Episode 116

Does A Cigar Have to Be Perfect? | Quesada Cigars | Box Press Ep. 116

But dad, why? Every daughter has said it. When Raquel Quesada entered the family business, she questioned why good wasn't good enough when it came to making premium cigars. She soon learned that construction, consistency, and quality have to be perfect, especially if your father is Cigar Aficionado Hall of Famer, Manuel (Manolo) Quesada. Raquel is among the fifth generation producing the Dominican premium brand, which includes Quesada, Casa Magna, Vega Magna, and Oktoberfest cigars. Find out why humidity control is key to enjoying a Quesada cigar to its fullest from father-daughter cigar makers and Boveda's Drew Emmer.

What is Boveda? Premium cigars brands like Quesada 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 Never risk your cigars, use Boveda

00:30 This is Box Press

02:07 Where can you buy Boveda in Madrid, Spain?

02:30 Why store cigars with Boveda

03:23 Connection happens over a cigar

05:17 Watch Manuel Quesada's For My Humidor here: https://vimeo.com/738759303

05:37 Raquel Quesada is the first woman featured in a Boveda For My Humidor ad

06:41 The Quesada cigar that's not your typical Connecticut

08:11 Release of the Casa Magna XV Anniversary

11:45 Where can you find a Quesada Salomon Oktoberfest cigar

Transcript
Speaker:

(upbeat music)

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- There's a story inside every smoke shop

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with every cigar, and with every person

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come be a part of the

cigar lifestyle of Boveda.

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This is "Box Press".

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- Manolo, thank you for taking

the time to talk to Remon.

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- No, that was my pleasure.

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- It's a beautiful story, so

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I might as well segue into this, too.

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Because I had this sitting,

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we're gonna have a

conversation with him later.

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I had that sitting and you saw

this and we talked about it,

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and you mentioned going to Spain and

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the challenge of keeping cigars fresh

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and travel over there.

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And a partner of ours, Remon Mansour

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and CigarBros created this,

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and this is yours to take

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and use for your enjoyment going to Spain.

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But we took the opportunity

to let him meet you.

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- Wonderful, I thank you for that.

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- And to meet Raquel and it's your

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attitude about family,

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your attitude about this craft.

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I think it's just a beautiful opportunity

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for a young fellow like

that to get exposed.

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- As I said, I've been going to Madrid

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over the past year and a half

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often, and I have all

kinds of humidors at home.

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And I went to a number

of retail shops in Madrid

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to buy Bovedas.

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- Boveda.

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- And nobody even knew what they were.

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They were giving me all

kinds of ridiculous humidity-

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- So you knew over there

promoting our brand in Madrid.

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- So I finally went to Calle Magallanes

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and they have them all over the place.

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And I go, this is, this is-

- Heaven.

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- And I have millions

of them in the factory,

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but I have to buy a whole

bunch of them in Madrid.

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So all my humidors are full of Bovedas,

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all over the, the apartment.

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You talk about our products

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and you talk about what

we've done over the years,

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but you have come up

with the best idea ever.

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The Bovedas, the are the

greatest thing since popcorn.

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(laughs)

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They keep cigars in perfect condition

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and it's really a magnificent product.

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I am so proud to use

Bovedas in all my humidors,

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and I thank you for

coming up with the idea

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and making a product

that's consistently good.

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- Well, it's a privilege for us to

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protect the passion that you create.

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- And the legacy and the

history and all behind it.

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- It's, it's, we're not

the star of anybody's show.

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We're an asterisk on the,

on the cigar industry.

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We're an asterisk on every

industry we're involved in.

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We support other people's passions.

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And, and the conversations that I've had

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with leaders in the industry at this show,

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the, the theme that keeps coming back over

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and over again is, it's

not really about the cigar,

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it's about the people.

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And it's about the connection

that happens over a cigar.

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- Oh, indeed, indeed,

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- Indeed.

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- It's, it's and it's delightful to,

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to spend time with you

before the interview

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because it just builds.

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It's, it's, it's a,

it's an ethic of respect

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and regard.

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- It's about family.

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- Is that fair?

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And I think that's a fair

way to put it, isn't it?

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- Yes.

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- But, you know, we

talk about making cigars

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and we start with seeds and land and farms

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and crops and barns and drying

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and then fermentation and sorting.

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And then we go to the, to the aging.

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And then we go to the factory

and we make the cigars

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and then we pack them and ship them.

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And that whole process, we

can control up to the point

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where we ship the cigars to the retailers.

