Thoughts on 2015

I know it’s cliche to talk about how fast the year has gone, but…yes, this year has been a whirlwind of activity for me. As I come to the end of it, I decided to take a few minutes and review some of what happened in the preceding 12 months.

After reading Jon’s recent post about Death Wish Coffee, I wish I had some of that this morning while I write this, but…as it is, I’m pounding the keyboard while sipping on my regular 8 O’Clock French Roast and puffing on a Davidoff Puro Dominicano that my friend and co-worker, Charlie, gave me for Christmas.

The Challenges of Time Management

At the end of January, I ended my 8 year time with my previous full-time employer and went to work soon thereafter as a full-time retail tobacconist (my wife calls me a “cigar sommelier”) at Burns Tobacconist in Chattanooga. I’ve spent 11 months now in what sometimes feels like a true calling and what other times feels like a “pounding a nail into a wall with my forehead” type of experience…hey, every job has its days. In the first full year of new ownership we have seen tremendous growth, returning customers, and a experimented with new ways to get people in the door. I’m learning my customers’ preferences and I’ve learned how and when to sell high-end cigars and who to sell them to.

At the same time, I have maintained and worked on vastly increasing the amount of freelance graphic design work I do. And I’ve tried to maintain a very full review schedule here on Leaf Enthusiast. My wife and family want a little of my time, too.

I haven’t always succeeded, but I’m getting better (I think) at keeping all these plates spinning. Some days I feel like a perpetual motion machine…though I need fuel and occasional recharging of the batteries.

My First Trade Show

I’ve wanted to attend an IPCPR show for most of the last decade and I finally got to go this year. I had a great time, walked my butt off on a show floor that was more vast than I could have guessed, re-connected with some old friends and acquaintances, and got to sample about 75 or 80 new or “new to me” blends.

I won’t rehash everything that I’ve already written about. Suffice to say, I’m “over” New Orleans…except the food. From my perspective walking the streets, it’s a dirty, smelly, hot, humid, dangerous city and I have no desire to return. If you do…more power to you. Still…the food was some of the best I’ve ever had. I hope to find stuff just as good, if not better, without venturing anywhere near Bourbon Street at some point in the future.

The sights, sound and smells within the convention center were a pleasure to behold…from Drew Estate’s Brooklyn Bridge Party Platform to the thickly-carpeted elegance of the Davidoff booth to the vulgar simplicity of the Dissident booth (RIP Dissident). Speaking of Dissident, Ryan gave me a sample of a new blend from them called “Home” when I was at the show. A Honduran puro, I thought it would be nothing I’d like. Turns out it would have been in the running for my Cigar of the Year if it had actually come out. I tried a couple other samples during the Chattanooga Tweet-Up and they reaffirmed my position on the matter…now just to wait until they showed up on the store shelf. Then the bottom dropped out in the fall, with Ryan and Gorden dismissed from Dissident and all future plans for the company up in the air. Most stores that were “friends” of the brand and its ambassadors are dropping it. Hopefully Gweedo and Red will find a way to buy up the stock of Home and release it under a new label.

Year of the Comeback

I almost wrote “Year of the Comb-back” which might have implied that I’m a Donald Trump fan (I’m not). Instead, what I’m referring to is the spectacular re-emergence of a pair of gentlemen I had the pleasure of meeting a couple years back when I visited Drew Estate in Nicaragua.

First, I heard that Nicholas Melillo was re-entering the cigar market with a new Nicaraguan puro made in the Plasencia factory. Nick was that guy who actually worked at blending some of DE’s greatest hits, like the Liga Privada  #9 and Dirty Rat. He is a young American living in Nicaragua for the past decade, absorbing cigar knowledge and local culture. So it should be no real surprise that El Gueguense pays tribute to the culture he has grown to love. And it shouldn’t be a surprise that the cigar is really fantastic.

Shortly after Nick’s announcement, Steve Saka announced that he was coming out of retirement. He was President of DE (or CEO…or both) when the Liga Privada was created and it was made for him. In the time I spent there, he impressed me as someone who spent a great deal of time researching the industry he loves so much…his tobacco knowledge is vast. He crafted a 4-country blend in the Joya de Nicaragua factory and it is incredibly flavorful and very complex.

In the meantime, Drew Estate didn’t need to make a comeback because they never went away. The separation of Nick and Steve from DE hasn’t made any of them weaker, really…it’s just made life considerably better for consumers as they have even more great cigar choices.

The Future

No one can predict what the future holds…and my predictions have been less-than-fatally-but-not-by-much wrong at times…BUT…

I expect 2016 to fly by even faster than 2015…it’s just the way of things. I am committed to the cause of getting Burns Tobacconist to be a nationally-recognized and respected brand. I am working on it in the shop, on the road and on the web.

And while that’s a passion and a calling, it doesn’t come close to paying all the bills for now, so I will work to keep expanding my graphic design business, which pays much better per hour. Sometimes I can combine the two…and that’s a really good day. Hopefully I’ll find a way to do so more often in the coming year.

The industry as a whole doesn’t seem to be “growing” so much as “changing.” New brands are popping up with alarming regularity, but I’ve seen a few larger brands and dozens of smaller ones die or become fatally wounded in recent months. Some of that may have to do with fear of the future and what the FDA regulatory process might bring.

Speaking of that process, we are still standing at a crossroads. All attempts thus far to stymie the FDA in their desire to regulate premium cigars have failed, but we don’t know what they really want to do yet. If we had a President who was a friend to small business and felt like adults could make their own choices about what to put in their bodies, he would take his political appointees aside and tell them to cut-it-the-hell-out. Sadly, we currently have a “leader” who is more concerned with the government invading people’s lives on every level.

That being said, the best choice I believe we can make for late 2016 is to elect a President who would be a believer in freedom and, by extension, a friend of the cigar industry. My first choice on this was Governor Scott Walker, but he couldn’t make a convincing argument to enough people so he’s dropped out. Of the remaining candidates, I believe Marco Rubio is the best choice to lead this nation for the next 8 years. I know Senator Rubio has been waiting to hear if Leaf Enthusiast would give him our official endorsement…I hope it helps out.

Make no mistake, a vote for Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton is (at the very least) a vote for European-style soft socialism and a continuation of restrictions of personal freedom. If you are going to vote for them, do yourself (and everyone else) a favor…turn in your guns, buy a hybrid and stop smoking cigars now…don’t wait for it to be mandatory.

Are the Republicans perfect? Far from it…today’s Republican Party is moderate at best, comparing very favorably with JFK’s era of Democrats on most issues. But today’s Democrat Party is mired in far-left lunacy with adherents to Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” and Red Diaper Babies in control.

I’ll let it go at that…I don’t often go political on these pages, but dark(er) times could be on the horizon.

To end on a happier note…I wish all our readers a fantastic Christmas season (or Hannukah for our Jewish friends) and the very best of New Years. We will strive to keep providing informative and honest reviews throughout 2016. My Cigar of the Year article will post tomorrow.