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🎙️ Light ’Em Up Lounge — Episode 05: Changing Consumer Behaviors with Nicholas Krüger
✨ Episode Summary
In this episode of the Light ’Em Up Lounge, host Reinhard Pohorec welcomes back special guest Nicholas Krüger — distiller, entrepreneur, bar-owner, rummelier, and outspoken advocate for authenticity in the spirits world.
Together, they dive into one of the most pressing topics in hospitality and luxury craft culture: the dramatic shift in consumer behavior.
From declining alcohol consumption numbers to generational lifestyle changes, from authenticity vs. mass market to craftsmanship, community, and transparency — this conversation explores what is really happening behind the headlines and what the future of premium spirits, cigars, and craft culture might look like. Nicholas shares candid insights about:
This episode is packed with honesty, expertise, and forward-thinking perspective — a must-listen for anyone in hospitality, luxury craft, or entrepreneurship.
🔥 Key Topics Discussed:
🥃 Featured Tasting: Wagemut Aficionado Collection Maduro
Nicholas presents a bespoke spirit crafted specifically for pairing with cigars:
A perfect example of artisan craft meeting thoughtful intention.
📚 Book Recommendation: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant — the book Nicholas calls the most important of his life, shaping his approach to value creation, responsibility, flow, and long-term vision.
💡 Memorable Quotes
“Why should the customer buy from you? Who are you?"
“Authenticity and transparency are everything.”
“We don’t deserve anything — we must earn it. And that’s beautiful.”
“The consumer is not stupid. We’re all experts — some just lack the words.”
“If I mess up, I take responsibility. Trust is my most precious asset.”
👤 About the Guest: Nicholas Krüger:
Master blender, distiller, bar owner, founder of Wagemut, and one of Europe’s most dynamic voices in the craft spirits movement. Nicholas is known for bringing radical authenticity, community collaboration, and transparency into an industry often shrouded in mystique.
Hosts: Reinhard Pohorec & Nico Kröger
Topic: Breaking down stereotypes in the world of spirits, wine & cigars
Pairing: Cognac Leroy (exclusive bottling by Nico Kröger) 🔥
Episode Overview:
Reinhard welcomes spirits expert, producer, and YouTuber Nico Kröger to unpack one of the most pervasive issues in the world of taste: stereotypes. Why do people say “I don’t like Cognac” or “I only drink Chardonnay”? And how does that limit genuine discovery? Together, they explore how consumer bias, education, and industry trends shape our palates — and why complexity and balance define true quality.
🧭 Key Discussion Highlights
1. The Cognac Cliché — “Old man’s drink”?
2. Why people stick to stereotypes
3. Complexity vs. Pleasantness
4. Subjective taste vs. objective quality
5. Trust, credibility & education
6. Rum: The world’s most complex spirit
7. The cycle of trends & taste
8. Who defines quality?
💬 Final Thoughts
Stereotypes limit discovery. Complexity rewards curiosity. Whether in spirits, cigars, or wine — don’t chase perfection, chase personality. With that — light ’em up.
Hosts: Reinhard Pohorec & Christian Wohlrab
Topic: How cigars are made — and other common questions around premium cigars
🔥 Episode Overview
Reinhard and Christian tackle the most common questions cigar newcomers ask — from construction and choosing the right cigar, to smoking etiquette, storage, flavor, and how cigars make you feel.
A hands-on, honest, and human take on premium cigar fundamentals.
🧭 Key Discussion Highlights
1. How are cigars made?
2. How to choose the right cigar
3. How to smoke a cigar properly
4. How to store cigars
5. How do cigars make you feel?
6. Are cigars flavored?
7. Books & brains segment
Pick: Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell — exploring why certain ideas or products “go viral.” success often arises when mavens, connectors, and salesmen converge — a perfect metaphor for how cigar culture spreads through shared passion.
💬 Final Thought
Cigar knowledge is a lifelong journey — even masters stay students of the leaf. Every cigar, every puff, offers something new to learn.
With that — light ’em up.
Hosts: Reinhard Pohorec & Christian Wohlrab
Back from a recent trip to the United States, Reinhard Pohorec shares his sensory experiences and encounters of The Welcome Principle being put into action.
Is the US Hospitality industry really all about tips? How and why does their customer service feel so natural and generous?
Why could a random waiter not only change your breakfast experience but excite you in the most positive and inspiring way?
Tune in, listen carefully and sprinkle some extra hospitality flakes on your daily dose of soul food.
Enjoy!
___
Thank you very much for listening to this episode. I hope that you keep up with the weekly shows we post on this channel so that we could welcome you again as our guest.
➥ Please be invited to subscribe, rate, review and share your thoughts with those that need to hear it.