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Retailers usually have great conditions

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to keep cigars in until they're sold.

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But once they're sold, it's

in the hands of the consumer.

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And protecting those cigars

becomes their responsibility.

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But our fault if something goes wrong.

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And Boveda has taken

all that fault away by,

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keeping the cigars in

perfect condition at the

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humidor in the house of the

consumer that bought the cigars.

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- So complaints are no

longer, longer available

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because Boveda keeps the

cigars in perfect shape.

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So we appreciate and

we definitely thank you

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for taking that worry out

of our, out of our world.

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- Everybody's gonna think I,

I primed you on this (laughs)

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to get you to make a pitch

for us during the interview.

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I thank you so much for that comment.

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- It comes from the heart.

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- Refer, refer them to a video I made in

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in Santiago where I spoke

exactly in the same way,

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because you have a great product.

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- We will, we will refer

back to that in the uh...

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- And it saves us a lot

of, a lot of situations

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that we don't really want to deal with.

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Because the cigars are kept perfect.

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- Drew, I, I wanna come back a little on

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what you said about women

being the first on the ad.

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- For My Humidor ad. Yes.

- From For My Humidor ad.

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- Yeah.

- I really feel very grateful

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and I thank you for that.

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And that proves that the journey

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that I've been, you know,

for 23 years in this industry

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since I started at the factory,

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proves, you know, that I,

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that we've been doing something right.

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That the legacy, the history that I have

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has been shown the right way.

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So you can put me on the

privilege to have me on the ads

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and I really appreciate it.

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- It's a great privilege

for us to have you

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a part of that collection.

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- Thank you.

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- I, I think it's a great testimony to

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women emerging as leaders

in the cigar industry.

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And you've certainly had

the opportunity to do that.

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- And I thank you.

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- A great opportunity

now and you grew up in-

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- Yes.

- The business.

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- Yes, I did. (laughs) Yeah.

Since I was born, I believe.

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- I just lit the Casa Magna.

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- Connecticut.

- Connecticut.

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And I am very fond of this cigar.

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- Yes.

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- In just a few short puffs that I've had.

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This is lovely.

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- On my social media I always say,

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it's not your typical Connecticut.

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That's my line. (laughs)

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- No, it's, it's-

- Has a little kick to it.

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- Got tremendous character.

- Yes.

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- It's lovely construction.

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- Well it was, it was made in the,

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to be in the family of Casa Magna.

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- Yes.

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- Which Casa Magna is

a Nicaraguan product.

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Origins of Nicaragua.

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And it always had a little

more intensity to the smoke.

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So making the Connecticut,

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we said it has to be in the family.

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The Connecticut will tone

it down ever so slightly,

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but it's still gonna be a

Connecticut that's gonna be

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very rich and very intense in your palate.

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- It's spectacular.

- Yeah.

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- Well, thank you.

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- When we do the lines for Casa Magna,

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when we open the different lines,

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we always wanna keep the

essence of the Casa Magna,

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original Colorado, in order to open up

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and do different things.

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- Now, The Colorado's the

one that won the award.

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- Yes.

- Yes, sir.

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- Yes. Yes.

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- So has that been sort of

the centerpiece for the-

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- Casa Magna line? Yes, sir, it has.

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- Yes sir. Totally.

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- And the offshoots have

been the D, the D. Magnus

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and the, the Liga F and the

Connecticut and the Oscuro.

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But they're all, they're

all within the family

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of Casa Magna.

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- Yes.

- Yeah.

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- Following the lead of the Colorado.

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- And now the 15th anniversary, too.

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- The 15th anniversary,

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- We're celebrating 15 years of

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Casa Magna Colorado this year.

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- That's awesome.

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- Yes. So we came out with this new cigar.

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- This is the cigar.

- That's the one, yeah

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- Casa Magna 15th anniversary.

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Yes. It comes boxes of 15.

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- Congratulations on the anniversary.

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- Thank You. Time flies

(laughs). Who would've said?

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- And that's a Colorado wrapper.

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- Well, no, it's, it's

all Nicaraguan tobacco.

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- Okay.

- With a Habano from Ecuador.

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- Okay.

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- So we sort of tweaked it a little bit

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to make it a different,

sort of a different,

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even though it's within

the family, it's different.

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- And you call it the Colorado,

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- Well, we call it the 15th anniversary

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of the Colorado Cigar. Yes, sir.

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- Yes, sir.

