Know why tobacco grows well in Connecticut? Or what revitalized Nicaraguan cigars? Or why a layer of sand on top of clay makes a great foundation for a tobacco plant? Learn cigar facts, how to pronounce Foundation's award-winning El Güegüense Cigar and more. Go deeper into the history of the cigar Motherland of Nicaragua with Foundation Cigars Founder/Owner, Nick Melillo and Boveda's Drew Emmer.

What is Boveda? Premium cigars brands protect their blends with Boveda 2-way humidity control—that brown pack that you find in the box with your cigars. Boveda preserves the flavor and character of premium cigars by keeping them at ideal humidity. At home, continue to use Boveda in your humidor to keep cigars well-humidified or they can be hard to light, burn to too fast or get moldy. With Boveda in your humidor, you'll enjoy full flavor and perfect smoke from every cigar.

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00:00 This is Box Press

01:09 Creating the first All-Nicaraguan blend—El Güegüense cigar

01:45 Smoking a Foundation Olmec Cigar

03:09 Do you put a cigar in the blue flame of a lighter?

04:09 Are you supposed to puff on a cigar a lot?

04:25 Low humidity changes how a cigar smokes, burns and tastes

05:43 Nick Melillo worked at a cigar shop through college

07:41 How Nick Melillo met, started blending tobacco and making cigars with Jonathan Drew, Drew Estate Cigars

18:37 How do you say El Güegüense cigar?

19:54 Are Nicaraguan cigars good?

23:35 Why is tobacco grown in Connecticut?

25:31 What's does the Foundation Cigar logo mean?

28:30 What cigars does Nick Melillo smoke most out from his own brand?

30:19 Olmec Cigar honors the first cigar smokers

32:07 Foundation packaging complements the tobacco blends

33:01 How can tobacco shops get new customers?

34:06 How to make you first cigar experience a good one

34:56 Joe Rogan and Foundation Cigars' Joe Rogan Special Cigar Blend

35:25 Cigar smoking brings people together

Learn more about:

Nicaragua's El Güegüense here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UtXF9uRB-s

Olmec civilization: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/olmec-civilization/

- There's a story inside every smoke shop,

2

with every cigar and with every person.

3

Come be a part of the

cigar lifestyle at Boveda.

4

This is "Box Press."

5

- This is the-

6

- El Güegüense is Nahuatl from Nicaragua,

7

so it's indigenous to Nicaragua,

so it's not even Spanish.

8

So even people that speak

Spanish can't pronounce it.

9

- Well, what is it?

10

- It's a dance that's been happening.

11

It's the oldest indigenous

satire of the Western hemisphere

12

that's been happening in

13

It's recognized by UNESCO

as a cultural mastery.

14

- So how do you get hip to this?

15

- Living in Nicaragua since 2003.

16

- Did you dance?

17

- No, but that imagery is everywhere.

18

So when I started my,

19

you know, it was about

to start Foundation,

20

I wanted to do a brand, you know,

21

I was never on the sales

and distribution side for,

22

at that time, 12, you

know, 12 years, 13 years.

23

So I wanted to, something

that represented.

24

I knew I wanted to do

an all Nicaraguan blend,

25

filler, binder, wrapper.

26

And I wanted to pay homage to Nicaragua.

27

Nobody knew who I was in 2015, except

28

for the hardcore smokers

29

and the shops that had

kind of been following me.

30

So, hence, I named it something

a little bit more difficult

31

to pronounce because I knew

they would get it, you know,

32

I knew they would

appreciate what I was doing.

33

As time, you know, brands continued,

34

I made them easier to say.

35

- So I've been hip to your

Tabernacle and your Wise Man.

36

I hadn't been exposed to this, the Olmec.

37

And I smoked this last

week for the first time.

38

Dude. It's a special smoke.

39

It's one of those smokes.

- Why, why is it so special?

40

You know, someone told me

recently, another manufacturer

41

said, you broke the code.

42

Because I think it has kind

of all of those elements.

43

For one, the blend is using

the choice of choice tobaccos

44

from Nicaragua, the filler

San Andrés Negro wrapper.

45

I mean the San Andrés

Mexican wrapper is some

46

of the oldest tobacco in the world.

47

People don't realize the Negro seed

48

predates the Habanensis

seed, the Cuban seed,

49

and is one of my favorite wrapper leaves.

50

And then you put the

branding together with it.

51

I think it just has kind

of all those elements

52

that make for magic.

53

And you never know sometimes

54

how these things are gonna hit, too.

55

But we planned big for Olmec,

56

but it far exceeded what our plans

57

and our projections that we had.

