- [Manolo] ¡Salud! - [Drew] ¡Salud!
(salsa music plays) (continued greetings)
(salsa continues) (indistinct chatter)
(laughter)
- [Drew] Sit in that chair.
- Oh, I get one?
This is the best part of the job.
- [Manolo] I know.
- [Drew] (inhales) So, okay.
First start with the award. You won an award recently.
- [Manolo] A couple. - [Drew] Talk about it.
- [Manolo] Sure. - What, what'd you win?
- [Manolo] The Cigar Trophy Award.
And this one actually wins 21 for the Top 25
in Cigar Journal.
- [Drew] Beautiful. - [Manolo] Last year.
- [Drew] So one of them was for
cigars that are produced outside of
the Dominican and Nicaragua, correct?
- [Manolo] Yeah. This one is D.R. and Mexico.
The other winner it's all Mexican puro
and we produce in Nicaragua and Mexico.
- [Drew] This is so fun.
Do you love your job?
- I love my job. (interviewer laughs)
- [Drew] You get to serve friends tequila
and delicious cigars.
- [Manolo] I know.
- [Drew] That's so good.
Now tell me what I'm smoking.
- [Manolo] You're smoking La Coronela.
La Coronela is made with an amazing Habano Ecuador wrapper.
- [Drew] This is, is so beautiful.
- [Manolo] The binder, it's Brazilian Arapiraca.
And the filler, it's Mexico
with Dominican Republic tobaccos.
- [Drew] Outstanding. - [Manolo] And the format,
it's 58x5.5.
- [Drew] I first met your team-
- [Manolo] Yeah. - [Drew] Two years ago?
Was two years the launch, or three?
- [Manolo] The launch it was in 2021.
- [Drew] Ok, so three. - [Manolo] Our first PCA
with just one cigar.
- [Drew] So this is the beginning of
your fourth year?
- [Manolo] Yeah. - [Drew] How's it been?
- [Manolo] So far, so well.
- [Drew] Oh, this is lovely.
- [Manolo] (interviewer laughs) Thank you.
- [Drew] Hmm. How do you describe the cigar?
- [Manolo] Well, from, in my opinion,
it's complex, (interviewer hums)
but elegant with the Dominican tobaccos
and deep flavors and deep aromas from the Negro San Andrés
inside in the filler.
So you can get sweetness,
stable hints of hay,
dark cacao in the last part of the mouth.
So it's very interesting cigar. It's very transitional.
- Oh, it is interesting. - And It's a lot of flavors.
- Yeah. It's very rich. - It's the aroma.
It's beautiful. - [Drew] Mh hmm
- [Manolo] Actually for this cigar.
I prefer the aroma for the, for the taste.
But it's beautiful.
- [Drew] Well, and it's, there's a subtle floral-
Right? Is that right? Yeah. It's really beautiful.
So how's the process of starting
a new cigar company?
- [Manolo] Wow. It's hard. It's hard.
For us, we work at, compared to one year
in the table between Jamie [Baer], Serge [Bolling] and I
to talk about, about the cigars,
about the name, about the colors, about the,
the proper logo type and the inspiration.
Because all the time I talk about the, we need
to share Mexico, because Mexico has an amazing tobacco,
not just for wrappers.
I know we have an amazing wrapper,
fabulous wrappers for Negro San Andrés,
but we produce an amazing tobacco for the fillers.
So we need to share that.
And I'm from Jalisco-the land of tequila and Mariachi,
so I need to share the both.
So we don't produce tequila,
but I looking the best companion for our cigars.
And well, sometimes I make,
in the beginning the cigar and
after we find the name and the other
and other things and the storytelling.
But another time I inspired the one element.
And for, from that I develop
and I design the cigar and the blend to tell a story.
So we, we share Mexico between the,
the names, between the storytelling,
between the flavors and the aromas.
- [Drew] And it's the home of,
from the same home as Mariachi and tequila.
Sharing Mexico. That's really a wonderful theme
behind your, your craft.
And it is delicious.
- [Manolo] Great. (laughs) - It is delicious.
What's in this box?
You brought so many wonderful
things for show and tell today.
- [Manolo] Yes. Well right now we have three lines
of the, our premium shelf.
It's Revolutionary Edition, Mexican puros,
Calvary Edition blends Nicaragua and Mexico.
And Soldadera Edition blends Dominican Republican
and Mexico. It's our premium line.
We, I use special tobaccos
with a few years in age before be rolled.
For example, the Negro San Andrés has five years
age before be rolled.
The Arapiraca has six years before we rolled.
And after the rolling process, I put in resting
for six to eight months each cigar.
So it's very, how do you say,
the very specific work in, in that cigars.
And right now in this show we present Mexigars.
We made a special blend between Mexico and cigars.
And I made Mexigars.
And my inspiration for that cigar is a proper
traditional cuisine in Mexico.
You know, when you come to a home for Mexicans,
you can feel the aromas for the kitchen.
So my inspiration is the proper flavors for the Mexican food
from the chili, chocolate, spices, nuts,
and a lot of different elements.
But you need to recognize that element.
So it's made with just all the Mexican tobaccos,
but different, I play with different seeds.
For example, Habano grown in Mexico,
Negros San Andrés of course, and Sumatra
and another kind of tobaccos.
And I made that cigars very affordable,
very, it's like our entrance line.
- [Drew] Okay. - [Manolo] Yeah.