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- Okay. Beautiful. You,

you, your passion for,

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and I, I don't want to

suggest it's a passion

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for perfection, but I've

never had a Quesada Cigar

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that isn't just exquisite in terms of

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construction and draw

and the burn and the ash

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and all the different things

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that everybody talks about in this game.

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- Well, let me tell you something.

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When I started working for my father

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or together, I always said,

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why does it have to be? Nothing's perfect.

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But he's like so close to

perfection that I'm never, I,

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I couldn't understand it at that time.

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I was like, but this is

perfect for me. Why? What?

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But he always like insisted

and insisted, you know,

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with the construction, the

consistency, the quality,

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that's something that

always like comes up to mind

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for me when it comes to our cigars.

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And now I understand why

(laughs) and it makes sense.

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All the effort that he

always put into our cigars

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and our Quesada Cigars.

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- Well, it's super important for me

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to get a big mouthful

of smoke when I, when

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not have to labor over it.

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There's something just magical about-

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- Being able to draw. Yes.

- Yes.

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- Effortless draw.

- Yes, yes.

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- With the smoothness and

a big mouthful of smoke

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and opportunity to have it linger and...

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- Yes. And enjoy.

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- Entrance.

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It, it, it's that, it's,

it seems to me that

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as I'm smoking it, it's

that opportunity to

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entrance and gimme the-

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- Oh, yes indeed.

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- Little space to really

enjoy it. It's lovely.

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- But you know, we

always talk about quality

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and quality is a very important

word in everything we do,

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but also is important as consistency.

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You cannot be good one day,

and not be good the next day.

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You have to be consistent.

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And I tell smokers when I meet with them,

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if you don't like my cigar,

you are never gonna like them.

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Because we're consistent in what we make.

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If you like them, you're

gonna love them forever.

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But we, we have to be

consistent in what we do.

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- Well, I'm in the camp

of loving you forever.

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- And we are, too.

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So that's a perfect match there.

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- It's beautiful. It's beautiful.

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What are you excited about today?

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What's the, I mean, of

course celebrating the,

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- Yeah, celebrating the-

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- Celebrating

- The 15th anniversary.

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- Yes. We also have the Oktoberfest,

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which is a seasonal cigar

that we come up every year.

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This would be our 13th Year?

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- 13th year. Yeah.

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- So now we have a, also the three sizes

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that are the original

sizes for every year.

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But also we have a Salomon shape

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that is gonna be for events only.

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Very, very nice smoke.

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So we're very excited about that.

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- Yeah.

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And it's a pressed Salomon.

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- Oh, yes.

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- Which is a very unique,

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- I'll bring you one, Drew,

you're on my team. (laughs)

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- Okay. Okay. This is good news.

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I've been promoted to

being on Raquel's team

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and I will have the pressed-

- Salomon Oktoberfest.

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- So the Salomon with a-

- It has a two bulbs,

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but it's a, it's got a

flat body in the middle.

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- It's a 6 3/4 x 50. 33. 33 and 50.

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- And do you just dream these things up

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and have these visions of,

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or do you find, do you find a

certain tobacco that you're-

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- Well, lemme tell you the dreams are his.

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- Well.

- We executed.

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- The Oktoberfest came about

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and we drank a lot of

beer to match the cigar

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to the Marzen-style

beers of the Oktoberfest.

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So we drank a lot of beer

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and came up with the Oktoberfest.

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- Sounds like good duty.

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- On the Salomon Press.

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- He always says the best duty.

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- Whiskey was the culprit.

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We drank a lot of whiskey

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and we decided to press a Salomon,

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which is a stupid idea to begin with. And-

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- It's hard to do, isn't It?

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- Oh, indeed it is. Yes, it is.

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It's a very difficult cigar to make.

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- Yes.

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- And we came up with the idea thanks

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to the whiskey consumption

and that's how we,

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yeah, let's try it.

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- You would be surprised how

that draws in, how that burns.

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- Yeah. That's when my

brain immediately went to.

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- Amazing.

- To the, the-

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- The draw, yep.

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- The draw with the, with the-

- Yeah.

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- You'll see. You'll be surprised.

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- Do you just love cigars?

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- I love 'em.

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- I remember-

- Now let me tell you

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something I always say, sorry.

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That if you don't love

it, you can't do it.

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I mean, you have to do

what makes you happy,

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which is the most important thing in life.

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And I'm really happy. (laughs)

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- And you obviously love cigars.

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- I'm sorry?

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- You've always-

- Love cigars.