58

Yeah.

59

- So did you notice the blue

flame never touched the cigar?

60

Yes.

61

- You did your homework.

62

You did your homework.

63

- The guy's pet peeve is, well,

64

do not let the blue

flame the 3,500 degrees

65

or whatever the hell is.

66

- Because the blue, it's

3,500, 4,000 degrees

67

that blue flame, the

soft flame is probably

68

around 800 degrees.

69

So it's just such an

intense amount of heat

70

to be applying directly to the tobacco.

71

And you see the changes.

72

- Well, I'm not saying you're a freak

73

because it's a pet peeve.

74

- No, no, no, no.

75

I appreciate the guidance

76

because I'm looking at it and

I'm going, okay, tomorrow,

77

I'm not gonna be putting the blue flame

78

because I'm one of these guys

that's like, ah, you know,

79

because you can feel it too

from really far away that flame.

80

Yeah. And it's just, I just

think it has some effect when

81

initially when you're smoking on the,

82

how hot the tobacco smoking.

83

And then it affects how the blend,

84

what the intention of the blend is.

85

So that's why, it's like

when you smoked, you know,

86

two, puffing, puffing, puffing, puffing,

87

you get the tobacco too

hot, you're gonna affect,

88

look at here in Las Vegas.

89

So we've been, I've been smoking some

90

of the new blends we've

introduced all year.

91

Again out here, it's a whole

different smoking experience

92

because we're dealing with-

93

- 11% relative humidity.

94

- 11% relative humidity, maybe.

95

I mean, that's an extreme.

96

Tobacco needs moisture.

97

Can't have too much moisture.

98

That's what you guys

do beautifully, right?

99

It can't have too less.

100

I mean, this temperature

101

and moisture from the beginning,

from seed to the farms,

102

to the curing barns, to fermentation,

103

right up to the humidors is

such an important factor.

104

And that's why, you know,

105

you guys have really crushed it

106

because you made it so easy

to maintain this humidity,

107

which I did not talk to

Nick ahead of time about.

108

- No, not at all.

109

- Yeah, but thank you.

Not at all, not at all.

110

Appreciate that.

But we of course, you know.

111

So here's one of the reasons

why I'm so excited about you.

112

You started in a store.

113

- Yep, 1996.

114

- I can't tell you.

115

- Are we live by the way?

116

- We've been live the whole time.

117

I can't tell you.

- Can we swear on the show?

118

Yeah, you can do whatever you want.

119

And if you want we'll bleep it out.

120

- No, that's all right.

121

Sometimes I have a potty

mouth, but not always.

122

And I get carried away

once in a while too.

123

Who doesn't?

124

- You gotta get into it.

125

But I have much respect for

the idea that you started

126

in a store and it shows in

the craft that you've created.

127

So you're in the, you do the retail thing,

128

you understand the consumer,

129

you fall in love with cigars.

130

- Yes.

131

Yeah, that was, I was 18

132

- And you fell in love with cigars.

133

- Hard, hard.

134

- You're still in love with cigars.

135

- Big time.

136

Yeah, big time.

137

You should see me around tobacco.

138

Hand to tobacco.

- Yeah, you did a little diddy

139

about Connecticut Broadleaf

140

and you talked about

getting lost in the smell

141

of Connecticut Broadleaf

- Ah, so good.

142

when you're holding it up to your face.

143

So good.

144

I could eat it.

145

But yeah, I love, you know, I love cigars.

146

My grandfather's is really,

was the beginning of...

147

Being able to smoke a cigar

with my grandfather was,

148

- He was a cigar guy.

149

- They both were.

150

And my great-grandfathers

were all cigar smokers.

151

So Connecticut had a, it still does,

152

but you know, back throughout the 1900s,

153

there was a lot of cigar

brands in Connecticut,

154

a lot of cigar factories.

155

So you had the growing region north

156

of Hartford in the

Connecticut River Valley.

157

And then you had factories

in Hartford, New Haven,

158

Bridgeport, tons of factories.

159

They were all using

160

and Connecticut wrappers.

161

I mean, that was the, they

called them Clear Havanas.

162

That was the combo.

163

- So your bobber goes

down for cigar flavor,

164

for cigar experience?

165

- Yeah.

166

- At a young age?

167

- Yeah.

168

- And then you do the retail experience.

169

- Yep.

170

- Just going to school, working the store.

171

Wasn't in class, working a shop.

172

- And then?

173

- And then I traveled the world.

174

And in the process, you know,

175

I met Jon Drew when I first

started working the shop.

176

He was first starting and he

had a brand called Samaro.

