Thread: Having my own cigars brand?

Thanks to my love of nice cars, I have been a long time reader of L4P. I always thought I will one day post in the cars section, but life is full of surprise...

I have been offered the opportunity to start my own cigars brand.
I don't smoke cigar on a daily basis, but I enjoy some for client or contract signing, birthday etc...
I enjoy some famous Brand, but I don't have such an extensive knowledge of cigar.

I have been approached by a dominican friend, who owns some tobacco plant in Dominican Republic, and who is also the Head of some quality control office for tobacco product over there. He asked me to create and market a brand, in France or in China.

The quality is controlled and on par with the best Dominican Brand.
The production capacity is quite large, both in quantity and number of Range...

I would do this (if it appears serious and valid after I do some due diligence on it) as a side job or a hobby.

So, what do you think of the idea? any recommendation? any question I should ask, or fact I should be aware of?
What cigars would you like to see, and what range of product shall I start with ?

Sorry, I know it is a little vague, but it sure does sound like a fun idea...


So please let me know what real cigars aficionados think about it

I know you're in the process of investigation…how's the cigar market in China/Hong Kong?

I think you should send me a few to test them...

What kind of background does your friend have in tobacco harvesting? Do you have a roller already? Who will be doing the band/box design? Have you looked into shipping?

I've been in the American cigar industry for a little while now, and I know that doing it as a side job or hobby may be feasible in the beginning, however if it grows it will encroach it's way to the top of your list. I know that my boss is on the road at least 200 days a year either repping the brand or doing events all around the country, not to mention going back and forth from the farm.

It's a great industry and very tightly knit, I've met a ton of very cool people and had alot of great opportunities; however cigar guys can be tough, I would make sure you know your stuff before jumping into it head first (or hire people who know what they're talking about).

That being said if you move forward I wish you the best of luck and keep us posted!

Do it!

I am currently in France, but I will check out the Chinese HK market as soon as I come back next week.

As far as I know, HK has a strong cigars community. As for watches and cars, HK is famous for some of its cigars club and impressive collections.

In China, Cigars seems to be quite fashionable, specially in Night Club or Hotels, in spite of prohibitive prices (Luxury Items = 100% tax), but I havn't seen any specialty shop or dedicated cigar club yet.
I have some lead, and I will focus on serious cigars fans, who know what they want and like.

My friend has been a cigar producer all his life, and he is now in the board of Intabaco, the dominican tobacco institute, so I assume he is quite experienced

The design and boxing is for me to determine, and will be done in the Dominican Republic in a factory nearby the plant. Basically the product is ready to sale, I just have to give out specifications, brand it, and have it shipped (Don't know how just yet).

I am really interested in this, but i have some concerns as well:

-I just started in a new job in China, and I am afraid i can't give the cigars enough time

-I am not knowledgeable enough on this subject yet. Chinese customers, and specially HK customers tends to be very aware of what they buy. I have seen it with some watches collector over there. I am good, and I can recognize watches by name, caliber and sometimes years, but they were something else.... very demanding, and they surely did know what hey were talking about. For Wine as well, and I assume for cigars too.

As for sample product, I have right now a few for myself, and i will have the whole available range in April, so i will let you know

HMM sounds like you neeed to bring it to the US also. Depending on how things go over where you're at.

I have connections with a few cigar lounges here; if you want to do US distribution I could get you in touch.

Its not as worth it as you may think. And you should REALLY know the industry inside and out before getting into it. Especially in the markets you are talking about you will be crushed. IMHO there is no need for just another label because you got the opportunity

It's a big committment. It can work, but only by your own sweat. I have a friend who has been trying to get a cigar brand up and running for the last few years (Guillen Cigars). He has made several batches and they are good smokes. The catch for him is that overwhelming process that the US governement has in place for new cigar companies to import cigars. For a long time he could only bring samples in to the US, and none for sale (augmenting this with web-based sales).

He had to go to cigar stores and lounges all over the country to introduce his cigars and arrange for an event -- which he had to fund.

I think that the one real plus in his favor is that he had a master roller and some dedicated tobacco fields in Nicaragua that allowed him to start a botique brand that had something unique about it that people liked.

He is still struggling, but he is more established now and has a following, but he struggled for a long time...