Daniel Lewis has been living the cigar life for 30 years but didn’t join the industry until he saw the blending process up close on a trip to Panama. Woodstock Brown, whose name pays homage to Lewis’ Philadelphia roots, is not only a cigar line but also a purveyor of coffee and spirits. Cigar Life Guy caught up with Lewis and discussed the unique origin of the brand’s name, his favorite cigar pairings, and the benefits and challenges of competition in the cigar world.
First Premium Cigar Experience
Cigar Life Guy: Tell me about your first premium cigar experience.
Daniel Lewis: I’ve been smoking for 30 years, so I have to go back a long way. My very first premium cigar was a White Label because that’s been my favorite for quite a while. It was one of the first cigars I smoked — the Montecristo. I believe I was at my house. Cigar lounges weren’t places I frequented until the past ten years or so. Most of the time that I smoked was in my house.
I had my little humidor. Occasionally, I’d buy cigars at one of the local cigar stores in my area. I remember the guy suggesting a Montecristo. That was likely my first premium. Before that, I’d smoked a lot of the cheaper ones and some of the house sticks, just so I could have a few on hand. As best I remember, it was a Montecristo.
Becoming Part of the Cigar Industry
Cigar Life Guy: How did you get into the cigar industry? What did you do before, and how does it help inform what you do with Woodstock Brown Cigars?
Daniel Lewis: I got into the industry because my partner asked me to do it after I turned him down two or three times. He got me into the business. I always just smoked for fun and relaxation. My partner suggested a trip to Panama because he had a condo there that he liked to visit for vacations and getaways throughout the year. He invited me over.
We were smoking cigars there, and he started to bring the cigars back. He gave the cigars to his clients. I smoked them and told him what I liked. After going back a second or third time, we had an opportunity to speak with some people at their farms and facilities. There, I had a chance to watch things like rolling and blending. I smoked a couple I helped blend, and it piqued my interest in the cigar world. The business started from there.
The Woodstock Brown Story and Pairings
Cigar Life Guy: What does the cigar world need to know about Woodstock Brown Cigars? How do you want smokers to perceive your brand?
Daniel Lewis: I got the name Woodstock Brown from the street where I grew up. I grew up in North Philadelphia on a street called Woodstock. Back then, we had block parties and a block captain who went to the city for permits so they could close the street and arrange pony rides and other activities.
Our block captain was Mr. Brown, a good friend of my dad. They used to sit outside and play checkers after work. When I was trying to come up with a catchy name, I thought Woodstock Brown fit. It almost sounds like a cigar name. That is the origin.
I want smokers to know our cigars have a different flavor and profile. From what I’ve read and researched, Panamanian tobacco is used a lot, even in premium cigars, but it’s just not on the packaging. I’ve done the research and seen posts from cigar enthusiasts that verify that. My goal is for the cigar world to see our cigars as something different. There’s a different flavor, profile, and taste compared to your Nicaraguan, Honduran, and Dominican cigars, and some of the more popular tobaccos people use in their cigars.
I want them to enjoy a different smoke. Not everything has to be better. Sometimes, different is better. That’s why people drink different kinds of soda or eat different flavors of potato chips. I want smokers to see our brand as different, pleasant, and enjoyable. Becoming their favorite cigar isn’t my goal — although that wouldn’t be a bad thing (laughs). I want them to know we have good smokes. Ultimately, I want our cigars to earn a reputation as a good, enjoyable smoke.
Favorite Woodstock Brown Cigar Pairings
Cigar Life Guy: In addition to cigars, Woodstock Brown carries coffee and spirits. What are your favorite pairings?
Daniel Lewis: I drink a lot of the Geisha coffee that we import from Panama. That’s a very good coffee. I’m not as big a coffee drinker as I used to be, but when I do drink coffee, I drink the Geisha. With the Woodstock Brown line, if I were drinking coffee, I like to pair it with the de Avila-Habano, which has almost a vanilla, rum, and coffee essence.
It’s mild to medium strength, where one doesn’t overpower the other. You still get your flavor from the coffee as well as the flavor from the tobacco and the cigar itself.