177

It was God awful, but he kept

at it and he kept coming back.

178

They then came out with a

brand called La Vieja Habana,

179

which Nick Perdomo was making at the time.

180

This has gotta be about '98.

181

And I took that into the store

182

because the women I worked for,

183

they put their full confidence in my love

184

for cigars and my knowledge.

185

By 18, I had known everything

I could about cigars,

186

you know, from a book.

187

And that was the height of the cigar boom,

188

so it was a crazy time to,

to start in the industry.

189

So we brought on this brand, I met Jon

190

for an event one Saturday

191

We kept in touch.

192

I graduated school in 2000

193

and wanted to get outta Connecticut.

194

You know, when you want to travel,

195

I worked in and lived in Rome

196

and then bought an

around-the-world ticket for $1,500.

197

Went to from Paris to India to Thailand,

198

Overland down the Mahjong River

into Laos, Vietnam, China.

199

So Jon and I were communicating on email.

200

So I think the light bulb

went off in his head.

201

In the early 2000s, nobody

wanted to go to Nicaragua.

202

He said, "Oh, this kid

will go to Nicaragua.

203

I'm sure he knows what the

product needs to be at least."

204

And I was traveling the world for a year

205

and I get an email from Jon,

"Do you want to come down

206

and be my right hand man?"

207

I was 24.

208

- How long did it take you

to answer that question?

209

- Right away I was in,

because my next dream trip,

210

after traveling the

world, I wanted to travel

211

through Central America

and learn how to roll

212

and bunch cigars.

213

That was like my next, I had to learn how

214

to roll and bunch cigars.

215

So it came at a perfect time.

216

So after traveling the world for a year,

217

I was back in the States

for a month and a half.

218

Flew down to Nicaragua.

219

Jon said, you want the job?

220

You gotta start now.

221

And I didn't.

222

I started right away.

223

Didn't leave Nicaragua for two years

224

before I went back to the States.

225

And you know, Drew Estate

was tiny that time.

226

We were working out of the

back of Nick Perdomo's house.

227

The back was kicked out rolling tables.

228

I lived upstairs of the factory.

229

There was two bedroom for about two months

230

until my farmhouse is ready.

231

Moved to a farmhouse

232

because I said, if I'm

gonna live in Nicaragua,

233

I wanna live on a tobacco farm.

234

That farm is actually, I

use a lot of tobacco from

235

that farm in my blends to this day

236

because I work with Abdel Fernandez now.

237

So that farm, he grows on that farm.

238

So I nestled in, you know?

239

Here I was, 24 amongst all

these legends that I'd only read

240

about in books.

241

And here I am a sponge ready

to learn how cigars are made.

242

- And you're living with the plant?

243

- Living with it.

244

Living with it.

245

And that's how you know tobacco.

246

You have to be a good listener, observer.

247

Your senses have to be unbiased.

248

You have to be an observer

249

because that's, you have to

be able to communicate it.

250

Not to get weird, but communicate

and listen to the plant

251

because it's very fickle, very fickle.

252

- So you probably know personally

the plants that made up

253

that Willy Herrera red

254

and white label that I fell in love with.

255

- Yeah, I worked with that

256

with Willy when he first came on board.

257

Yeah, yeah.

258

I helped a little bit.

259

- Beautiful cigar.

260

- It's great smoke, great smoke.

261

- So, okay, so now you go, you

do the Drew Estate chapter.

262

And then, and the wanderlust continues.

263

You want to keep rolling?

264

- Yes.

265

- Or do you wanna immediately

go start your own?

266

- No, I was with Drew Estate for 12 years.

267

You know, we went from working

out of the back of a house

268

with maybe making 5,000 cigars a day

269

until 12 years later, a

hundred thousand square

270

foot factory,

271

105,000 cigars a day.

272

So I had been in charge of,

273

eventually evolved into the

tobacco purchasing, blending-

274

- Did you guys start that

safari thing during the time

275

that you were there?

276

- Yeah, yeah, of course.

Because the guys rave

277

about the trip that they took.

278

- Yeah, of course.

279

That was '08, '00.

280

You know, finally we were, so from '03

281

to about '08, there was

so much growth happening.

282

And they would call me from

the States, and say, Nick,

283

we need more production.

284

We would rent out another house,

285

we would knock down another wall.

286

We would expand and expand,

287

and finally we came to a point,

288

we had about 10 different

buildings throughout Estelí.

289

And I said, guys, this is

as far as I can take it

290

without jeopardizing quality, consistency,

291

and having problems.

292

Like we're, we're, we're working well and-

293

- What's your role at that point?

