Cold open: this is an investment business

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Yeah, this is an investment business. You know, you really run this business with heart, not necessarily with a pencil, paper, and a calculator, because you have to be a little bit crazy to do this. And the reason I say it is you invest, you grow tobacco like we do, and you don't use it for three to five years. And then all the accountants come up to you and say, What are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Welcome to the world of Perdomo Cigars. We deliver the most authentic in-depth cigar education to you, the cigar enthusiast. Recorded at the Perdomo Studio in Miami, Florida, brought to you by third and fourth generation Master Cigar Makers. This is the Perdomo Podcast. Your hosts, Nick and Nicholas Perdomo.

Welcome to the PERDOMO Podcast

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Welcome back to the Perdomo Podcast. I'm Nicholas Perdomo with Perdomo Cigars. I'm alongside my dad, Nick Perdomo. Dad, how are you today? I'm doing great. Excellent, Dad. Well, today we really have a butte. Today we're going to be talking about what makes a premium cigar worth the price. And a lot of our consumers, I know you're going through looking at different cigars and going through the shelves in different retail stores, brick and mortar stores, and you go, What makes an $8 cigar an $8 cigar? Or what makes a $15 cigar worth a $15 cigar, right? And I think at the end of the day, the answer starts truly before a cigar is ever rolled. And we're today we're going to be talking about the biggest investment that a premium cigar manufacturer can make, which is aged tobaccos. So, Dad, if you can give a little bit behind scenes and talk about why we age tobaccos, we're going to get into it today because we're going back to Nicaragua. But if you can give a little bit of insight prior.

What are you smoking?

SPEAKER_03 1:42

First, I want to ask the audience and you, what are you smoking?

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Okay. Today I am smoking a Podomo Legacy Connecticut Gram Bellicoso. What are you smoking today, Dad?

SPEAKER_02 1:52

My favorite size, the old torpedo. I'm actually smoking a 30th anniversary habano Churchill.

unknown 2:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

7x54.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Beautiful sungrown wrapper.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

Yeah, that's right. That's the word I couldn't get out of my mouth.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

It is a Habano seed, but we call it sun grown.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

I'm always thinking about shade grown with legacy, but getting back to the subject. Good morning to everybody or good day to everybody. The most important thing to

Why you have to have aged tobacco

SPEAKER_02 2:17

make a phenomenal cigar is having inventory. You hit it right on the head. You have to have aged tobacco. People are working from bale to bale, and that's that hurts the consistency of the product. I can't tell you how many people, and I know you and I have talked about it several times, you smoke a cigar, you love it, you smoke the next one, you don't like it anymore. It doesn't taste the same. And you're right. And they are right. And the reason is because people are working from bale to bale. We see it every day when we're in Nicaragua. We've seen it in throughout all the cigar making countries. And you know, we talk to people, and it's you know, this is an investment business. You know, you you really run this this business with your heart, not necessarily with a pencil, paper, and a calculator, because you have to be a little bit crazy to do this. And the reason I say it is you invest, you grow tobacco like we do, and you don't use it for three to five years. And then all the accountants come up to you and say, What are you doing? And it's no different than than a great-aged wine, whiskey. You gotta give it time. And today with tobacco prices

Tobacco prices and growing our own

SPEAKER_02 3:18

that are so high today that it's tremendously high, I can't believe how high the prices are. The saving grace is is that we grow our own tobacco and we produce great, well-aged cigars, and you hit it right on the head. That's the that's the whole secret. And it's uh unfortunately in today's days, it's there's only you know, maybe ten companies that really have great well-aged tobacco, and it's the same ten companies that are that are prospering, and it's tough today. I know how it is with the young guys. I was one of those guys. Start out of a garage, but I decided I was gonna put my my head to it, and then the latter 90s we started growing tobacco, and 28 years later we built a tremendous inventory of tobacco, which you guys are gonna see on our trip to Nicaragua together.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

Yeah, so today you guys are gonna see millions and

Millions and millions of well aged tobaccos

SPEAKER_01 4:03

millions of pounds of well-aged tobaccos, tobaccos that range anywhere from the three to five years all the way to 15-year-aged tobaccos. And the inventory is really what defines the quality of our cigars in general. And and you've always told me, Dad, in business, you're only as good as your inventory. We've said it many times on this show, but it's truly, truly a fact. 100%.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