It's more cheap than the premium line.
But it's very great flavor.
A lot of aromas, a lot of sensations.
So it's very interesting.
- [Drew] So how, is it going well as far as
getting people to try the cigars?
Because my expectation is it's very similar
to Boveda's challenge.
Once we get Boveda into a person's hands
and they experience it, they get it.
Same thing with these cigars.
I, I am less than three quarters of an inch into this cigar.
And it is lovely. I mean it's really a beautiful stick.
- [Manolo] Thank you. - [Drew] Tastes great.
So how do you get people to try it?
Have you been doing a lot of events?
Have you been showing up at a lot of stores
and spending time with people and,
and getting them to actually smoke the cigar?
- [Manolo] Actually, yes.
I, I love to share Mexico
with all the cigar aficionados, all the professionals,
with everybody.
Because we need to try to take
three principled columns in the Casa 1910 brand.
The, the first is Mexico inspiration.
Mexican Revolution. For example,
Soldadera, actually La Coronela,
she was the first female colonel,
legally in Mexico after the revolution.
But she fights in the, in the Zapata's army.
So every cigar from us, it's a small tribute
for different elements.
And the other line, it's Cavalry Edition,
it's a tribute for horses from
Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata
and Revolutionary Edition, it's a tribute for each
important battle in the Mexican Revolution.
So when I talk this story, the story involves
around the, the people to, close the people to
to the brand.
And the another column is good looking cigars,
good looking packaging.
And of course the best way
to keep the packaging ready is with Boveda.
So we put an amazing box, amazing colors
our box every time, keeps the proper humidity.
- [Drew] Hold that up for the camera.
- Yeah. - Show 'em the top.
Close the lid and show 'em the, the top
so they know what they're looking for.
It really is a beautifully merchandised package.
- [Manolo] Yes.
And another important column from us
is the quality of the Mexican tobacco.
- [Drew] Oh, and you have the, the seal,
the Boveda package with Boveda seal.
Thank you very much. - [Manolo] Yes
- [Drew] For - open that up again.
So I can imagine a beautiful setting would be,
we have fiesta, food,
plenty of aromas from the food,
experience, the tequila, relax, enjoy the conversation,
enjoy the food, cap it off with a beautiful cigar
and share the flavors of Mexico.
- [Manolo] Yes. Actually we made a very special event
in Cinco de Mayo, of course.
And I, I'm going in Cinco de Mayo this day,
this year to Miami actually, to Florida
to make a huge event with Cinco de Mayo,
with Reserva de la Familia, it's our partnership tequila,
and all cigars and Mariachi.
So I made a special pairing between, in the beginning
with the Reposado and the last part with extra añejo
to make a proper transition
between the complexity of the cigar.
We change the, the complexity in the tequilas
with the Mariachi music and the, and the talk.
It's amazing stuff.
And another thing we do is the Casa 1910 Experience.
Every year we share invitations
with the principal customers in U.S. and Europe
to go to Mexico for different series, cities.
For example, the first Casa 1910 Experience,
it was in the Mexico City in a beautiful hacienda.
Whole entire weekend with a lot of different experience.
Friday, a beautiful dinner, cocktail dinner.
Saturday, all the very special places,
we visit the very special places in, in that town.
And we made a beautiful meal,
dinner with cocktails, Mariachi, folklórico ballet,
and a lot of Mexican food and a lot of Mexican cocktails
and different kind of spirits.
And we release the new, the new products.
And Sunday, it's more free for, for the attendees so
they can go to check a lot of places.
And we take a very special brunch
with Mexican style
and it is an amazing, an amazing experience.
And the 2023 we made in Tequila, Jalisco.
So we showed the agave fields,
the process of the tequila from Reserva de la Familia.
We made a very special pairings, Mariachi band.
A lot of, a lot of margaritas of course.
So it's an amazing experience to share Mexico
with our customers.
- [Drew] Well, and it's beautiful.
You're giving a historical perspective.
You're giving people a chance to understand
the history of Mexico.
You're dealing with the art of the food,
the art of the tequila, the art of the tobacco.
It's really, it's hard to have this conversation without
your mouth watering. (Manolo laughs)
You know, it's, it, it's, I think I'm gonna have to,
we're gonna have to go to get tacos tonight.
It's gonna happen. I really appreciate you letting us be
a part of your story.
- [Manolo] No, thank you so much for your support,
definitely.
When we check the, the pack and everything,
every time we say guys, to my other co-founders,
Jamie and Serge, and he say, guys, we need Bovedas.
We need Bovedas. Because it's the best way to keep very in,
in the great point of consumption.
The cigars from the factory to the final consumer.
In the beginning, we use Bovedas
and we keep to use Bovedas every time.
So - [Drew] It's beautiful
- [Manolo] It's an amazing, actually in my proper humidors
I use Bovedas so- (chuckles)
- [Drew] That's awesome.
We appreciate it. Thanks so much.
Congratulations on your awards.
Congratulations on the spirit of hospitality that you bring
to presenting your, it was great fun
to get our group together and have a salute.
- Yeah, amazing. - Before we start,
and just really appreciate your graciousness in,
in joining us and sitting with us.
- [Manolo] No, thank you so much for having us.
- Thank you very much. - Thank you.
(salsa music plays) - [Drew] Casa 1910.
A cigar that's very worthy
of sharing the experience of Mexico.
(salsa outro plays)