(upbeat music) - There's a story inside every smoke shop with every cigar, and with every person come be a part of the cigar lifestyle of Boveda. This is "Box Press". - Manolo, thank you for taking the time to talk to Remon. - No, that was my pleasure. - It's a beautiful story, so I might as well segue into this, too. Because I had this sitting, we're gonna have a conversation with him later.
I had that sitting and you saw this and we talked about it, and you mentioned going to Spain and the challenge of keeping cigars fresh and travel over there. And a partner of ours, Remon Mansour and CigarBros created this, and this is yours to take and use for your enjoyment going to Spain. But we took the opportunity to let him meet you. - Wonderful, I thank you for that. - And to meet Raquel and it's your attitude about family, your attitude about this craft.
I think it's just a beautiful opportunity for a young fellow like that to get exposed. - As I said, I've been going to Madrid over the past year and a half often, and I have all kinds of humidors at home. And I went to a number of retail shops in Madrid to buy Bovedas. - Boveda. - And nobody even knew what they were. They were giving me all kinds of ridiculous humidity- - So you knew over there promoting our brand in Madrid.
- So I finally went to Calle Magallanes and they have them all over the place. And I go, this is, this is- - Heaven. - And I have millions of them in the factory, but I have to buy a whole bunch of them in Madrid. So all my humidors are full of Bovedas, all over the, the apartment. You talk about our products and you talk about what we've done over the years, but you have come up with the best idea ever. The Bovedas, the are the greatest thing since popcorn.
(laughs) They keep cigars in perfect condition and it's really a magnificent product. I am so proud to use Bovedas in all my humidors, and I thank you for coming up with the idea and making a product that's consistently good. - Well, it's a privilege for us to protect the passion that you create. - And the legacy and the history and all behind it. - It's, it's, we're not the star of anybody's show. We're an asterisk on the, on the cigar industry.
We're an asterisk on every industry we're involved in. We support other people's passions. And, and the conversations that I've had with leaders in the industry at this show, the, the theme that keeps coming back over and over again is, it's not really about the cigar, it's about the people. And it's about the connection that happens over a cigar. - Oh, indeed, indeed, - Indeed. - It's, it's and it's delightful to, to spend time with you before the interview because it just builds.
It's, it's, it's a, it's an ethic of respect and regard. - It's about family. - Is that fair? And I think that's a fair way to put it, isn't it? - Yes. - But, you know, we talk about making cigars and we start with seeds and land and farms and crops and barns and drying and then fermentation and sorting. And then we go to the, to the aging. And then we go to the factory and we make the cigars and then we pack them and ship them.
And that whole process, we can control up to the point where we ship the cigars to the retailers. Retailers usually have great conditions to keep cigars in until they're sold. But once they're sold, it's in the hands of the consumer. And protecting those cigars becomes their responsibility. But our fault if something goes wrong. And Boveda has taken all that fault away by, keeping the cigars in perfect condition at the humidor in the house of the consumer that bought the cigars.
- So complaints are no longer, longer available because Boveda keeps the cigars in perfect shape. So we appreciate and we definitely thank you for taking that worry out of our, out of our world. - Everybody's gonna think I, I primed you on this (laughs) to get you to make a pitch for us during the interview. I thank you so much for that comment. - It comes from the heart. - Refer, refer them to a video I made in in Santiago where I spoke exactly in the same way, because you have a great product.
- We will, we will refer back to that in the uh... - And it saves us a lot of, a lot of situations that we don't really want to deal with. Because the cigars are kept perfect. - Drew, I, I wanna come back a little on what you said about women being the first on the ad. - For My Humidor ad. Yes. - From For My Humidor ad. - Yeah. - I really feel very grateful and I thank you for that.
And that proves that the journey that I've been, you know, for 23 years in this industry since I started at the factory, proves, you know, that I, that we've been doing something right. That the legacy, the history that I have has been shown the right way. So you can put me on the privilege to have me on the ads and I really appreciate it. - It's a great privilege for us to have you a part of that collection. - Thank you.
- I, I think it's a great testimony to women emerging as leaders in the cigar industry. And you've certainly had the opportunity to do that. - And I thank you. - A great opportunity now and you grew up in- - Yes. - The business. - Yes, I did. (laughs) Yeah. Since I was born, I believe. - I just lit the Casa Magna. - Connecticut. - Connecticut. And I am very fond of this cigar. - Yes. - In just a few short puffs that I've had. This is lovely.
