Episode 115

INNOVATION! Fresh Take on Where You Buy Cigars | CigarBros | Box Press Ep. 115

Picture choosing your own premium cigar from a fully stocked humidor while you fill your tank. And it's a smoke you want to smoke, not some rocket dog. Think Montecristo, Oliva, Cohiba, Rocky Patel, or other aficionado-approved cigar. CigarBros founder Remon Mansour is making it easier for you to buy cigars where you already go—non-traditional cigar sellers, like gas stations, convenience stores, liquor stores, lounges, casinos, golf courses, etc. The company provides a patented stand-alone climate-controlled humidor, which is how it keeps cigars fresh, then keeps it stocked with premium smokes. Hear all about it in this cigar talk with Boveda's Drew Emmer.

NEW! JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. Check out the affordable Personal Humidor on the CigarBros website. Practical cigar storage for the cigar lover in your life.

What is Boveda? Cigar retailers preserve the flavor and character of their hand-rolled cigars with CigarBros Commercial Humidor. At home, 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 from every cigar. Boveda has been keeping cigars tasting great for more than 25 years. Age and store premium cigars with Boveda in your humidor. No humidor? Pick up a Boveda Humidor Bag for easy, portable cigar storage.

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00:00 Never risk your cigars, use Boveda

00:30 This is Box Press

04:54 How retailers can keep cigars fresh

06:27 Stand-alone humidor changes how and where you buy cigars

07:25 Buy cigars from a self-contained humidor in a liquor store, convenience store, gas station, casinos, hotel, golf course, etc.

09:18 How to buy a cigar if you're a new cigar smoker

10:30 If someone has a bad first cigar experience, it's game over

11:25 Getting started with cigars

15:46 Does this take business away from brick-and-mortar cigar stores?

21:01 Try Boveda Humidor bags once to keep your cigars in perfect condition

21:50 Cigar gift bag that's a portable travel humidor

23:36 How to store cigars at home without the hassle—CigarBros Personal Humidor, which comes preloaded with Boveda

Transcript
Speaker:

(mellow music)

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(mellow music continues)

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(mellow music continues)

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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 at Boveda.

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This is "Box Press."

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- Remon Mansour, CigarBros.

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It was fun yesterday

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walking at the other end of the pavilion

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seeing this massive display of CigarBros,

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and seeing you with your team

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and thinking about the experience.

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How many years ago at TP would've been?

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It would've been?

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- Yeah, I think it's been

four years, about four years.

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- So before the pandemic and all that?

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- Yep, yep, yep.

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- And you had an idea?

- That's right, yep.

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I remember I walked up,

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of course, we've distributed

Boveda for a long time.

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And I saw you at the booth,

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looking at Boveda, and I went

and introduced myself to you,

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and had a conversation

and I shared my idea.

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- Well, and you had diagrams,

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and you had schematics

of what your idea was.

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And you said, I think specifically it was,

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"I want to create a

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self-contained humidor that can be placed

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in non-traditional locations

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to distribute cigars."

- That's right.

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- And, "I want Boveda to be involved.

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We wanna have the

preservation aspect of it

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handled for the consumer."

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And there's a lot of people

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that have a lot of ideas.

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And, I don't know,

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there was just something

about your earnestness.

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Yeah, I told Jay [Fifield] about it,

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and then you started dealing with Jay.

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And I don't know that

it happened instantly,

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but you went from that concept

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to rolling out a beta test, at least,

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in a relatively short period of time.

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I mean, you had to order things

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and deal with all the details.

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But I think within a couple of years

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you had started

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this CigarBros.

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- Yeah, yep.

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- It wasn't called CigarBros back then.

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- So me and my brothers own a few-

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- Cash & Carry.

- Two Cash & Carry's

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in San Diego.

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And I think when I met you,

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I don't even think we

had a name for it yet.

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I wanna say it was early,

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maybe it was February, 2019, I wanna say.

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And we had just received

our first prototype,

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and we're still in the testing phase.

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And remember, we had a humidor program

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in San Diego since 2004, local one.

