Smoke Inn Blog
Cigar Culture Interview #1
This is just the first in what we hope will be a regular stream of interviews on the Smoke Inn Blog. In addition to our reviews, event coverage and historical trivia we are going to try and get inside the minds of some of the more influential people in the cigar industry. Ultimately cigar making and cigar culture as a whole is intensely people oriented. What better way to pay tribute to that then to introduce you to some of the personalities who give our favorite industry it’s character, right?
Micallef Cigars is a member of the newer generation of premium cigar makers but has its feet firmly planted in the sacred traditions of the past. A labor of love for the Micallef and Gómez Sanchez Families. The Micallef’s bringing both the love of cigars and the business acumen to launch a successful enterprise in the Internet Age. The Gómez Sanchez Family bringing generations of traditional Cuban cigarmaking expertise and heritage. Today, Micallef Cigars has an esteemed portfolio of 16 unique cigars ranging from the Micallef Grande Bold Maduro to the Micallef Migdalia Special Edition. Everything (aside from the Grande Bold blends being discontinued in January) comes directly out of Micallef’s own cigar factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.
We’re proud to kick our interview series off with Amanda Micallef, VP of Marketing for Micallef Cigars who was generous enough to sit down with us for a question-and-answer session. We discussed her background a bit and the industry and culture of cigars. The interview will be split into two installments of the blog, this is part one.
An Interview with Amanda Micallef, VP of Marketing of Micallef Cigars – Part 1
SMOKE INN: Thanks for making the time for us, today. You were in video and film production before the cigar business, right? Do you see any parallels between working in film and the cigar business? Are there things that you brought with you from film into the cigar business?
MICALLEF: Yes, to both questions. From a from a business standpoint, they operate fairly differently, but at the core the film business is an incredibly community based, collaborative place and I think you see a lot of the same thing in cigars. Certainly, on the consumer side it’s incredibly collaborative but the same is true among brands and manufacturers. I think some people assume that because there is competition that we’re all out to get each other. It’s really not that way at all. It [Micallef] is a family-owned business but it’s a relatively new business we’re about six years old and you know the number of people that have been in the cigar business for 20, 50, even a 100 years or more, that have opened up their doors, helped us and answered questions is pretty incredible. There’s also a lot of collaboration between companies in terms of sharing of manufacturing and other things and that feels very similar to elements of the film industry to me. I think that collaborative spirit is in both businesses and they’re obviously both creative businesses. My film background is in content creation and storytelling as well as developing communities. I get to do a lot of all of these things on the marketing side and in particular with our ambassador group.
SMOKE INN: The collaborative attitude makes sense. It’s much more practical for the premium cigar industry than some sort of cutthroat adversarial environment, isn’t it?
MICALLEF: Yes, exactly. We can’t go back in time so we have no idea what it [the cigar industry] was really like 100 years ago. But I think today, the cigar industry as a whole has some very real challenges with the fact that it’s a heavily regulated industry. Between taxes and regulatory scrutiny and other pressures, we’re all dealing with these very real things. I think because we have those big outside problems, no one has time to worry about infighting in the business. We all want to succeed, but we’re in it together in that regard. If the cigar industry wins, we all win together and I think most people really see it that way.
SMOKE INN: What are some of the things you think makes the cigar industry different than any other business?
MICALLEF: What probably always comes to mind first and foremost is that this is a primarily handmade product that is still made in the same way that it was 150 or 200 years ago. I honestly can’t think of another thing like it. I think even that by itself really sets it apart from almost any other business. Premium cigars are still made in this very traditional way in which recipes are handed down from grandfathers to their sons and now daughters, as we see more and more women entering the business. There just aren’t many businesses where the tradition and the artisan nature has really stayed the same for very long time and this is a very important part of our industry.
SMOKE INN: That’s true. You see some industries that have sort of deviated from their traditions and are now trying to find their way back to their roots but it’s like cigars never left.
MICALLEF: Right. It’s a pretty interesting thing to think about. I was recently in a conversation with someone who kept pressing, saying things like “Well, what do you mean that none of this is automated? You know, couldn’t it be?” And I said, Well I suppose in this day and age anything could be automated but that’s not the direction of the cigar industry wants to go. The care that is taken in ensuring that you have the right binder and the right leaf for every single cigar…it would be hard. How do you automate something so…personal? We couldn’t replicate it on the same level of quality. There are machine-made cigars, obviously, but they aren’t even the same product. I think that’s a good thing. I think a big part of what makes premium cigars so special is that they really are handcrafted.
SMOKE INN: Yes, it’s a huge part of the attraction, I think. In another blog we spoke about how everything today seems so hurried and rushed you know? Cigar culture is so charmingly out of sync with that. The production of the cigar is not hurried or rushed. The enjoyment of the cigar isn’t neither hurried nor rushed. No one is watching the clock. you know it’s sort of like time just stops it’s a very sort of meditative, sacred space in time.
MICALLEF: Yes, that’s right. The more you learn about…at least for me, the more I learned about what went into making a cigar, even the most expensive cigar feels like a bargain. When you really understand the time that it takes from planting seed through cultivation, fermentation and aging the tobacco, then bunching, rolling. The number of people and the amount of care that goes into it. The fact that there are so many cigars available for less than $15 or $20, it’s insane. I’m glad. I’m happy about that. I don’t want it to change, but it really makes you realize that they’re quite inexpensive all things considered. [Cigarmaking] really is an art form, premium cigars are an artisanal product.
SMOKE INN: It’s like it’s a democratized luxury, right? Because you can smoke the same cigar that a billionaire smokes and you can have that same experience.
MICALLEF: That’s such a great way of putting it and that’s part of what makes the consumer side so unique. Because you can smoke the same cigar a billionaire smokes, you end up in lounges or at cigar events with people that are of such widely varied backgrounds, cultures and socioeconomic positions. I think that you don’t find that in very many other places outside cigar culture.
SMOKE INN: Tradition and heritage are such an important part of cigarmaking. How do you balance service to these traditions with the need to innovate or to create something new?
MICALLEF: I love that you asked this…it is an important question. We do want to innovate and explore new things. But you have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders to make sure that you do it in a way that is that honors the past and I think that’s really where it begins. Really understanding what the principles and core values of the cigar industry from the beginning. Where do they come from and what’s the real meaning behind them? Then we use those same principles to guide the new. I think if we do that, then we can innovate and try new things but do it in a way that pays respect to our history.
SMOKE INN: So, if the forefathers and the people who started it all were here today, what might they be doing with their core values and beliefs?
MICALLEF: Yes, that’s perfect. That’s it.
Read PART TWO here.
Smoke Inn is Your Cigar Shop
We hope you enjoyed this first segment of our conversation with Amanda Micallef. In Part Two, we discuss the rise of women in cigar culture and how the industry is evolving in the present day. And…as always, if you’re local or happen to be visiting South Florida, be sure to reward yourself with a visit to one of the country’s best cigar shops in person. We’d love to see you.
Our South Florida Locations:
- Smoke Inn Palm Beach Gardens
- Smoke Inn West Palm Beach
- Smoke Inn Delray Beach
- Smoke Inn Boynton Beach
- Smoke Inn Pompano Beach
- Smoke Inn Tequesta
- Smoke Inn Port St. Lucie
- Smoke Inn Vero Beach