- On my social media I always say, it's not your typical Connecticut. That's my line. (laughs) - No, it's, it's- - Has a little kick to it. - Got tremendous character. - Yes. - It's lovely construction. - Well it was, it was made in the, to be in the family of Casa Magna. - Yes. - Which Casa Magna is a Nicaraguan product. Origins of Nicaragua. And it always had a little more intensity to the smoke. So making the Connecticut, we said it has to be in the family.
The Connecticut will tone it down ever so slightly, but it's still gonna be a Connecticut that's gonna be very rich and very intense in your palate. - It's spectacular. - Yeah. - Well, thank you. - When we do the lines for Casa Magna, when we open the different lines, we always wanna keep the essence of the Casa Magna, original Colorado, in order to open up and do different things. - Now, The Colorado's the one that won the award. - Yes. - Yes, sir.
- Yes. Yes. - So has that been sort of the centerpiece for the- - Casa Magna line? Yes, sir, it has. - Yes sir. Totally. - And the offshoots have been the D, the D. Magnus and the, the Liga F and the Connecticut and the Oscuro. But they're all, they're all within the family of Casa Magna. - Yes. - Yeah. - Following the lead of the Colorado. - And now the 15th anniversary, too. - The 15th anniversary, - We're celebrating 15 years of Casa Magna Colorado this year. - That's awesome.
- Yes. So we came out with this new cigar. - This is the cigar. - That's the one, yeah - Casa Magna 15th anniversary. Yes. It comes boxes of 15. - Congratulations on the anniversary. - Thank You. Time flies (laughs). Who would've said? - And that's a Colorado wrapper. - Well, no, it's, it's all Nicaraguan tobacco. - Okay. - With a Habano from Ecuador. - Okay. - So we sort of tweaked it a little bit to make it a different, sort of a different, even though it's within the family, it's different.
- And you call it the Colorado, - Well, we call it the 15th anniversary of the Colorado Cigar. Yes, sir. - Yes, sir. - Okay. Beautiful. You, you, your passion for, and I, I don't want to suggest it's a passion for perfection, but I've never had a Quesada Cigar that isn't just exquisite in terms of construction and draw and the burn and the ash and all the different things that everybody talks about in this game. - Well, let me tell you something.
When I started working for my father or together, I always said, why does it have to be? Nothing's perfect. But he's like so close to perfection that I'm never, I, I couldn't understand it at that time. I was like, but this is perfect for me. Why? What? But he always like insisted and insisted, you know, with the construction, the consistency, the quality, that's something that always like comes up to mind for me when it comes to our cigars. And now I understand why (laughs) and it makes sense.
All the effort that he always put into our cigars and our Quesada Cigars. - Well, it's super important for me to get a big mouthful of smoke when I, when not have to labor over it. There's something just magical about- - Being able to draw. Yes. - Yes. - Effortless draw. - Yes, yes. - With the smoothness and a big mouthful of smoke and opportunity to have it linger and... - Yes. And enjoy. - Entrance.
It, it, it's that, it's, it seems to me that as I'm smoking it, it's that opportunity to entrance and gimme the- - Oh, yes indeed. - Little space to really enjoy it. It's lovely. - But you know, we always talk about quality and quality is a very important word in everything we do, but also is important as consistency. You cannot be good one day, and not be good the next day. You have to be consistent.
And I tell smokers when I meet with them, if you don't like my cigar, you are never gonna like them. Because we're consistent in what we make. If you like them, you're gonna love them forever. But we, we have to be consistent in what we do. - Well, I'm in the camp of loving you forever. - And we are, too. So that's a perfect match there. - It's beautiful. It's beautiful. What are you excited about today?
What's the, I mean, of course celebrating the, - Yeah, celebrating the- - Celebrating - The 15th anniversary. - Yes. We also have the Oktoberfest, which is a seasonal cigar that we come up every year. This would be our 13th Year? - 13th year. Yeah. - So now we have a, also the three sizes that are the original sizes for every year. But also we have a Salomon shape that is gonna be for events only. Very, very nice smoke. So we're very excited about that. - Yeah. And it's a pressed Salomon.
- Oh, yes. - Which is a very unique, - I'll bring you one, Drew, you're on my team. (laughs) - Okay. Okay. This is good news. I've been promoted to being on Raquel's team and I will have the pressed- - Salomon Oktoberfest. - So the Salomon with a- - It has a two bulbs, but it's a, it's got a flat body in the middle. - It's a 6 3/4 x 50. 33. 33 and 50.
- And do you just dream these things up and have these visions of, or do you find, do you find a certain tobacco that you're- - Well, lemme tell you the dreams are his. - Well. - We executed. - The Oktoberfest came about and we drank a lot of beer to match the cigar to the Marzen-style beers of the Oktoberfest. So we drank a lot of beer and came up with the Oktoberfest. - Sounds like good duty. - On the Salomon Press. - He always says the best duty. - Whiskey was the culprit.