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And I've always been intrigued

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with kind of the challenge

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of getting cigars placed in

just non-traditional places.

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And when you see, you know,

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the trend in those places,

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it's rewarding for a guy like me.

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Me and my brothers, we launched,

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you know, a ton of stuff

with every category,

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you know, beverage, candy, snacks.

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And the birth of this idea

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was, as we were expanding

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our cigar selection out of Cash & Carry

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and taking a look at our

current humidor program locally,

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I said, "Man, it hasn't changed,"

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since 2004 to 2019, it didn't evolve.

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So the idea came to me

in:

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"You gotta have more variety,

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but it's gotta be fresh,

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and there has to be no question."

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But how do you do that?

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Where do you start?

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That's all I knew.

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That if someone's gonna carry cigars,

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or actually if someone's gonna buy cigars

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and be happy about it,

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that there has to be enough selection

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to choose from the best brands.

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And then, the freshness

cannot be a question.

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You just gotta know that it's fresh.

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And so that's when I got to work.

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And the birth really,

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in 2018, was an acrylic

version, vertical standing.

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And we did a prototype and all this.

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But, just personally, I didn't

pull the trigger on that,

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because I wasn't comfortable

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with the idea that

someone is gonna be happy

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to constantly buy from an acrylic humidor.

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That the freshness can't be a question.

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You just gotta know that it's fresh.

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So I figured there's gotta

be these self-contained,

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climate-controlled units.

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And so we went out and sourced one.

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I actually flew out to China,

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this is the factory, the

best one we can find,

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that was willing to modify it

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to be more commercial grade,

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do the vertical, pull-out drawers,

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and everything that's

geared for commercial use.

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And then, got my prototype.

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And then, that's what

I showed you in:

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And no intention really

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of going outside of San Diego with it.

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- Right.

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- But just wanted to see if we can change

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how and where cigars are being sold.

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Like, how far can we push it?

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And, man, you were so gracious.

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Like, you know,

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as a entrepreneur, it's

tough, it's very lonely.

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It's a tough journey when you got an idea

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and you're trying to go after it.

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And you guys were just,

I told you about it.

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And I said, "Hey, I think

there's a place for us

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where, you know, Boveda and

freshness is hand-in-hand,

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and that's what we're trying to provide."

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And so the teamwork was awesome.

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And we really, really

appreciate it from day one.

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- Well, and it's intriguing,

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because where my mind went

in listening to your vision

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was this is really cool

to have the opportunity

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to stand up a self-contained

humidor in a liquor store,

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in a convenience store, at a golf course,

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I mean, depending on the market.

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But I thought about how many places

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I've seen displays of cigars where,

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or even if I'm wandering around Las Vegas,

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if I see somebody selling cigars,

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today, there's more properly

humidified storage facilities

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for cigars in the casinos

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in Las Vegas than there used to be.

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But you used to buy a 15, 20, $30 stick

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from somebody walking around

a vendor in the casino,

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and you'd light it and

you'd go, "This is awful.

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Because it's not protected,

this is just terrible."

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And I think of those

different liquor stores

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that have a limited

selection behind the counter

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because it's an impulse buy

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for somebody that's coming

in on a Friday night.

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You know, it's just not intentional.

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It's just not right.

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I mean, congratulations.

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I mean, looking at these

beautiful displays,

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substantial, I mean, the

investment that you've made

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in the vehicle that you're

delivering this service,

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and you're selling a service.

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You are the source for these cigars.

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And you're giving people,

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literally giving people,

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the vessel that they're going to use.

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And it has to be durable,

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and it can't just be there for...

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It's not just a self-liquidating display

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that's gonna be thrown out

in 30 days or whatever.

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So what an adventure.

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- Yeah, from the beginning,

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and even till now, my focus has always

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been on kind of the early stages

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in someone's relationship with cigars.

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I remember my own personal experience.

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My first time smoking a cigar

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was at the Gaslamp District

in Downtown San Diego.

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And it was at a cigar lounge,

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and I'm a college student.

