Why PCA 2026 Felt Different

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, I'm Nicholas Perdomo with Perdomo Cigars. I'm alongside my dad, Nick Perdomo, and you are watching the Perdomo Podcast. Dad, today's a big episode. This is something we're really proud of. We just got back from New Orleans, PCA 2026. It was a really big show for us. I mean, it it wasn't just another trade show. This was truly a defining moment for us at Perdomo Cigars. Biggest buzz I've seen in many, many years. You know, pen to paper all day. It was just, it looked like a like a tornado went off in the booth. It really did. It was just incredible. And retailers were there to expand their Perdomo portfolios. And the thing that I was very touched about was we, you know, everybody wanted to fake they wanted to learn how to buy Perdomo Legacy, how to get into Perdomo Legacy line, and also the Prodomo Legacy father and son. So that was something I was very, very happy about. But we've been building momentum and over the past years, and this was really special.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

It really was. I gotta really want to thank the retailers and all the consumers that have driven the traffic to the retailers and our customer base. It's just been phenomenal. I'm very appreciative.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

It

Four Cigar Of The Year Wins

SPEAKER_00 1:14

is, Dad. And, you know, it started from PCA 2025 in New Orleans to now, you know, it's been all about Perdoma Legacy. From the Perdomo Legacy launched in 2025 to now the Perdomo Legacy father and son. But something I'm really proud of, and I'm proud for our family, is that Perdomo Legacy has been named Cigar of the Year four different times. And that's something that's really cool. And you know, the Perdomo Legacy Nicaraguan Shade Grown, which is our baby, was Cigar of the Year by the Cigar Authority, by Cigar Dojo, by Cigar Coupe, and also Smoke and Tobacco. And we were fortunate to receive the Cigar of the Year Awards. And Dad, if you could tell our audience, what do these awards, what do they mean to you?

SPEAKER_01 1:59

I mean, they're extremely special because I respect the the four bodies that that actually rated the cigars. It was done through a lot of consumers around because a lot of it was voted on, also. And I think what I was most proud of, to be honest with you, was all four of them said it was like hands down, number one. It wasn't even close. And some of the other rappers were in the top three also. You can imagine we could have had numerous at number one. It was really unprecedented. I'm proud of it. I'm proud of our team. I'm proud of you. Thank you. I mean, it was your project and and and what you've done. Um and look, everybody working cohesively, it's it's it's such a blessing when you see how good everybody worked together. And I was really proud of our team in New Orleans, even with our new our new people working that have done a phenomenal job. I I see that cohesiveness. And look, it reminded me of the of the of the mid-90s, Cincinnati and Orlando, these trade shows where our booth was, it was pen to paper the whole day. We were so busy. I remember looking at you, smiling and looking at Arthur, and we were just batting our eyes like, wow, man, this is crazy. And we have to be very thankful. God's been very good to us.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Yeah, he has, Dad. And I think when you look, awards are great, but when these major voices within the industry, when they when you get four of them by four of the major voices within cigar media, that's a big deal. And that's something,

Father And Son Blends Compared

SPEAKER_00 3:24

you know, you know, we created something special. I agree with you 100%. There's no other words. Yeah, and you know, what an incredible reception. You know, Perdomo Legacy Father and Son. And we're smoking, we're smoking one right now. What are you smoking?

SPEAKER_01 3:38

I'm smoking the father and son legacy Maduro blended by you. And some people say I throw compliments around like manhole covers, but I will tell you this is phenomenal.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Great job. I'm smoking yours, the Nicaraguan Shade Grown. This thing's burning like a dream. Tastes incredible, tremendous amounts of sweetness and flavor.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

You knocked it out of the park. Well, I appreciate it. Hey, look, it's when you look at it, it's the father and son project is us working together with two different rappers and coming to an accord with one rapper in the Connecticut, and then it's kind of like two generations challenging each other when you really think about it. And naturally, I have more experience, but the experience that you learned at such a young age has been incredible. Someone had asked a question on one of the one of the YouTube uh forums on one of our episodes of what do you think of Nicholas? Where were you at at this age? You were far ahead of me, and uh that's great. It's great for the company, it's great for our customers, it's great for our employees. I certainly was not as advanced as Nicholas, but he took a liking to it. He started way earlier than I did. I started at 25, you started at seven. So you you uh and you and you took on to, which is great. It's a blessing for a father because you know you get an exit strategy. One, when I get too old, I'm still kicking and fighting, so I'm good, but I'm very proud of you.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Thank you, Dad.