You have to have great inventory. And just because you have aged tobacco doesn't necessarily mean it's good. When we go to Nicaragua together, you're gonna see that we have great insulation centers, perfect amount of humidity, oxygen interchange between the humidity, great ambient temperatures to keep those tobaccos aging and ready, where they're bursting with their flavors that we'll be talking about and their aromas. And when you go in those rooms, you can really smell it. You don't smell ammonia, you smell just sweetness, molasses, honey. It's just it's it's unbelievable. When people come on the factory tour, they flip out when they when they see it. Or when they go in our fermentation rooms that we talked about previously, you don't smell ammonia and people's eyes aren't watering because we allow the bales to heat on their own naturally. We don't apply artificial heat, and all those things really coincide to make a great cigar.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

100%. And you guys are gonna see that great cigars, they're truly

Great cigars are not made overnight

SPEAKER_01 5:16

not made overnight. They are made in many, many years in advance, and that's through aging tobacco. And so, Dad, with that with that being said, I think it's time to go to Nicaragua. So we'll see you in Esteli. Sounds good. Hi, everyone, welcome back to Esteli,

Estelí, Nicaragua: the aging room

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Nicaragua. We're here at our aging room, one of five aging rooms that we have here in our compound here at Tobacco Lear Perdomo. And one of the things we wanted to talk about again was about aging cigars and why well-aged cigars, why they're so incredible, and specifically for us, why it makes Perdomo who we are today. So, Dad, one of the things I want to talk about and explain to our audience is aging cigars. Why do we age cigars and really about humidity, temperature control, all these things that really allow our cigars to shine and bring out the incredible Nicaraguan flavors that we have? So, Dad, if you could take it away and give our audience a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

I think it's a great question. First of all, aging finished cigars to us is extremely important. The reason is if you look at all the different types of tobacco, whether it be secos, visos, lietos, binders, and wrappers, we make those cigars and we construct them, we construct them to as perfect as we possibly can, and then we want to put them in cedar line rooms like this one room that you see here. And the reason we do it, Nicholas, is to age the tobacco consistently so it actually becomes harmonious. Where the secos, visos, lietos binders and wrappers almost become one. They become harmonious. And what happens is when you take a cigar like this and you keep it in an aging room, my favorite size torpedo, what happens is these tobaccos become one. It's no different how we say that my mother's spaghetti sauce. She would make it, and the next day would be even better because those flavors melded. And what we do here in our aging rooms is we keep our cigars approximately 180 days. And the reason we do that, not because it necessarily needs all 180 days, but it does get better because those tobaccos age. We have these cyclometers and we can check to see the correct

65% humidity and shipping moisture

SPEAKER_02 7:25

moisture levels. We like our cigars to be at 65% humidity. And at 65% humidity, that means the consistent levels of moisture in that cigar is approximately 13% ambient-wise, where all the fillers, binders, and wrappers are uniform at 13% moisture. We find that to be optimum. So we put these cyclometers in the foot of the cigar, and it'll tell us. Normally with Connecticut wrappers, it takes about 70 days. Sun-grown wrappers, because they're thicker, is going to take about 85 days. And Maduro's can take up to three months. Why do we leave them for an extra three months, even on the thickest wrappers? Because I believe inside that the cigars get better. Then what we do is we box band them and cellophane them, and we ship them out all over the world, and we charge those cigars before we ship them to about 14% moisture, about 68.5% humiliated. The reason we do that is because of transform. We know that by the time it gets to the to the retail, regardless whether it's in the United States or Europe, those cigars are going to be bursting with their flavors that we intended when we not only blended them, constructed them, but also finished aging them. So we think these rooms are extremely important. We keep a tremendous amount of inventory of finished cigars. And we always work from the oldest to the newest. And right now our average days are about 184 days. And I think it makes a fantastic cigar. Why do we draw a test cigar? Why do we pick the perfect seed? Why do we cure that in the curing house so perfectly? Why do we ferment it? Why do we age it? Why do we sort it? Why do we select it? Why do we blend it? Why do we construct it so well that we're not going to age the finished product to become uniform, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:59

Yeah, 100%, Dad. And I think one of the biggest things,

Should you age your cigars at home?