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And, you know, I was always

intrigued with cigars,

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never had one.

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Walked into a lounge,

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walked into their walk-in humidor,

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and I purchased an ACID Kuba Kuba.

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- Which is common for a

lot of college students

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for their first cigar experience.

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- Exactly, exactly right.

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And, with the guys,

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and I just remember enjoying it so much,

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and that's it.

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Ever since then, it's that feeling.

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And that's kind of the

feeling I get when I enjoy it,

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it just takes me back to that every time.

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And so, in the flip side,

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we know this, if someone

has a bad experience

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their first time, it's game over.

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You're so turned off.

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You know, I've heard it a million times-

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- Yeah, "I turned green, I

got sick, I didn't like it.

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I never wanna do that again."

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- Exactly, and so I think

that's a combination

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of the wrong stick

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or the wrong freshness.

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So you gotta have the right

cigar and it's gotta be fresh.

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And then, it's all about the atmosphere

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and, you know, environment.

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But when it's done right,

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that first experience is magical.

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And you ask any cigar guy,

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they always remember their first cigar.

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They always remember

that first experience,

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what it felt like.

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So that's what I chase.

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That's kind of what was the birth of this

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and what fuels us to

continue to always think

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about those early stages.

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My customers, we've learned,

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is not necessarily the seasoned cigar guy.

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So now that we've expanded to 25 states.

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We're primarily in the liquor store,

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gas station, convenience

store, hotels, golf courses.

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A lot of the guys, it's on the go,

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or it's the guy that never

really thought about cigars,

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never even considered

going to a cigar lounge,

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picking up his bottle of

Jack Daniel's and saying,

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"You know, let me try a cigar."

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And so we, on purpose,

made it approachable.

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Displayed in a way where they

can choose the right cigar.

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So likely we recommend if you're new,

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try a mild, mild to medium.

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A lot of ours we do our own tubing

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so they can see what they're buying

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rather than blind to, you

know, just guessing their way.

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So from the rating, and the

brand, and the flavor notes,

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they could make their best educated guess.

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And then, the beauty is if

they made a good choice,

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the reward, like, no one guided them.

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They guided themself,

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they took it home, they enjoyed it.

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And that feeling, I

experienced it as well in wine.

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- Sure.

- Go to Costco

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and no one's there to help you.

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You kind of make your best

guess based on region,

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and based on maybe some

ratings, and things like that.

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But when you take one home

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and you enjoy it, it's a

rewarding feeling, right?

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And that's kind of the beginning

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relationship with that category.

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So you say, okay, maybe,

you're a Dominican guy,

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maybe you're a Nicaraguan,

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maybe you like these shades

versus others or sizes.

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And that's the birth,

that's kind of the start.

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And that's where my mind is constantly at,

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my mind is constantly at,

what's happening there?

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Who's that guy?

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What is he picking up?

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And what can we learn from

that so that we can continue

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to kind of guide people and

build their relationship?

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When I had this idea,

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and I took it to, you

know, the guys at Altadis,

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I took it to the guys at General,

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the guys at Oliva,

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the guys at Rocky, the guys at Gurkha,

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they were all open to ideas

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and welcoming for a young guy, you know?

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And they were all there with

me and with this concept.

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And so it's crazy

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how far we've come,

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but it couldn't have been done without,

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you know, the support of you guys.

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- So how old were you when

we had that encounter?

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- Yeah, so let's say

it was four years ago.

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I was about 36, 35, 36.

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- So, I mean, I'm just so excited

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to walk over and look at your display

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and see this map of the territories

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that you've been able to serve,

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and the way this has grown for you.

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Is it exceeding your expectations

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of what you thought at the outset?

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Because you were thinking

Southern California, local,

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because that's where

your Cash & Carry serves.

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Did you carry all these cigars

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in the Cash & Carry in the first place?

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- Yeah, yeah, so we had the relationships.

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We knew the brands.

- That's significant.

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- But, you know, when I

approached them with this concept,

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I said, "This is going to

non-traditional retailers."