294

- Director of Tobaccos and Production.

295

So over three years,

296

I had just gone hard

into learning everything

297

about the leaf, right.

298

So I sort of reverse

engineered the cigar coming

299

from the retail.

300

I then started to reverse engineer

301

and really focus on quality control.

302

That was one of my main

jobs, was quality control.

303

I implemented different filters.

304

So here I am, you know, in Nicaragua, sort

305

of, Jon left after the first two weeks

306

and said to kind of figure it out.

307

I had just come off

308

of an international business

degree and my love for cigars.

309

So I was out to prove myself.

310

But the international

business degree came in handy

311

because I was able to,

312

there was not much organization

happening at that time.

313

There was not production

planning, shipment planning.

314

And I'm kind of a freak when it comes

315

to keeping everything organized.

316

So I started implementing

a lot of organization.

317

I planned all the production,

worked with the sales team

318

to take those projections,

make a production plan,

319

tobacco purchasing plan, and

then I oversee quality control,

320

and then all the blending.

321

- So all the capacities from the-

322

- Yeah, everything to

do with the production.

323

- Yeah.

324

- Yeah.

325

So-

326

- But that's a beautiful thing

327

because you've done everything along,

328

I mean, you started at the retail, you go

329

through all the capacities in

the production end of things.

330

- We built this amazing team.

331

You know, it's not, it wasn't just me,

332

but all of the team down there.

333

We were all around the

same age, young team,

334

and we all, they appreciated

me coming from the U.S. side

335

to add the perspective of kind

of what they were missing,

336

right?

337

If you're always in, in the Nicaragua side

338

or that side, you don't

understand what's going on

339

in the stores and the tobacconist

and what customers want.

340

So everybody was real

excited to have me on board

341

because I was bringing

this perspective that kind

342

of connected all the dots for them.

343

And we built up, the team that runs

344

that factory today is still

the team that I worked with.

345

- Well, and and you're birthing cigars.

346

I mean, you're birthing

legendary names like-

347

- Yeah, Liga Bravada's a big one.

348

Yeah.

349

And before that we were known

as just the flavored guys.

350

But I appreciated flavored cigars

351

from the retail perspective and finding,

352

but I didn't smoke them.

353

I was a hardcore traditionalist.

354

So from '03 to '06, I

was just blending, trying

355

to figure out where the

flavor profiles of cigars

356

that I loved

357

and where those flavor

profiles were coming from.

358

- So when you were back

in the retail store, what,

359

name a couple of brands that

were your go-tos when you were

360

in the store?

361

- Oh, Padrón 3000 was my staple.

362

I was a big Fuente Opus X since, you know,

363

that cigar was launched, I think '94.

364

So yeah, I was a big Fuente fan.

365

I smoked a lot of Excaliburs

at that time, Excalibur 3s.

366

Hoyo de Monterrey.

367

Rothschilds were big.

368

Henry Clays.

369

Yeah, it was a Mac, you

know, I started on Macanudos

370

in early on when they were

being made in Kingston, Jamaica.

371

And the wrapper was coming right

372

from the Connecticut River Valley.

373

It was shade from the

Connecticut River Valley,

374

San Andrés Mexican

binder, Jamaican fillers.

375

So yeah, I, there were so

many great cigars there

376

and there were so many bad cigars

377

because it was the

height of the cigar boom.

378

You had to be careful.

379

We called them Don Nobodies.

380

There was so many people trying

381

to make a quick buck,

get into the business.

382

And I always said at

that time, this is about,

383

if you can put your heart and soul

384

and passion into this,

you're gonna have a chance.

385

You can't just wanting to

come throw a band on a cigar

386

and expect to make it in this business.

387

I mean, it's just, that's too much.

388

So 12 years built this family,

389

you know, living abroad

390

and working abroad is

different than I think living

391

and working home and people you work with,

392

you become even closer,

393

that becomes your community even more.

394

And it was really difficult

to make the decision

395

to leave Drew Estate.

396

I had a great position.

I had a great salary.

397

I had all the perks

398

and I saw the FDA

regulations at that time.

399

So this is 2014.

400

And there was so much talk about,

401

potentially not being able

to start your own company,

402

cut off dates that the FDA would.

403

So I said, if I don't do this now,

404

I probably will never do it.

405

And I knew the experience

that I had built at that time

406

that I could, if I failed,

407

I could get another job on

the leaf side of things.

408

You know, I knew I had some security.

409

Now, a 21 year old wasn't

gonna come and take my job

410

because of all the

experience that I built up.