SPEAKER_01 9:02

too, is that we get a lot of questions from everybody out there where should I age my cigars? And I tell them, well, why did we do go through every single thing you just said? We do that for you. So in reality, it's all subjective. If you like to age cigars, it's what you like. But in reality, when you see all these tobaccos here and all these cigars here, and well-aged tobaccos rather, you really we did the aging for you. So at the end of the day, these cigars are optimum. They're ready to smoke. As soon as you get the box, as soon as you pull those cigars out of the cellophane, we wanted to do the work for you. So I think to answer questions prior to being asked in our comments, I think I don't think you need to age any cigars. I think my dad would agree we do the work for you.

SPEAKER_02 9:43

And it's the way it should be a top-functional cigar factory that's vertically integrated, should age its finished product in a cedar-lined humidor for a minimum of six months prior to putting in a box. And that gives you the optimum flavor characteristics and the way we intend the cigars to taste. So when people ask me, should I put your cigars away? Should I age them? My answer is no. I think the cigars are bursting with the flavors that we designed. And it's like a phenomenal car, for example. If you buy a Porsche 911, I don't really want to put aftermarket wheels and a new exhaust or anything. I think the facilities built those cars to optimum performance of what they wanted to make those cars optimum. And I think a great functional cigar factory does the same. That's our work, in my opinion, to ferment, cure, age tobacco, make impeccable, crafted cigars, and burst them with the flavors that the blenders designed. And we're real resolute about it. So no, I think when you buy a box of Perdomo cigars, they're meant to be enjoyed. And yeah, you can put them in your humidor because you might not be able to smoke them so quickly. But trust me, our facility and our workforce has done everything correct for you to get the optimum smoking enjoyment.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Well, thanks, Dad. Thanks for the answer. And thank you guys for listening. We appreciate it. So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 11:01

Thank you, guys.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Welcome back to Miami Lakes, Florida, here at Perdomo

Back in Miami: premium cigars begin years in advance

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Cigars, and welcome back to the Perdomo Podcast Studio. Dad, that was a great, great time we had in Nicaragua.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

Great time, and uh so happy that everybody could listen and learn something. I think it's great.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Yeah, and I think at the end of the day, it's you know, just to give a little bit of a recap and go through when you guys are really thinking about the well-aged tobaccos, and when you guys are are thinking of aging tobaccos and you're smoking your cigars, just remember, especially from us at Perdomo Cigars, premium cigars begin years in advance. At the end of the day, when you guys smoke our cigars from a brand like Perdomo La 23 that uses all you know five-year-aged tobaccos, wrapper binder fillers that we sorted, we selected, we've aged for five years. And then then you're looking later in the latter part, going on to Perdomo 30th anniversary, Perdomo Legacy, tobaccos aged between 10 to 15 years. So you just really think about that investment and what you guys just saw in Esteli, Nicaragua, bit. Bale aging is one of the biggest contributors to the flavor and smoothness that we've achieved. And you know, when we look, for example, and we've talked about fermentation, we've taken tobaccos 36 months and 60 plus months, some tobaccos 72 months through fermentation. At the end of the day, we you've already explained it, but in reality, what why do we why do we go that extra step with aging?

SPEAKER_02 12:37

Well, the fermentation process, of course, is paramount.

Fermentation and bale aging

SPEAKER_02 12:40

So once the fermentation process is done, we want to interlock those flavors in those bales, whether it be seco, light tobaccos, visos, which are medium tobaccos, and lighetos, which are strength tobaccos, but the audience is going to start really understanding these. And a lot of you guys are very well versed. And what happens is you leave those in the bales for a year or two, and those flavors, it's like a marination. They just interlock and they become extremely, I think the perfect word is harmonious, like I said earlier when we were in Nicaragua. And it it makes a big difference. And then when you coincide all three of them, and we'll talk about blending later, that's where you get that's where you really get your sauce, where it's really perfect and it's delicious and it's consistent. And smoking's subjective. You know, I hear people, I don't like this, I don't like that. That's fine, you don't like it. Everybody has a difference. Some people like steak, some people like fish, some people like chicken. But you brought up a point earlier when we were talking privately. You know, I hate when people talk bad about other people's cigars, or my cigars for that matter. You know, the people that make cigars work extremely hard to make the best cigars they can. Especially the especially the the the the big ten I call them that that I know what they do and they make excellent cigars. You know, it's like it's like telling the Porsche engineer that he doesn't know how to make cars. You know what I mean? It's just it's crazy some of the things I hear some people say out there that know absolutely shit about cigars and cut down cigar manufacturers. If you don't like something, my my dad always said, if you ain't got nothing good to