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And we bounced around ideas a lot too of,

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what should we place,

how should we place it?

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And I did not expect

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a growth like this by any means.

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And it's crazy,

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every territory we've gone

in, we've learned that,

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you know, after about

a year, it just starts,

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you know, this retailer's

brother, or cousin, or friend-

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- Well, and they see it

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and it's almost like a referral program.

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- Yeah, exactly right.

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- So the intriguing thing to me

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is I would suspect you had

a little bit of pushback

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possibly from a few people saying,

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"Oh, you're gonna steal business

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from brick-and-mortar retail.

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We can't do this because"

blah, blah, blah.

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But really you're not,

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if anything, you're indoctrinating people

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to an experience that's

gonna perhaps cause them

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to go to a brick-and-mortar retailer.

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- Exactly, yeah.

- And that's okay too,

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because you're serving those retailers

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that's a part of your service area,

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at least in Southern

California where you're based.

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But now you've gone national.

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I mean, you've gone,

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how far have you gone?

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I mean, I didn't study the map.

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I mean, it's grown significantly.

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I don't know to what extent, but how many?

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- So last year, when we were here at PCA,

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we were licensed in five states.

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We just started distributing-

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- Five states last year?

- In the West Coast.

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And then, based on just

interest from retailers,

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we would open up distribution

licenses in more states

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and continue to add.

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Right now we're licensed in 25.

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We have humidors in 25 states,

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and I think we have eight states pending

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just waiting for distribution.

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- Massive growth.

- Yeah, unreal.

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I'm blessed, yeah.

- How fun.

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- Thank God, it's been-

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- How'd the brothers take it?

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That was your pet idea, right?

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And I can imagine in a family,

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I used to work with my

brothers and there's all,

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I mean, no one's harder

on you than your brothers

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with your ideas.

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I mean, and nobody's gonna

go to battle with you either

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and help you like a brother.

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How did they take it?

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- You know, since the beginning,

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fully supportive, man.

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And we have this relationship

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where, you know, I can

always go to my brothers

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and I can discuss ideas,

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and they just kind of help

me think things through.

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You know, I've got an idea

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and they're like a compass, literally.

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We take an idea and they love it

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and they've got an instinct.

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I have three older brothers,

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so I'm the youngest of the four.

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And they all have this

instinct where they just know,

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"Hey, absolutely, we love it, we got you.

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Maybe tweak it that direction."

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And so they helped to unlock these ideas.

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And, man, we still work

together every day.

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It's a blessing, you

know, it's unbelievable.

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- It's a really cool story.

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And I got choked up when I

was talking to you yesterday,

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because you turned in

front of your whole team

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and you said, "This is the

first guy that believed in me,

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or believed in this idea."

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What an absolute privilege

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to be in the room to

notice the enthusiasm,

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the earnestness, the passion

that you had for this idea,

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to not just blow it off,

to just encourage you.

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To hook you up with the

right guy in Jay Fifield.

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I mean, he's the right guy

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to go through this process with you.

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I mean, what an absolute privilege

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for us to be involved in it.

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And what a great opportunity

for Boveda to be a part of,

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I mean, you guys are a rock-solid

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group of people, the family.

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For us to be involved,

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for us to be able to share our story

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and share the freshness

journey with that vehicle

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going out from five states to 25 states

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with eight pending, that's wonderful.

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I mean, it's a great privilege for us.

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And then, we're standing there yesterday

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and you point this out and I'm like,

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"Well, wait, I'd never heard about this."

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(Remon chuckles)

Right?

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When did you guys dream this up?

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- So I've had this idea

for a couple years,

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and, you know, I like to stick

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to what I know and stick to my business.

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- Well, there's plenty.

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You gotta really focus to do that,

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to do the remote-located,

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full-size humidors.

- Yeah.

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But, you know, the

conversations me and Jay have,

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every time it's,

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and I always share this with him,

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I like simple,

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I like the simple fixes of life.

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I like easy.