411

So it took me a couple

years to make the decision,

412

and then I finally left in May 9, 2014,

413

and then spent the next year developing

414

what would be Foundation Cigars.

415

We launched at this trade show, PCA 2015,

416

with one brand. El Güegüense.

417

- El Güegüense.

- El Güegüense.

418

It's not Elgay Gunsei.

419

- That's a great pasta sauce.

420

Yeah.

421

- Golognese is a great pasta.

422

El Güegüense, El Güegüense, The Wise Man.

423

- That was your launch?

424

- That was our launch.

425

I wanted to do a a hundred

percent Nicaraguan blend.

426

I felt at that time, you know,

I knew I was gonna come out

427

with Broadleaf blends.

428

That's kind of what I was

really well known for being

429

from Connecticut you know,

being connected to Liga.

430

But it, the Broadleaf wasn't

ready curing at that time,

431

but I thought this experience

432

of Nicaragua, I wanted to bring

to this part of the world,

433

to the consumers, to the retail shops,

434

to really show them what

living in Nicaragua is about.

435

And the heart and soul

436

of Nicaraguan culture is El Güegüense.

437

It's everywhere.

438

It doesn't matter where

you come from in Nicaragua,

439

what your cultural, religious background,

440

political background,

441

everybody identifies with El Güegüense

442

as being distinctly Nicaraguan.

443

- So this the, this subject of discussion

444

with different leaders in the industry,

445

the shift in Nicaragua being perceived

446

as a second rate provider of tobacco

447

to being a world class

provider of tobacco,

448

that happened under your watch?

449

- Yes.

450

- You were there for that?

451

- Yes, because, you know, there,

the country really started

452

to open up in 1990, 1991.

453

The 80s was a disaster.

454

The 70s was a disaster.

455

So when the country was opened

456

that was the beginning of the

cigar industry coming back.

457

I mean, they had nationalized

the cigar industry,

458

I believe during the 80s.

459

So it really wasn't

460

until they started giving

land back, factories back.

461

So 2003 when I moved to Nicaragua,

462

it was just starting to

really get on its feet,

463

and, yeah.

464

- Well, and I would assert that this craft

465

that you've built into the Foundation DNA,

466

this is as good as any cigar

you're gonna smoke anywhere.

467

- Yeah, there's a very, you know,

468

I am a tobacco man.

469

This has been my experience.

470

- Sounds like a song.

Purchasing tobacco from all

471

over the world.

472

So Ecuador, Brazil, premium,

473

we call it black tobacco.

474

That's cigar tobacco.

475

Where you have Blond and Burley,

476

that's all cigarette grades.

477

And so from a standpoint of

dark air cured black tobaccos,

478

there is a big misconception, you know,

479

and mystique around Cuba.

480

Nicaragua is very unique.

481

It's the land of lakes and volcanoes.

482

That's what Nicaragua means.

483

Most active volcanoes in Central America.

484

The soil is just so you can drop seeds

485

by accident and things are growing.

486

So what makes Nicaragua

very unique compared

487

to any other growing

region is in the world is

488

between the lower primings of the plant

489

and the upper primings.

490

So usually the lower primings are milder.

491

The middle of the plant is medium bodied.

492

The upper part of the plant

is the strongest, your Ligero.

493

The diversity from the lower primings

494

to the upper primings is

unlike any other country.

495

So the strength levels,

496

the flavor going from the lower level.

497

So, for example, the upper primings

498

of the Nicaragua plant,

the Ligero, the strongest,

499

that would be like the Dominican's

middle part of the plant,

500

or Cuba's middle part of the plant.

501

I'm not saying one is

better than the other.

502

I don't see that tobacco as being better

503

or worse per se.

504

What makes something better or worse is

505

your care in the field,

your growing practices,

506

your quality control, your fermentation.

507

That's what makes tobaccos.

508

They're just different, right?

509

But Nicaragua, from a

strength flavor-fortaleza

510

-we say, there's nothing like it.

511

That's why you see all these brands, even

512

before Nicaragua became Nicaragua,

Dominicans always used it

513

for blending, Honduras,

all these other countries.

514

- And it's all about the terroir.

515

- It's all about the terroir.

516

Yeah. I mean that's what

makes Connecticut unique.

517

Connecticut is a Mohegan word

518

that means the great tidal river.

519

The Connecticut River's 406 miles long.

520

Starts on the border of Canada,

521

cuts through New Hampshire.

522

It's the border of New

Hampshire and Vermont,

523

cuts through Massachusetts,

through Connecticut,

524

into the Long Island Sound.

525

That was a gigantic finger lake at the end

526

of the last glacier period.