I like red wines. My wife likes to drink good red wine. When I’m drinking wine, I’ll move on to one of our newest cigars, which is the Bocas Del Toro. It’s a nice blend of Panama with a Mexican maduro wrapper, medium if not a little stronger than medium in strength. It has excellent construction and a nice flavor that pairs well with a good red wine, or, if you’re a tequila or rum drinker, any milder liquor.
I love brown liquor. Cognacs, a good whiskey, or bourbon are some of my favorites, and with those, I have two cigars that I like to smoke. The Ambassador, which is a full-bodied 100% Panamanian Maduro, pairs very well. I also have one called the Chiriqui from the Chiriqui Province of Panama, which has a Habano wrapper and is medium to bold, with a little spice. It’s mildly peppery through the final third, and it’s only a four-inch cigar. It’s a very good cigar that pairs well with the heavier liquors like bourbon or cognac.
Being a Boutique Cigar Line
Cigar Life Guy: What is the biggest challenge you have faced as a boutique line?
Daniel Lewis: Shelf space. Being an independent business, we don’t have a major distribution company. We handle a lot of that ourselves. We also manage our online advertising. There’s a lot of foot traffic, hand-to-hand business meetings, and trial-and-error tastings. There are many great new cigar companies vying for shelf space.
I was at the PCA a couple of months ago and noticed quite a few cigar companies under five years old. That doesn’t even compare to some major ones, such as Placencia, My Father, Perdomo, and Gurkha. Those guys are older than me. The competition is very real. A lot of cigar smokers, particularly older smokers, stick with what they like. They won’t go outside what they’ve been smoking for the past twenty years.
Some guys go into the same cigar store or lounge and buy the same one or two sticks. That’s the challenge, although that’s been changing over the last few years. There are many new cigar smokers. I’m at cigar events at least once a week. I’m noticing that when the 35-and-older smoker opens up their humidor, they may have seven or eight different cigars.
I have friends in cigar clubs who plan “hook” days, huge events where cigar smokers come out to smoke, network, and party a little. At those events, smokers have at least four different cigars.
That’s a good thing. The cigar world is growing, but very few smokers have only one or two favorite cigars. So the competition is out there, and that’s the challenge.
The Cigar Community
Cigar Life Guy: What makes the cigar community so unique?
Daniel Lewis: That varies. The cigar life community today, given the events I go to, may be a little different from that of the past. You have different cigar communities now. I was mentioning that there are cigar clubs. One is called the GTG, which stands for “Good Time Gang.”
They have those in various cities, and those cities can have a few in different areas. In Pennsylvania, where I am, they have a Philadelphia Chapter and a county Chapter. There’s also a New Jersey Chapter, a Tampa Chapter, and a Rose City Chapter in Portland. They’re growing across the country.
Every December, they host a huge GTG convention in Tampa, where the international team and GTG groups from across the nation attend one big party in Ybor City. They do that every year.
A friend of mine had their Chapter party about two weeks ago in a place called Hamburg, Pennsylvania, not too far from where I live. Twenty or twenty-five Chapters, from three or four different states, showed up to greet each other, network, meet, do business, and smoke.
The communities are very different, but they’re all the same because the one thing I’ve learned about the cigar community is that everyone gets along. I haven’t been to a single event where anything hostile happened, and I’ve been to a lot of events.
Passions Beyond Cigars
Cigar Life Guy: What is one of your passions outside of cigars? What would people not know about you?
Daniel Lewis: I love to play chess. Chess is one of my favorite things. I’m also a big family man. My family likes to get together all the time — my sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, and kids. I love doing things with my family. Playing chess, going on family outings, barbecuing, and doing anything with my family are things I enjoy.
I have a lovely, beautiful wife who I love to be with. She’s with me a lot when I’m at events. She’s by my side and understands the struggle of running a cigar business. I have a passion for those things, and I’m a huge sports fan. That might be the one thing my wife gets on me about (laughs).
We tend to switch who hosts each week of the football season. She knows I’m either going over to one of the guys’ houses, or they’re coming over. I usually host the Washington games because I’m a Washington fan, and most of those guys are Eagles fans.
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Photo credit: Daniel Lewis