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Me and him, the ideas we kind of bounce

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around and the discussions we have

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where I constantly say is,

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especially in the early stages

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of a guy's journey with cigars,

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is we gotta guide them,

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and guide them always the best way we can.

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And it started with the Boveda small bags

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and the medium-sized bags where,

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they buy it once, try it once,

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and you realize it works,

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and this is the right way

to keep your cigars fresh.

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That's it, it's just such

a simple, easy solution

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that can be more complex

than it should, right?

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And so for us and our partnership is like,

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how do we remind guys?

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How do we remind the people

and how do we encourage them

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is just don't discourage yourself

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and don't hassle.

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Try Boveda, stick your

cigars in this bag, it works.

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And then, it's, for example,

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you wanna gift someone some cigars.

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And I always share this with Jay,

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it's like, I do it myself,

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I'm going to someone's party

or, you know, a gathering

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and I wanna take some

cigars as a gift to them.

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But there's nothing better,

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you stick it in a Boveda bag

and now you give it to him.

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It's like he doesn't have to worry.

427

:

And he knows it's fresh-

428

:

- He doesn't have to have a humidor.

429

:

- Yeah, and it's like, just

that relief that added,

430

:

just, you feel great about it.

431

:

And so this is my kind of perception

432

:

and why I value Boveda so much.

433

:

And so this product,

434

:

the birth of this was kind of like,

435

:

now that we have the humidors growing,

436

:

the locations growing,

437

:

and we have the restocks

438

:

all pretty much automated,

439

:

they scan a QR code,

440

:

it takes them to a portal,

441

:

and it's a easy, easy

purchasing, easy shipping.

442

:

Ship, you know, same day,

443

:

we pack and ship all the orders

444

:

and it's going nationwide.

445

:

So now that the products are

in the hands of the retailers

446

:

and they've got an audience,

447

:

now our focus is continue to

turn towards the end consumer.

448

:

And what we've learned

449

:

is a big majority of our end consumers

450

:

that are picking up the cigars

451

:

from these retailers are

very new to the industry,

452

:

just starting their relationship,

453

:

but are now buying them more often

454

:

and are ready to start taking them home.

455

:

And what I wanted to do

456

:

is have them be able

to store a good amount

457

:

of cigars at home without the hassle.

458

:

It's a protected humidor

459

:

that's just as simple as it can get.

460

:

And it's affordable.

461

:

You're brand new to cigars.

462

:

You're not ready to dish

out a few hundred dollars

463

:

for a humidor.

464

:

And then, you have to season

it, and you gotta learn.

465

:

And then, you know, cigars dry out.

466

:

And so we wanted that solution.

467

:

So I had this concept,

I shared it with Jay.

468

:

I said, "Jay, I'm doing this

and I want you with us."

469

:

And showed him the, you know,

470

:

what my design looked like,

471

:

and where Boveda stood.

472

:

And no hesitation, he's like, "We're in."

473

:

And it's like, you know, how cool is that?

474

:

You know, how awesome is that?

475

:

And so I got to work,

476

:

and this was three months ago, you know?

477

:

And so from the concept, the idea,

478

:

the prototype, and constantly sharing,

479

:

"This is the tweaks that we made,"

480

:

and with a goal of

showcasing it here in time.

481

:

So we got the samples in just in time.

482

:

The first order arrives mid-August

483

:

ready to ship to retailers

and to the public.

484

:

But it's fun.

485

:

- Yeah, and it's self-explanatory.

486

:

It's an 80-stick humidor in a closed cell,

487

:

what would you call this material?

488

:

- It's EPP, expanded polypropylene.

489

:

- So the demonstration

490

:

that your associate made over there

491

:

standing on it was brilliant,

492

:

because he stood on this

to show how durable it is.

493

:

And then, of course, inside,

494

:

in addition to a divider,

495

:

there's a space for a Boveda pack,

496

:

and it includes a Boveda pack.

497

:

I didn't know about this,

498

:

Sean and Tim didn't know about this,

499

:

Nobody knew about this until yesterday.

500

:

Brought it back.

501

:

Everybody's oohing and awing over it.