527

So it was this huge lake.

528

The lake bed eventually

settled into 30,000 acres north

529

of Hartford.

530

That's where the

Connecticut River Valley is.

531

And it's because of

that glacier that makes

532

for a very sandy loam soil.

533

So the sand, when you

see the sand, sometimes,

534

you think you're at the beach.

535

When you look at the

terroir, you're like, what?

536

This is so sandy, how does?

537

The sand is about this,

538

say for example, this high,

539

then you have clay at the bottom.

540

What happens is, is that the

water filters through easily

541

before you get to the clay.

542

Whereas if it was all clay,

the water would settle up.

543

The root system of the plant

is following the water,

544

so it goes deep.

545

That makes for sweeter, tastier tobacco,

546

which is unique because most

547

of the black tobacco growing

regions, cigar tobacco,

548

are more volcanic in nature.

549

Connecticut's unique

because of the glacier soil.

550

So all of this plays a huge factor,

551

but Nicaragua has become very unique in

552

that the volcanic soil is, it's so rich,

553

it's, you look at, it's

just you want to eat it.

554

At least I do.

(Drew laughing)

555

Some people don't want to eat soil.

556

But it's, you know, it's thriving.

557

It's amazing.

558

And then you have different

regions within the country.

559

Estelí is very volcanic,

560

whereas Jalapa was much farther away

561

from a lot of these volcanoes.

562

I mean, you can literally

see in Estelí remnants

563

of rocks that were just blown

from some of these volcanoes.

564

And you can see volcanoes,

some of them, they're some

565

of the most perfect formed

volcanoes, iconic volcanoes.

566

- So did that have anything to do

567

with the logo for Foundation?

568

- A hundred percent, yeah, yeah.

569

- Is that, I jumped to that.

570

I didn't know that.

571

No, no, a hundred percent, yeah, yeah.

572

So, because for me, the

foundation of this is the leaf,

573

right?

574

Good leaf, time, fermentation.

575

So within the Foundation logo,

you'll see water, necessary,

576

volcano, the volcanic soil and the sun.

577

This is, this is the foundation

578

for growing, you know, tobacco.

579

If you don't have those elements,

580

you can't grow good tobacco.

581

And it's part of the,

the logo of the crest

582

of Nicaragua, very similar to that.

583

So, and then the pyramid is the balance

584

between polarities, right?

585

It's one of the-

586

Okay, okay, and then we shift into some

587

of your meditative practices.

588

This is, are we getting

on the edge of that?

589

- Sure.

590

- I mean, talk about that a little bit

591

because you are not your run of the mill.

592

- I mean, I got very big

into like metaphysics,

593

studying culture, history.

594

Those things always fascinated

me from a young age.

595

I just always had a quest

596

for understanding why things

were the way they are.

597

I was that pain in the ass kid.

598

"Mom, why is this?"

599

- If you were a priest, you'd be a Jesuit.

600

I mean that's like a basic

601

- Yeah, there you go.

602

- It's that kind of discipline around.

603

- Yes, and mysticism, the occult,

604

all of those kinds of things

very, very much interest me.

605

And mathematics and geometry

are very interesting.

606

And the pyramid is that structure.

607

It, you know, the Trinity,

608

people talk about the Trinity having more

609

of a religious context.

610

But I think it's, when you trace it back,

611

it has a very metaphysic-type meaning,

612

and that's the balance.

613

It is the balance between

polarities, right?

614

You have two extremes,

615

and then the balancing

point is the pyramid,

616

the balance of polarities.

617

This is, you know, the Great

Pyramids are the oldest,

618

one of the oldest structures, the-

619

- And it's part of the discipline

620

that goes into your cigar making.

621

- A hundred percent.

622

And balance for me with

the blends is crucial.

623

- This is absolutely-

624

- This is a tasty one.

625

- This is-

626

- This is the Claro.

627

- Do you smoke this?

628

I mean, what do you

smoke more than anything

629

out of your own line?

630

- You know, I have weeks

where I get on different kicks

631

because I don't like to

neglect all my children.

632

So I will, you know, the Robusto

633

and the Olmec, I've been smoking.

634

Recently, El Güegüense

Coronas, what you have.

635

So I'll switch up.

636

Last week it was

Tabernacle Double Coronas.

637

We sell so many Double

Coronas, it's bizarre.

638

Usually Robusto, Toro is the top,

639

but in Tabernacle and Olmec,

the Double Corona size,

640

we sell just as many Double Coronas

641

as Toros and Robustos.

642

It's wild.

643

- Why?

644

- It's a great question.