Retailers React To Legacy Samples

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Well, one of the coolest things in New Orleans was, you know, for the Prodomo Legacy customers and the newer Perdomo Legacy customers who bought into the Perdomo Legacy line, who are now going to be carrying in the future the new Perdomo Legacy father and son, you know, we had we brought some samples and we gave them to customers. But one of the coolest things that I got, and everybody wanted to try your blend. You know, when you look when I look back at the inventory between the Connecticut blend that we collaborated on, the Maduro blend that I that I that I made and I blended and the Nicaraguan Shade Grown, we ran out of the Shade Grown. We did, we, we, we did oh we almost ran out of the Maduro and we almost ran out of Connecticut, but yours far in ahead, everybody wanted to try yours. But I had nine customers and I can I could see their faces, I know their names, and they all told me that this is the greatest cigar that they've ever smoked. And when you look at the size and you look at the shape from the 48 head to the 60 body to that 52 foot, the expansion, the the concentration of flavors, the expansion of flavors throughout with the size, and these 10 to 15 year age tobaccos, they're just second to none. So, I mean, and these are guys who've been selling cigars for decades, and what a compliment. I'm like, wow.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

It was I was humbled to say the least. I think we all were. These were people that, and I had a couple handfuls of people too. We didn't give away many samples to say the least. You know, and the serious retailers, they rarely ever ask us for samples. A lot of times we have to go out and say, Hey, would you like a sample? Would you like to try one? And they go, Oh, we trust you, but let me have one for tonight to enjoy. And I got a lot of people the next morning saying, Hey man, after dinner here in New Orleans, I smoked one of the new Legacy father and sons. I couldn't think legacy could be could be beat in general. And this cigar is just unbelievably superb. And how proud can you be when you have something like that?

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Like it's like you said, we're two generations. You're a third generation cigar maker, I'm a fourth generation cigar maker. And at the end of the day, we're two generations challenging each other, even though you're my dad and I'm your son, but we're doing it for our customers, and we're doing it to better our brand, our family, and the experiences for our customers. So that's something I'm proud of. But yeah, I mean, we were we were swamped the entire show. I mean, just high traffic volume, I mean, the amount of orders, you know, you did bring up a couple moments ago, you know, how you know the trade show in Cincinnati, trade show in Orlando, how did this trade show compare in terms of not only just volume, but like I mean, I think we hit 90 950. I mean, if you're if there were 800 customers there, I think we got 750.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Yeah, and that's that's about as good as it gets. You know, you have customers that are not really good. You have customers that maybe not

How Retailers Win With Legacy

SPEAKER_01 7:56

necessarily not good, but just don't hit what we want them to do with customer service and so on and merchandising. So to hit 95% of the customer base was huge. And what I'm most proud of is our whole our whole portfolio sold extremely well from 30th, 12th year, 20th, 10th anniversary, lot 23, the respect factor, it made me feel really good. I'm very thankful.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Yeah, me too, Dad. And you know, with that being said, and going back a little bit, you know, Prodomo Legacy was the theme of 25, Perdomo Legacy and Prodomo Legacy father and son are have been the theme of 2026. And I never I mean, it was incredible. We had a lot of current Perdomo Legacy retailers, you know, who've who've had it since it's since the inception back in 2025, last year. But the amount of people who came to our booth to purchase Perdomo Legacy, but also knowing that what we did was so special, and you know, Perdomo Legacy is a brand that I made in honor of you, extremely special, but also Perdomo Legacy Father and Son, something you and I did. And so people were all about it, and they came to buy. And with that said, what in your opinion, what is the most important thing? How would you set up our retailers and what advice would you give them and on how to be successful with Perdomo Legacy?

