. I’m a first-generation cigar maker, so you’re experiencing all my thoughts, hopes, aspirations, and passion when you smoke every cigar. I think what many people don’t realize about us is that you can tell from our portfolio that we’ve been on the market for four years. We only have four blends in two sizes. We take our time. Everything is done with a hundred percent of our effort and passion. And when you sit back and smoke our cigars, you’re on that journey with us. We’ve been out for four years, coming up on five years with mainly The Crook of the Crown, which is still surreal to me, to be honest.

Cigar Life Guy: Stolen Throne recently took over distribution for Ed Reed’s ER line. What was that collaboration like?

Lee Marsh: It’s one of those things that grew out of a friendship. Ed and I have been friends for a while. We met at a Ravens game back when he was smoking a Crook of the Crown. He spoke to me about getting into the business. He was passionate about cigars. So, I took him to task. I was like, “I’ll help you, but if you want to be another celebrity with a name on a cigar,” I’m not your guy. But that’s not what he’s about at all. He’s passionate about the culture and everything that goes into a premium cigar. He’s an avid smoker and super into what he’s doing. So when they got into the process and needed a little help navigating, they reached out to me, and our distribution grew from there.

Challenges in the Industry

Cigar Life Guy: What is the biggest challenge the cigar industry faces today?

Lee Marsh: I think it’s like anything else: The rising cost of living. The lifestyle is not inexpensive. It’s one of those things where people have limited disposable income.

I would say the FDA, but that was struck down today, which is awesome. For now, anyway. It’s like anything else when you’re a luxury aspect of someone’s life. For most, it’s not a hobby; it’s a lifestyle. I know I smoke ten cigars a day usually, probably half that before I started making cigars. But it’s a part of our life. Like everything else, the rising cost of living is a potential threat.

Cigar Life Guy: What’s next for Stolen Throne?

Lee Marsh: Hopefully, we chug along and do everything we want as far as continuing to push passion and quality products. People always ask, “What do you plan to do in five years?” Well, I hope I’m still making cigars (laughs). That’s the plan — Keep doing what we’re doing, continue to improve, and push our envelope to reach our true potential.

Cigar Life Guy: Have we missed anything? Please tell us anything else you’d like the cigar world to know.

Lee Marsh: We’re super grateful. It’s been a whirlwind for four years. We’re grateful for the support we received nationwide and internationally. For us, the consumer always comes first, along with the retailer. They go side by side. It’s overwhelming when you hear retailers who already work with us telling other retailers, “Hey, you gotta do business with these people.” Most of our growth over our first three or four years has been consumers supporting the brand and telling retailers, “Hey, you gotta bring this cigar in.”

Follow Lee on Instagram and find out the latest from Stolen Throne Cigars here.

Photo credit: Stolen Throne Cigars

Save More Money with Private Veterans’ Life Insurance

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Staff

In a perfect world, your savings and investments cover all your final expenses and help care for your loved ones after you’re gone. But this is far from the reality for most, which is why maintaining adequate veterans’ life insurance isn’t just important, it’s crucial.

Military life insurance differs from private policies. As an active duty member, you received life insurance as part of your benefit package. However, that changed once you transitioned to civilian life. While veterans can enroll in Veterans Group Life Insurance, VGLI often costs more than comparable private plans on the open market. Why spend more than you must?

Life insurance is vital for everyone, and America’s service members are no different. But you have other options. Ready to learn how to save more money each year and ditch the expensive VGLI?

What is VGLI?

The United States Military offers Veterans Group Life Insurance to members after they leave the service. The program is optional, and enrollment takes place during a window around the time of separation. VGLI allows you to maintain life insurance coverage, regardless of health, and in amounts up to $500,000. The military offers other life insurance programs, often for smaller amounts and at no cost, to some individuals as part of a disability program; these differ from VGLI.

How Does VGLI Pricing Compare to Other Life Insurance?

VGLI is substantially more expensive than private life insurance. If you’re relatively healthy, you may qualify for standard or better rates. VGLI programs also increase in cost every five years, where your age ends in a “0” or a “5” (40, 45, 50, 55, etc.). So not only can you get a better deal in the present with a private plan, but you can lock in a level term for 10, 15, 20, or even 30 years.

Here is an example: A 50-year-old male (even a regular cigar smoker) can get a $500,000 death benefit 20-year level term policy for under $132 per month. A $500,000 death benefit with VGLI is $165 per month from age 50-54, then jumps to $300 at age 55, $495 at age 60, and $735 at age 65! Over 20 years, the savings on the private veterans’ life insurance policy is over $70,000. That’s a lot of cigars!

It is easy to see exactly what your VGLI rates will be as you get older. Just check out this link to the VA on the official va.gov website. Scroll about halfway down the page to where you see different age brackets. You can then use the quote form on the Cigar Life Guy webpage to do a comparison. Remember to look at the total cost over the entire term as the private policy cost stays flat while the VGLI increases every five years.

Why Do People Keep Overpaying For VGLI?

Many people don’t know how much they can save by going through a private insurer. The premiums for VGLI often are deductions from a benefit check (like a pension). So you don’t see the money flowing out of your bank account. Instead, it’s a line item deduction on a payment stub.

Another big reason you might keep VGLI despite the high cost is you must be able to qualify for private veterans’ life insurance. Some veterans cannot medically qualify for private life insurance, leaving VGLI as their only option.

I’m on VA Disability; Will I Qualify for Life Insurance?

Your ability to qualify for life insurance depends on your underlying health reasons for the disability. Often, orthopedic conditions, like back conditions, are not a problem assuming you aren’t on opioid or narcotic pain medication. PTSD depends on the severity of the case (typically “mild” is fine), the type of medication you are on, and your current employment status. Working full-time may improve your insurability with any mental health condition. However, if you receive Social Security Disability benefits, you will not qualify for a private life insurance plan comparable to VGLI.

I Smoke Cigars; Can I Still Get a Great Rate on Life Insurance?

Absolutely! Cigar Life Guy helps cigar smokers receive non-tobacco rates on life insurance, and veterans are no exception. A regular cigar smoker will qualify just the same as non-those who don’t smoke cigars for the standard, non-tobacco rates in the example noted above.

How Do I Start the Application Process?

First, reach out to Cigar Life Guy. You can fill out a quote form on this page or call us directly at 888-80CIGAR (888-802-4427). You can expect to have a brief, no-obligation phone conversation about your situation. We’ll discuss any health considerations that may affect your eligibility, and we’ll go over some prices. Learn more about the process here.

Remember, it’s essential to have your new policy in place and active. This includes making your first payment before canceling your existing VGLI coverage. While VGLI may be expensive, it’s better than nothing if you don’t qualify elsewhere.

Enjoy a cigar! We thank you for your service. If you’re still holding on to VGLI, remember, you might save thousands of dollars by switching to private life … and that’s a lot of cigar money!

*Comparison is to an A+ rated life insurance carrier for a male age 50, standard non-tobacco rates, pulled from Compulife® Nov. 2023. Rates are subject to change and plans will require underwriting. This is not an offer of insurance. A daily cigar smoker in average or “standard” health should qualify for this rate class.

Photo credit: Cigar Life Guy