645

I think the price point

definitely is an influence

646

between, and if you have the time

647

and you look at the price of the Toro

648

between the Double

Corona, you're like, okay,

649

the price point is not

that great of a jump,

650

and the cigar just keeps going.

651

- Well, I smoked this in a larger format.

652

It was something like

a Double Corona or a-

653

- Was it a big?

654

We do do a 60 in this.

655

- No.

656

- It was probably-

657

- It was longer than this.

658

- It was a Toro or the Double Corona.

659

The Toro's 6x52.

660

That's 5.

661

So we have a 5, a 6 and a 7.

662

- Yeah, I think it was a 7.

663

- Yeah.

664

- But it was an adventure.

665

And I had this moment where I stopped

666

and I get, I get, I'm a, I'm

a creature of habit, you know,

667

I go to certain bins

when I'm in the humidor,

668

and I pass this up, never tried it,

669

and I had the experience last week

670

and then I have the privilege

of talking to you today.

671

It's like, hello?

- Yeah, yeah, that's great.

672

Thank you.

Yeah, my pleasure.

673

Yeah, Olmec.

674

- Olmec.

675

- And now what's the

significance of the name Olmec?

676

- So this imagery here is,

677

these colossal heads were discovered

678

in the late '30s, '40s in Mexico.

679

So I used to go to San Andrés every year

680

for tobacco purchasing in Mexico.

681

In this same region where

Negro tobacco is used

682

for all of the Mexican tobacco

that's used in our market.

683

This was the land of the Olmecs.

684

The Olmecs were the mother

culture of Central America,

685

pre-Mayan, Aztec, Inca.

686

In the late '30s,

687

they started uncovering

these colossal heads.

688

These are gigantic heads.

689

- Heads?

690

- Yeah, if you ever get a chance-

691

- Like human heads?

692

- Not stone.

693

- Yes, human heads.

694

- Carvings?

695

- Carvings, stone.

Not actual heads?

696

- They don't know...

697

No, no, no, no, carvings.

698

They don't know much about them.

699

Which is, I'm gonna give

you a quick look at these.

700

- Oh, far out.

701

- Yeah.

702

They started uncovering these heads-

703

- These carvings.

704

- And they were like, these are not Mayan.

705

These are not, they discovered

a whole nother civilization

706

that predated the Mayans.

707

They were the first calendars.

708

- So this becomes part of your story?

709

- These are the first cigar smokers.

710

That image of the cigar,

711

that in the mouth of the lo,

712

that's the first image of a cigar

713

that I have studied and researched ever.

714

- Circa when?

715

- 3000 B.C.

716

Yeah.

717

2000 B.C.

718

Yeah.

719

- Fascinating.

720

- So I thought they were worthy of a-

721

- Yeah, yeah, no,

Of a brand.

722

this is good.

723

Let's name a cigar.

724

- Yeah, I mean, for me, you know,

725

having been on the blending

side for so many years

726

to then create my own brands, you know,

727

for me the packaging is a complement.

728

I want to complement the blend.

729

It starts with the tobacco always.

730

But to be able to use things

731

that I've been passionate

about, history, culture,

732

and use them on my brands.

733

I have an amazing art team in Nicaragua.

734

One of my best friends, Alex Garcia,

735

incredible artist from from Estelí,

736

we work hand in hand.

737

I'm like the conductor.

738

He's the one that man manifests the art.

739

And we have a lot of the same interests,

740

so it's just exciting.

741

- I could talk to you all

day, but you gotta go.

742

But I want just touch on one thing.

743

- Yes, sir.

744

- Introducing new people to cigars.

745

Going back to your retail experience

746

and your attitude about how we keep from,

747

I mean, there's all sorts of

new lux announcements coming

748

in the industry, higher price points.

749

It's natural.

750

I'm not deprecating that at all.

751

But how do we continue

to introduce new smokers?

752

Yeah.

753

- You know, for me, I

think the cigar shops

754

and the retail shops are very crucial

755

in creating the right environment.

756

It is very intimidating for new people

757

to come into this industry.

758

There are so many blends,

there's so many brands.

759

So creating that right

environment in the shop.

760

I see those shops that do

create that right environment

761

have the most success

in getting new people,

762

because it's intimidating.

763

It's like me with wine.

764

I don't know wine that well.

765

If I go into a wine shop,

it's, it's overwhelming.

766

So you have to get the right

blend to the right consumer,

767

because that's another, if

you don't get the right blend

768

to a new consumer.

769

If you give them a Tabernacle,

770

that's a full body, full

strength blend to somebody

771

that's never smoked cigars before,

772

that becomes their image

of what a cigar is.

