Deep Cuts Live

An interview with Crystal, owner of Crystal Cigar Connect

An interview with Tim Swail, executive vice president of sales at Boveda, Inc.

An interview with George Rami, Senior Brand Ambassador at Davidoff of Geneva USA

Another Deep Cuts Live interview with Kathleen Kelly, owner of Queensbury Cigar & Pipe and Cup O' Joes. Kathleen shares how she built a business around pipes and later got into selling premium cigars. She explains what it’s like being a retailer and how she’s had success by embracing social media and out-of-the-box thinking.

In this Deep Cuts Live interview I chat with Jaxx Guevarra, a cigar sales representative with Altadis U.S.A. Jaxx has a background in interior design but when the economy faced a downturn in 2008, she pivoted to retail and worked with cigars. After several years of working in retail, she became a sales rep and eventually came to work with Altadis U.S.A., promoting brands like Montecristo, H. Upmann, Aging Room, and Onyx Reserve. Jaxx shares her experiences in the cigar industry, her approach to social media, some recent releases from Altadis U.S.A. and some of her interests outside of work.

In this interview, Aric Bey, a firefighter in Chicago, talks about how he started his own cigar company, Black Star Line Cigars. Aric shares how persistence paid off in terms of recruiting El Titan de Bronze to help make his cigars. He also talks about the advice and guidance Drew Estate founder Jonathan Drew, Cohiba brand ambassador Sean Williams, and others gave him to help start his brand. He also reveals the story behind War Witch, a cigar made by Aganorsa Leaf that helped put him and his company on the map.

This episode features Dave Imber, one of the entrepreneurs behind CigarClub, a monthly cigar subscription box service. In this interview we talk about Dave’s love for cigars that dates back to his college years. He reveals how he made the leap from a creative agency to helping to build CigarClub’s business. Dave also provides a detailed account of what makes CigarClub so unique and a great option for cigar enthusiasts in search of a great variety of cigars. The conversation ends with a tease of a collaboration between CigarClub and Cigars & Leisure.

An interview with Christopher Moore, owner of @carolinabluecigars. In this interview we talk about how Chris got involved with cigars, how he built his business, his experiences as a Black brand owner in the cigar industry and how COVID has given him and his brand a new chance and opportunity.

An interview with Karl "The Mailman" Malone and his daughter, Kadee. Many know Karl from his long professional basketball career as a power forward for the Utah Jazz–but that's only part of his story. Malone is an entrepreneur with his own retail store in Ruston, Louisiana, Legends Cigar & Vape, a distributor of rum and also for owning his own cigar brand, Barrel Aged by Karl Malone. In this interview, Karl and his daughter discuss his career, his love of hunting, Alaska and passion for cigars.

How is making cigars a lot like cooking? That's the question Erik Espinosa, owner and founder of Espinosa Premium tackles in this interview. Erik didn't always like cigars while he was growing up but the older he got, the more he came to appreciate the lifestyle and art behind making a cigar. Learn how this entrepreneur built his business to not only achieve success but to build a cult following among cigar enthusiasts around the world.