502

:

And then, today, one of the

beautiful things that happened,

503

:

and I'm so glad this went down,

504

:

it just warmed my heart

to watch Manolo Quesada,

505

:

one of the finest cigar

manufacturers in the world,

506

:

guy's been making cigars for 50 years,

507

:

and his daughter, Raquel,

508

:

they were here and he noticed this.

509

:

It was sitting on the counter.

510

:

He noticed it and he says, "What's that?"

511

:

And I showed it to him and he goes,

512

:

"I have to go get one of

these, I need this for my,"

513

:

he travels back and forth from Spain.

514

:

And he goes, "I need this."

515

:

And I said, "Well, Manolo,

I'll give you this.

516

:

And I tell you what would be fantastic,

517

:

I gotta tell you the story of this,"

518

:

and I call you a kid, you're not a kid,

519

:

you're a middle-aged man,

I hate to break it to you,

520

:

but I said, "You need to meet this guy."

521

:

And he said, "Well, I'll go over there."

522

:

And I said, "Hold on."

523

:

We sent Mike, Mike came and got you.

524

:

You came over, you're very gracious.

525

:

Gracious, means gracious.

526

:

I mean, this is a beautiful thing.

527

:

I told Manolo the story of you.

528

:

I said, "The reason why this worked

529

:

was because this kid's earnest

530

:

and he does what he says he's gonna do,

531

:

and he's decent, and he's consistent."

532

:

That's you, that's who you are.

533

:

And I don't know who you

get to blame for that,

534

:

mom, dad, whoever, but

that's a beautiful thing.

535

:

And he lit up on this.

536

:

And he was so touched

537

:

when he had a chance to meet

the inventor and talk to you,

538

:

and he's got one of these, the guy,

539

:

I mean, it's one of the

greats in the cigar industry,

540

:

and you've got brands talking about you

541

:

and that big, yellow display over there.

542

:

And I said something to you yesterday,

543

:

and I got choked up thinking about it,

544

:

because my old man, amazing human being,

545

:

he had a habit of saying to

guys that he hardly knew,

546

:

"So tell me about your faith formation."

547

:

This was my dad, old school

Catholic guy that would say,

548

:

"Hey, tell me about,"

you know, daily mass guy.

549

:

And he'd ask people that

and you'd just cringe.

550

:

You're like, "Oh my God, dad,

551

:

don't embarrass us saying this."

552

:

I don't know if you can imagine that,

553

:

I know you come from the same tradition.

554

:

But he had a hard time saying,

555

:

"I love you," right?

556

:

But he could say, "Hey,

Drew, I'm proud of you."

557

:

You know, something I did in school,

558

:

something I did in sports, whatever.

559

:

"Drew, I'm proud of you."

560

:

That was his way of saying it, right?

561

:

And I felt that yesterday.

562

:

I'm standing over there and I'm like,

563

:

"Remon, I know this sounds

whack, but I'm proud of you.

564

:

I'm proud of you for that,

565

:

that idea that you saw through,

566

:

the ability to plan it, manifest it,

567

:

fabricate it, get it out

into the marketplace.

568

:

That's awesome."

569

:

And this, I mean, it is

an absolute privilege

570

:

to be included as part of your story

571

:

about your business that you're building

572

:

and the way this has gone for you.

573

:

It's an absolute privilege.

574

:

And I can't thank you enough for that.

575

:

- No, man, I thank you, man.

576

:

You know, I really,

really appreciate that.

577

:

But, believe it or not, it meant a lot,

578

:

you know, the encouragement.

579

:

"Man, you know, I met this guy at Boveda,

580

:

and he believes in this idea."

581

:

And so that's fuel,

582

:

especially, you know, like I said,

583

:

in those beginning days,

it was very lonely.

584

:

And so when you got that

kind of encouragement,

585

:

that fuel, and it really,

really gets you going

586

:

in that direction.

587

:

Appreciate you.

588

:

- What else is there to say?

589

:

Thank you.

- Pleasure, always.

590

:

- God bless you, do well.

- God bless you.

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