For those that haven’t seen your video interview with us yet, how would you describe your journey so far in the cigar industry?
It’s definitely been unique, special, and a great reminder of humanity. There have been so many good people I’ve gotten to meet along the way—people who have helped, supported, and just wanted to see me succeed. That’s been humbling and a big honor, but I certainly feel pressure because I don’t want to let those people down. I always want to release the best cigars possible that create special experiences because that’s a big part of what cigars are about for me. A lot of cigars are really good and enhance an experience, but I’ve also been blessed to smoke some cigars that are so special and so rare that they are the reason for the experience. Those are the moments you remember forever.
I remember you used to hunt down vintage and extremely hard to find cigars for clients. Please tell us more about your favorite find that you've tracked down!
One of my favorite vintage cigar memories was finding a box of 50 cigars from 1929, the year of the Great Depression. These cigars were made by Benson & Hedges which is a well-known cigarette manufacturer. Surprisingly, they made premium cigars in Tampa using Cuban tobacco. These cigars were long-filled, hand-rolled cigars that were 15 cents apiece in 1929, which was a good amount of money for a cigar back then. There still was so much flavor and complexity left in them. That was a special box.
Creating a cigar that tastes vintage from the get-go sounds impossible to achieve, but you’ve nailed it! What’s your secret sauce?
It was a combination of William and his younger son, Henderson. I brought numerous rare and vintage cigars to smoke with them for inspiration. These included aged Cuban and aged non-Cuban cigars. For a week, we worked together—smoking, discussing what we enjoyed about each cigar, and asking each other questions so we could understand each other better. By the end of the first week, William came up with a blend that was close but not quite it.
Over the next 6 months, we worked on refining the initial blend until we finally had it. I knew we had something special when I went with William and Henderson to a cigar lounge. You could see the eyes of his peers light up while they were smoking the J. London cigars that William handed them. They didn’t need to say anything because the expressions on their faces said it all.
Now that you’re establishing a residence in the Dominican Republic, what are you looking forward to most?
What I’m looking forward to most is being able to spend more time at the factory and in the fields to learn more. This is an industry where you never know everything. No matter how great some of these masters are, they will be the first ones to tell you that they don’t know everything even though they’ve lived their whole lives in the industry! I just want to continue learning more about every aspect of the art of creating a premium cigar. I want to know that when I bring my hand-crafted, consumable art to market, that we’re doing our best to achieve excellence.
I am also looking forward to just living in the Dominican and experiencing more of the culture. I love the country, and I’ve been going there regularly since 2014. I have developed some great friendships and have so many wonderful memories. There’s so much of the country to explore. They have many absolutely beautiful beaches and some scenic mountains that I’m excited about visiting.
What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received in the cigar industry?
The best advice I received was to not compromise and to continue down the path of building the brand steadily and not rush anything.
As far as the worst advice goes, it was to quit the industry, go back to college, and to get a normal job.
What do you consider your greatest strengths as a brand and as a brand owner?
I would say that some of my greatest strengths are my attention to detail, my deep desire for excellence, my years of experience in the industry, and having great people around me.
What’s your favorite memory with the William Ventura factory?
I’m going to answer it by saying that some of my favorite memories with William Ventura were the times when we would go to his house, and his wife would cook us a wonderful lunch after we had spent the morning working at the factory. During those lunches with his family, we would sit down to eat delicious meals and just have great conversations. I remember the first time; they just kept putting more and more food on my plate. I went through three big helpings of rice and sancocho. It was a lot, but it was so good that I ate until it hurt. Afterwards, we would sit for a little bit on the porch and have a cigar and some coffee before heading back to the factory. Those are some of the moments I’ll always cherish.
At the factory, it was when I got to see everything for the first time. I got to see the way everybody worked, how hard they worked, and how much passion they had for what they were doing. They all felt they played a critical role in creating hand-crafted consumable art, and they really seemed to be happy and took great pride in their work.
Given that pairings are also a specialty of yours, how would you pair up the Gold Series to take the experience to the next level?
I would say that my favorite pairings with a J. London Gold Series are a chilled blanco or reposado tequila, champagne, or good crisp white wine on a warm summer day. One pairing that I truly enjoyed, while sitting with the national ambassador for Macallan in a private club years ago while talking about fine whiskeys are cigars, was drinking the Macallan 17 year Fine Oak while smoking a Gold Series Lonsdale. For me, pairings are about moment, place, and time. It’s about who I’m with, where I am, and the reason for the occasion.
It’s amazing just how versatile this blend is. I often enjoy it with coffee or even a sparkling water. The medium body of this cigar really pairs well with so many different spirits or just drinks in general.
What can fans of J. London cigars look forward to in the next 12-18 months?
I am excited to announce that we will be bringing out two new blends in the next 12-18 months. One of the blends is a maduro that we’ve been working on for 8 months so far. It’s not ready yet, but it’s almost there. It’s going to have a beautiful San Andreas wrapper that’s nice and toothy and rich in flavor. That will be released at the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023.
But what is in the works now, and has been for over a year, is my next line. It’s going to come out for PCA this year, July 8-12. I’m really excited about that. This blend will have an aged habano wrapper. This new line will give people who enjoy a fuller, more robust cigar another option in the J. London portfolio.
There are also a few special projects in the works that I can’t talk about at the moment, other than to say that I’m really excited about collaborating with some well-known brand owners.
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