SPEAKER_01 9:16

Well, like anything, customer that has been trained well and understands the product is always going to be a great customer. And the consumer really needs to be to know about what makes these cigars so special. It's not only the pride and passion, the craftsmanship of the of the of the cigar, but it's a cigar that you just don't put on a shelf. You know what I mean? You know, and I'm looking at the people out there, and it's really true. It's it if you're a retailer, it's a brand that you have to hand sell. It's you know, the proprietary Nicaraguan shade grown wrapper together with the binder produces just a flavor that's so unique because it's something that our genetic team designed themselves. You have to let the the customers know, for example, the taste difference. It's just it's just something that I believe that the customers should do cigar 101s. I think our sales team is going to be much more active in that and to position the brands correctly. You know, the new father and son, if you've seen it on Facebook and so on, it comes in a cabinet chest of 50. The reason we went with the cabinet chest of 50 was the elegance of it, the beauty of it. I'm thinking about my dad and those those beautiful chest of 50 in the old days that came out of Cuba when they made great cigars in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. And forget that it's won all these awards all around. You know, now we're seeing the European market, you know, reaching out to us, all our distributors around the around the world. It's still a cigar that's priced to sell every day. 100%. The most expensive cigar in the line with 10 and 15-year-old tobaccos is $15. The average sweet spot today is $13.85 for just something that in many cases is a is a five. This is a 15. And products, you know, in a lot of instances don't sell themselves. Stories and hand selling do. And especially a brand like Pronomo Legacy. It's just something so special because, you know, I love it so much. And I know you do, and our team does. And we really hope that you, the consumer, loves it as much as we do because I promise you one thing the amount of labor and love that we put in this cigar, just like we do with any of our cigars, was paramount. And I'm just so proud of it. And again, I'm really proud of you.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

Thank you, Dad.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

I'll tell you what, as much as I like the Nicaraguan shade grown, I think my favorite today is the Maduro that you blended. And the reason is is I think it's so harmonious. When you blend something, it's like great food. You taste it and you go, man, I just want more and more. You know what I mean? It's like sometimes you ever go to a great restaurant, you're eating just because you're eating, you're full, but the food tastes so good that you just go on and on and on. This is what these cigars do. And you brought up something that was a great point. It's about execution and how we form this shape to be able to really deliver flavor and the concentrations of flavor from the foot all the way to almost burn your lips. Yeah, that's what I wanted. That's what I want in every cigar, the bouquet. I'm like, it's nice. I'm smoking. I'm I'm I'm trying not to smoke much because the aroma coming off of your cigar is just unbelievable. I wish you guys were here if you could smell it. It's just incredible. The the aromas and everything, and and you can just smell that well-aged tobacco, cinnamons. I mean, it's just sweetness, everything you taste on it. It's it's unbelievable. I hope you guys will really enjoy it. You deserve to buy a box, treat yourself. It's an incredible cigar.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

Well, this cigar is so, I mean, even your blend, it's just so sweet. It's got that cart, that cardamom, that cinnamon spice, baking spices. Just it's just so just rich. You know, the bourbon barrel aging of the wrappers that we've done. You know, this that I that wrapper, that Maduro wrapper, we barrel-aged it for 14 additional months after it was aged. And then, you know, we you bourbon barrel aged this for about a little bit, about eight months, and so, or 10 months, excuse me. So this cigar is just dynamite, it's killer, and it's just something I'm I'm proud of.

Why The Perdomo Podcast Matters

SPEAKER_00 13:19

But, you know, I think the next topic I want to talk about, and I know you you were it was brought up to you quite a bit at the show. It was brought up to to our team, myself especially, is the Perdomo podcast. You know, we've we've recent released a handful of episodes, but it's something that it's been taking off. We've had tons of hits, incredible engagement with consumers and new consumers that we've you know have never tried our products, and they they see not only just the brands, and we explain how we make our cigars and why we're so special, but they see this. They see you and I and they hear us, and they see they want part of the family, which is very touching to me. But you know, we're stuck in an industry that there's old habits. I mean, you've been in this industry for 34 years, but not not just because you're my dad, but you don't stay stuck in habits. You you always, I think from your time being in the military, you've always learned to adapt. And I think that the Perdomo Podcast is one of the many things that we've done as a company to adapt. And I'm grateful that for that. And I'm great, and I and I think our partners are grateful that we're doing this because I mean, had salesmen call me this, you know, earlier this week telling me, man, I haven't I haven't had so many customers come up to me before ever, you know, asking me about how cutting and lighting a cigar based on our previous episodes and things like that. So I mean, it works. And so I think it's just so important with everything we're doing. And and in reality, what's what's your opinion now with all these episodes that we're coming out with and in terms of in terms of the Perdomo Podcast, what's your feeling? Well, first of all, I love it.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

Yeah, you know, my whole thing is about teaching. Where I'm at in my life right now, I really want people, and I've always wanted this, but now that people know our brands after so many years in the industry, I really want people to enjoy how we enjoy a cigar. So a lot of the tutelage and teaching that we do is really important to me. There, you know, the the the facts that we talk about, where what's that segment? What do we call it? Where we're we're talking about you know, factual things versus non-factual things.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