Respecting other cigar makers

SPEAKER_02 14:12

say, keep it to yourself, right? I never cut down other people's stuff. I might not like it, but doesn't mean I'm right, because a lot of people do like it. For example, Macanudo might not be my favorite cigar, very extremely mild and so on, but it's a good cigar.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

Hey, they sold 50 million of them in the 90s, so I can't be right. Okay, but I'm not gonna go down and say it's a terrible cigar because it's not. And you see all the work that's done down there in Nicaragua, and all of you have been on a trip or are gonna be on the trip in the future, know how hard cigar makers work. And like I said, and I'll repeat it again, this is a business you run with your heart. We're a family-run business, and we really try to do our best. And I think our tastes are pretty good when you consider our tasting panel has over 375 years of experience, and you got some 24-year-old kid telling me that you know the cigar doesn't have enough, you know, molasses or whatever, these mushrooms and all these things you read in these magazines that honestly I don't taste. I'm looking for a nice core of tobacco with sweetness, richness, and complexity.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Well, Dad, I think sorry about my rant. No, well said, Dad. Well said. I think at the end of the day, I think, you know, coming from the makers and this the Perdomo Piecast is straight from the makers, as we always say. And, you know, it's one of those things that, you know, this is real. These are these are these are facts that we want to share with you guys, our personal opinions, but everything's real. But you know, going back to the aging of tobacco, I think at the end of the day, there are no shortcuts to aging. It and to your point,

There is no shortcut to aging

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Mary's all the flavors, everything that we want the tobaccos to truly express when we make those cigars. And again, not to be repetitive, but I'll say I've said this in in other episodes prior, I'll say it in the and future episodes, you're only as good as your inventory.

SPEAKER_02 15:51

Yeah, and the aging really makes a difference. We taste it, and you really can taste it. And you know what? Let's juxtapose this to a spaghetti

The spaghetti sauce analogy

SPEAKER_02 16:01

sauce. And I've talked about this before. Your mom makes a great spaghetti sauce, puts all the ingredients in, and makes it, and then you eat it. It's delicious. If you leave it the next day, it's even better. Sure. You know why? Because all those flavors meld. They do. That's why it's so important to age that tobacco so those flavors interlocked, and then when you separate them and make a blend and come up with a great cigar, that's why we age those those cigars for six extra months. Sure. So all those secos, visos, lietos, the binders, and the wrappers, they become harmonious and you really pick up the flavors you want. And that's what really makes a phenomenal cigar. But it takes time, but it's worth it.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

100%. And that I think one of the things that, you know, outside of talking about, you know, just the quality behind why we age our tobaccos, the importance of it, I think one of the things that I really want our audience

Years of planning, patience and investment

SPEAKER_01 16:50

to really think about when you buy a premium cigar, especially a perdomal cigar, you're buying years of planning, of patience, and truly investment. So it's not just what's inside the cigar, it's everything. And so just think about that time, the patience, especially coming from a family brand. And when you look, and I've said this before, you know, yes, we're pretty, and I said it in this this video, you know, we're we're pretty paranoid because at the end of the day, we have the ultimate responsibility. Every cigar that we make has our name on it, it says the word Perdomo. Anything can happen. There are things that happen. This is a handmade product from the time it's picked by hand, the tobaccos, it gets cured and put put in the curing barns by hand, all the way up to the it goes into the box where that cigar is placed after it's been packaged into the box. Everything's done by hand. But we 100% are respectful to our family, to ourselves, our pride within our family, but to you, the consumer, you the retailer, to make sure that every cigar is as best as possible and we execute as best as humanly possible that God will allow us to make the best cigars and the most consistent cigars. But, Dad, this was a great show. I cannot thank our audience enough. I thank you guys so much for joining. Please

Thank you for watching

SPEAKER_01 18:03

like, subscribe, and share. And please follow us on our Prodomo YouTube page or prodomopodcast.com that you can stream from any different podcast channel that you like. Also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and again, YouTube. But also please leave some comments. We love the comments. We love talking with you guys. We appreciate it. We appreciate your input, all of your questions, and we look forward to seeing you guys very soon. Thank you so much. Thanks, guys.