773

And it's not necessarily

what all cigars are.

774

There's so many different styles.

775

So you have to get the

right, unfortunately, a lot

776

of people like get cigars at a

wedding or they're at a party

777

and then it's sitting in their desk drawer

778

and then they try to light it

up and it's not humidified,

779

and it's a terrible experience.

780

So, but the cigar stores,

I invite the cigar stores

781

to be less cliquey, less pretentious,

782

and more open to welcoming new people.

783

I think new, you know, podcasts

784

and our cigar has been featured many times

785

on Joe Rogan's podcast.

786

It's been amazing.

787

- I'm a Rogan freak.

788

I watched everything.

- I am too.

789

He mentions you regularly.

790

- It's crazy.

791

Joe has been amazing.

792

I don't pay him.

793

- How'd you, how did that happen?

794

- It just happened three years ago.

795

We were able to, a friend of mine,

796

we met another friend

that was a cigar smoker.

797

Cigar smoking brings people together.

798

And he happened to be going

to visit Joe in Austin.

799

Joe had just moved to Austin,

brought him a couple boxes

800

and that's where it started.

801

And I eventually made him his own smoke.

802

Unfortunately it's not

available to the public,

803

but hopefully one, maybe one day.

804

- We've tried to go through the front door

805

and dealing with his people.

806

- Oh, I've given him Boveda before.

807

Well, and he's, he's gotten packs, so.

808

- But, and we don't need

to, we'd love to continue

809

to support Joe's cigar

freshness through you.

810

- I ended up getting

him a couple humidors,

811

but whenever I send him,

you know, some sample packs

812

of different stuff, I always

send Bovedas to him, so.

813

- And he's such a great

ambassador for the cigar industry.

814

- So that's, you know,

815

these different channels

I think are crucial

816

for exposing people to cigar smoking.

817

I mean-

818

- I'd love to sit and listen

to you and Rogan have a cigar.

819

- That would be awesome.

820

- What a trip.

821

- That would be a trip.

822

- I would freak out.

823

and work your way forward.

824

- You know, we've

talked, we chat sometimes

825

on Instagram, a little bit.

826

He sent me a message this morning

827

because I made him a new box

828

for his new comedy store that

called the Comedy Mothership.

829

But we've chatted about

Connecticut, the River Valley

830

because he hates Connecticut,

831

because the comedy scene has

been, I think he's had a lot

832

of bad experiences there and whatnot.

833

But now he's seeing, I

think, you know, the history

834

of tobacco there, which we

just opened up our new office

835

on a 300-acre farm.

836

Would love to have you

guys come up at some point.

837

Right in the heart.

- Pay attention.

838

Pay attention.

839

We're going.

- Yeah, that would be great.

840

300-acre farm in the

Connecticut River Valley

841

with my good friend Jon Foster.

842

So he's been a tobacco

843

So educating people about

cigar smoking is crucial.

844

There's so much to know.

845

- We would jump at the opportunity

846

because we're an asterisk

on the cigar industry.

847

On all the industries we

serve, we're a side show.

848

We're not the main event,

849

but we are all about accentuating

other people's experience.

850

- A hundred percent.

851

You guys do it well.

852

- And whatever we can do to support you

853

and continuing to flourish with Foundation

854

and the ambassador to the

industry that you are.

855

It's a tremendous privilege

for us to talk to you.

856

- Same here, same here.

857

- And to smoke your cigars.

- Likewise.

858

You make spectacular cigars.

859

Thank you, thank you.

860

- Thank you.

861

- Thank you.

I can't thank you enough.

862

I'm glad we got to talk.

863

Sorry I was late.

864

- Dude, I, you're gonna

get on your scooter

865

and get onto the next thing,

866

but this has been an absolute privilege.

867

- Same here.

Nick Melillo.

868

The Meli, Meli, Melillo.

869

- Melillo.

870

- Melillo.

871

- There you go, that's the Italian.

872

- The founder and the head

chuchi at Foundation Cigars.

873

And I am smoking the Olmec.

874

I have the El-

875

- El Güegüense.

876

- El Güegüense.

877

- Yes, sir.

Thank you.

878

I will practice that.

879

I will never do that wrong again.

880

- No, no, you're good.

881

- And-

882

- You're not the only one.

883

- Yeah, you are a wise man

when it comes to cigars.

884

- No, no, no, no.

885

- Thank you very, very much.

886

- My pleasure.

887

Thank you guys.

888

I appreciate it.

- What a treat.

889

- Yeah.

890

(snazzy music)