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- Do I love cigars? Let's see.

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Next year will be my 50th

year. 50th year making cigars.

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- Yes.

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- If I, if I don't love it,

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what the heck am I doing here?

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- 50 years of making-

- 50 years of making cigars.

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- We're working on that

project right now. (laughs)

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- That'll be fun.

- Yes.

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It's, it's already fun.

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Because we've been a-

- Congratulations on 50 years.

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- Well, thank you, sir.

- Thank you.

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- That's significant.

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- It's, I've been around for a while.

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Yes, sir. Yeah. A couple of weeks.

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- So in talking to you,

you came from Cuba.

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- Yes.

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- Most of the other people

that I've had conversation with

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this week that are from Cuba

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have a very distinct Cuban accent.

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You don't.

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- Nope.

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- I haven't had a beer.

(everyone laughs)

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I've been outta Cuba since I

was 13 years old, 63 years ago.

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And I'm in Madrid and I talk to people

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and they say, are you Cuban?

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And I go, how do you know I'm Cuban?

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Well, you speak like them.

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And I go, I've been out of there 63 years

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and you still still consider

me that I speak like a Cuban.

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I don't notice it, but everybody does.

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- Oh, that's great.

- Yeah.

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- So it's distinctive to a Spaniard,

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but it's not distinctive to a Minnesotan?

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- No. And English is different.

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- Yeah.

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- In Spanish. Yeah. You would pick it up.

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- Yeah. It's the regard for family.

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I know our earlier discussion

we were talking about the,

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a challenge a family

member had in traveling

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and the how everything comes to a halt

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when family is in peril

or where there's an issue.

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- Indeed. Indeed.

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- And that's another very prominent theme

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in this room. The families.

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- Yes.

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- And people referring to their friends

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and the relationships that they develop.

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I know that Tim [Swail] and Sean [Knutsen]

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feel intensely connected.

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- Connected.

- To you guys like family.

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And there's other people in

the room that they refer to

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their colleagues in

the industry as family.

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- That's the beauty of

our industry, I believe.

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- Well, there was a

seminar Friday at the PCA

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and I wasn't on the, on the panel.

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And I get a call dawn of, of Friday

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telling me that I have to

be on the panel because...

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- Saturday midday.

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- One, the one of the gentleman

that was supposed to be

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in the panel, his wife got sick

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and wife took precedence

over coming to a, a seminar.

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- Right.

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- So I had to fill in for

him and I did it gladly

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because I realized that his,

he had a crisis at home.

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Take care of that first.

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And I'll try to cover

for you as best as I can.

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- Yeah.

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- So, yeah, family is very important.

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- And I'm just reflecting on the privilege

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of sitting with you.

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- Thank you.

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- Our excitement about having you, Raquel.

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- Yes. I'm so excited about that.

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- And Manolo, you've been

part of the original group

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that was in the For My Humidor

collection with Boveda.

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And we're, we're honored to

have you be a part of that.

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- Thank you.

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- Anything else you want to?

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- Well, I just feel grateful to be here

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and I wanna keep on showing the world

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that Quesada Cigars is one of

the best cigars in the world.

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And to keep continuing

my legacy, my history

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and the passion that my father

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gave me the opportunity to have.

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- They truly are beautiful sticks.

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- And then I'm gonna start crying now.

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- No, that's good.

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That's good. We've had some

people getting misty about this

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craft of, of quality and

consistency to your point.

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- Yes.

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- The discipline that

goes into making this.

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- I was asked the other day,

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what were the items on, on my bucket list?

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And I said my bucket list. I

filled my bucket list already.

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So the only thing that I have

left to, to accomplish is

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to continue bringing

pleasure as best I can to

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as many people as I can.

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- That's beautiful.

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- This is an opportunity to enjoy yourself

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and obtain a lot of

pleasure from an activity

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that is really, really very

rewarding and very relaxing

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and very satisfying.

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:

- I thank you so much for taking the time.

416

:

- Thank you.

417

:

And much respect to the

family and to the craft

418

:

and to the beauty of these Quesada Cigars.

419

:

It's a, it's a real honor

for us to be connected.

420

:

- Thank you.

- To your family and

421

:

to be able to help.

422

:

- And many, many more years to come.

423

:

- Yeah.

424

:

- Cheers to that.

425

:

- Many blessings. Thank you so much.

426

:

- Well, thank you for having us.

427

:

- Thank you.

428

:

- Our privilege and our honor. Thank you.

429

:

(outro music)

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