We drank a lot of whiskey and we decided to press a Salomon, which is a stupid idea to begin with. And- - It's hard to do, isn't It? - Oh, indeed it is. Yes, it is. It's a very difficult cigar to make. - Yes. - And we came up with the idea thanks to the whiskey consumption and that's how we, yeah, let's try it. - You would be surprised how that draws in, how that burns. - Yeah. That's when my brain immediately went to. - Amazing. - To the, the- - The draw, yep.
- The draw with the, with the- - Yeah. - You'll see. You'll be surprised. - Do you just love cigars? - I love 'em. - I remember- - Now let me tell you something I always say, sorry. That if you don't love it, you can't do it. I mean, you have to do what makes you happy, which is the most important thing in life. And I'm really happy. (laughs) - And you obviously love cigars. - I'm sorry? - You've always- - Love cigars. - Do I love cigars? Let's see.
Next year will be my 50th year. 50th year making cigars. - Yes. - If I, if I don't love it, what the heck am I doing here? - 50 years of making- - 50 years of making cigars. - We're working on that project right now. (laughs) - That'll be fun. - Yes. It's, it's already fun. Because we've been a- - Congratulations on 50 years. - Well, thank you, sir. - Thank you. - That's significant. - It's, I've been around for a while. Yes, sir. Yeah. A couple of weeks.
- So in talking to you, you came from Cuba. - Yes. - Most of the other people that I've had conversation with this week that are from Cuba have a very distinct Cuban accent. You don't. - Nope. - I haven't had a beer. (everyone laughs) I've been outta Cuba since I was 13 years old, 63 years ago. And I'm in Madrid and I talk to people and they say, are you Cuban? And I go, how do you know I'm Cuban? Well, you speak like them.
And I go, I've been out of there 63 years and you still still consider me that I speak like a Cuban. I don't notice it, but everybody does. - Oh, that's great. - Yeah. - So it's distinctive to a Spaniard, but it's not distinctive to a Minnesotan? - No. And English is different. - Yeah. - In Spanish. Yeah. You would pick it up. - Yeah. It's the regard for family.
I know our earlier discussion we were talking about the, a challenge a family member had in traveling and the how everything comes to a halt when family is in peril or where there's an issue. - Indeed. Indeed. - And that's another very prominent theme in this room. The families. - Yes. - And people referring to their friends and the relationships that they develop. I know that Tim [Swail] and Sean [Knutsen] feel intensely connected. - Connected. - To you guys like family.
And there's other people in the room that they refer to their colleagues in the industry as family. - That's the beauty of our industry, I believe. - Well, there was a seminar Friday at the PCA and I wasn't on the, on the panel. And I get a call dawn of, of Friday telling me that I have to be on the panel because... - Saturday midday. - One, the one of the gentleman that was supposed to be in the panel, his wife got sick and wife took precedence over coming to a, a seminar.
- Right. - So I had to fill in for him and I did it gladly because I realized that his, he had a crisis at home. Take care of that first. And I'll try to cover for you as best as I can. - Yeah. - So, yeah, family is very important. - And I'm just reflecting on the privilege of sitting with you. - Thank you. - Our excitement about having you, Raquel. - Yes. I'm so excited about that. - And Manolo, you've been part of the original group that was in the For My Humidor collection with Boveda.
And we're, we're honored to have you be a part of that. - Thank you. - Anything else you want to? - Well, I just feel grateful to be here and I wanna keep on showing the world that Quesada Cigars is one of the best cigars in the world. And to keep continuing my legacy, my history and the passion that my father gave me the opportunity to have. - They truly are beautiful sticks. - And then I'm gonna start crying now. - No, that's good.
That's good. We've had some people getting misty about this craft of, of quality and consistency to your point. - Yes. - The discipline that goes into making this. - I was asked the other day, what were the items on, on my bucket list? And I said my bucket list. I filled my bucket list already. So the only thing that I have left to, to accomplish is to continue bringing pleasure as best I can to as many people as I can. - That's beautiful.
- This is an opportunity to enjoy yourself and obtain a lot of pleasure from an activity that is really, really very rewarding and very relaxing and very satisfying. - I thank you so much for taking the time. - Thank you. And much respect to the family and to the craft and to the beauty of these Quesada Cigars. It's a, it's a real honor for us to be connected. - Thank you. - To your family and to be able to help. - And many, many more years to come. - Yeah. - Cheers to that.
- Many blessings. Thank you so much. - Well, thank you for having us. - Thank you. - Our privilege and our honor. Thank you. (outro music)