Oh, the myth busters.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Yeah, the mythbusters, that's the right word. There's a lot of myths in the cigar industry and a lot of bad information. What you're getting out of this podcast is you're getting two guys who actually are on tobacco farms pretty much every month, that are in cigar factories every single month, that are on the road consistently, and we do everything from box making to cigar making and being vertically integrated. We get to pass our knowledge on to you, and I'll tell you one thing, it's the truth.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

It's the truth. There's no question, but you know, we're always looking to get direct, you know, consumer engagement. This is what this platform's about. Always trying to be better for our retailers and our consumers. But, you know, and we'll get into this in other episodes, but I think the biggest thing is, and what I'm tired of seeing, especially because we're we're an industry that we get crit we get criticized every day. It's called the United States government, it's called different agencies trying to stop us from doing something that we've been doing for generations. And I just hate seeing that, you know, within our industry, why would you critique? Smoking's totally subjective. We'll talk about this in future episodes, but we gotta start, we gotta start criticizing a little bit less. And you know, people are entitled to entitled to their opinions, but also why criticize? If you don't like something, turn the page. That's what I do.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

I I'm the same way, but my my whole thing is I want to teach people the correct way to store their cigars. 100%. Not the wrong way, like they've been taught a lot of. I want to teach people how to really enjoy their cigars. Right. I want people to be able to taste the nuances and how we do it and where they get it. And I think you guys out there are very interested in it because you love cigars or you're learning how to smoke cigars, or you're trying to enjoy it more. And that's where we're we're at right now, and that's what we want to do. And there's all kinds of knowledge we're gonna be bringing out.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Yeah, 100%.

Expansion Plans And Job Creation

SPEAKER_00 17:26

And I think, Dad, one of the things, especially before we step off on this episode and and wrap it up, I I want our consumers to know that we have that going into 2026, because we've been hearing about it and guys going, man, I can't find Perdomo Legacy, I can't find Perdomo Legacy. We are expanding this year in 2026. We have, and we can will continue to expand in 2026 Perdomo Legacy accounts. And it's not because we just decided, oh, we're gonna we're hold we held it back, but now we're gonna open it up. It wasn't about that. It's it's all about foresight, it's all about the you the way you adapted. You adapt in business, you adapt every day in life. And so we've had this idea of expanding our Podomo Legacy and even Perdomo 30th anniversary, Perdomo 12, we are more of our exclusive brands around the country this year. And and that's really because of your foresight and in terms of you know expansion. We've expanded, a lot of people don't know, but the last three, four years, we've purchased multiple farms within Estelle. We're going to be expanding our Nicaraguan shade grown operation. We've purchased a little over 600 extra acres of land that put us close to probably 2,000 acres of growing tobacco, which is outstanding. We've also added more personnel to our factories. We took our we took our our facility, our main facility in Estelle went from about 88,000 square feet to over 93,000, 94,000 square feet, added more rollers, more bunchers, more personnel. Then we have more in the back of our compound. We're gonna have a new 50,000 plus square foot building that we could store more tobacco, more pilonis, more fermentation, things like that. So I mean, you know, we're doing everything right, but we're taking it step by step. So I'm I'm glad our customers have been patient, but it's coming. So I mean we're we're gonna be opening up more accounts. So I think that's important before we wrap up that that they know this.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

And I'm proud to tell the people with Nicaragua, we've been large job creators. We have several thousand employees, and it's not only the agronomy and the farming, but the new facility we built five years ago in Trinidad.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

Where now we have over 500 employees working there in a in an area that had almost 90 percent unemployment due to the cotton industry going down. And I'm proud of that. The mayor came over and talked to us a couple of months ago and and thanked us for providing jobs and and feeding families. And we're we're equally proud of that. I remember when my father was alive. One of the big things that he was proud of, not only how special Nicaragua was in the early 90s, but the amount of work that we were able to produce and help people. And they were certainly helpful to us too, and they still are, and I'm very proud of that.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

I am too, Dad. And you know, we're gonna wrap

Thanks And Where To Follow

SPEAKER_00 20:02

up this episode. I'd like to really just say thank you. I'd like to thank all of our retail partners for their continued support of our brand, but really our family, especially at this PCA 2026. This wasn't just another great show, Dad. This is really, I've I've been saying it for a long time, and we've been saying it for a long time. The best is yet to come. And there's this is only just the beginning. So we're the best is yet to come for us at Prodomo Cigar. So thank you guys very much for listening in. If you like this, please like, subscribe uh to our Prodomo YouTube page. Also, click the notification button. Please also uh like and share and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We appreciate all the support. I want to thank you guys for listening, and we will see you guys very soon. Thank you. Thank you so much.