Your feedback, comments and sense of being at home here are our lifeblood, so please take a moment and say "hello“.
Also feel free send us an email via [email protected] should you have any questions.
And we’d very much like to focus even more on your expectations and burning questions so “What question do you always wish I would ask but I never do?”
___
Reinhard Pohorec is a multi-award winning entrepreneur, sensory expert, internationally acclaimed consultant, prolific public speaker and author.
As founder and CEO of Pohorec sensory experience and Ponticadrinks, two globally operating companies, he knows business, hospitality and sensory from many different angles. He advises multinational enterprises and managers, making multi-sensory perception as well as the art of hospitality relevant for every person, industry or business.
On the Sensory Experience Podcast Pohorec introduces you to the mindset of young and aspiring business personalities, why everybody is in hospitality nowadays and how to most enchantingly experience life with all your senses.
Connect with POHOREC Sensory Experience on:
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/pohorec.sensory/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Pohorec-Sensory-Experience-473189399761792/
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/reinhardpohorec/
Check out the website: www.pohorec.com
Becoming "RICH" can have many facets.
In this episode Reinhard Pohorec talks about all human senses and how to be more aware of the sensory delights the world has to offer.
Smell, Taste, Touch, Sound, Sight can bring the most enriching experiences to our everyday lifes, making the most basic things more valuable and enjoyable.
Living the moment, enjoying the mesmerizing wonders of the present, right here, right now is what we want to talk about during this episode of "Sensory Experience".
Tune in, listen carefully and get a good feel for the fairy dust your senses and preception can sprinkle on the daily grind.
Enjoy!
___
Thank you very much for listening to this episode. I hope that you keep up with the weekly shows we post on this channel so that we could welcome you again as our guest.
➥ Please be invited to subscribe, rate, review and share your thoughts with those that need to hear it.
Your feedback, comments and sense of being at home here are our lifeblood, so please take a moment and say "hello“.
Also feel free send us an email via [email protected] should you have any questions.
And we’d very much like to focus even more on your expectations and burning questions so “What question do you always wish I would ask but I never do?”
___
Reinhard Pohorec is a multi-award winning entrepreneur, sensory expert, internationally acclaimed consultant, prolific public speaker and author.
As founder and CEO of Pohorec sensory experience and Ponticadrinks, two globally operating companies, he knows business, hospitality and sensory from many different angles. He advises multinational enterprises and managers, making multi-sensory perception as well as the art of hospitality relevant for every person, industry or business.
On the Sensory Experience Podcast Pohorec introduces you to the mindset of young and aspiring business personalities, why everybody is in hospitality nowadays and how to most enchantingly experience life with all your senses.
Connect with POHOREC Sensory Experience on:
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/pohorec.sensory/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Pohorec-Sensory-Experience-473189399761792/
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/reinhardpohorec/
Check out the website: www.pohorec.com
Lee Cockerell knows how to tell a great story. Spending most of his life looking for the stellar prime examples of customer service and establishing the mindset in companies like Hilton, Marriott or Walt Disney, Cockerell is an inspiring speaker, author, media person and loving family guy.
His book "The Customer Rules - The 39 Essential Rules for Delivering Sensational Service" shares valuable insights, great anecdotes and easy to follow rules for entrepreneurs, employers and individuals.
Get your copy from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00BHA89ZK/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=pohorec-21&camp=1638&creative=6742&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B00BHA89ZK&linkId=f0c5d19ff5f7e813f02faf3bde0fe554
On this episode we take a closer look at this transformative must-read, no matter what business or industry your in. 'Cause ultimately we all are working in hospitality.
And hospitality is exactly what we would describe as the quintessitial take away from Lee Cockerell's work. It's the path towards and achievment of excellence on top of customer service.
Check out Lee Cockerell's website as well as Cockerell Academy
http://leecockerell.com
http://www.cockerellacademy.com/about-lee/
___
Thank you very much for listening to this episode. I hope that you keep up with the weekly shows we post on this channel so that we could welcome you again as our guest.
➥ Please be invited to subscribe, rate, review and share your thoughts with those that need to hear it.
Your feedback, comments and sense of being at home here are our lifeblood, so please take a moment and say "hello“.
Also feel free send us an email via [email protected] should you have any questions.
And we’d very much like to focus even more on your expectations and burning questions so “What question do you always wish I would ask but I never do?”
___
Reinhard Pohorec is a multi-award winning entrepreneur, sensory expert, internationally acclaimed consultant, prolific public speaker and author.
As founder and CEO of Pohorec sensory experience and Ponticadrinks, two globally operating companies, he knows business, hospitality and sensory from many different angles. He advises multinational enterprises and managers, making multi-sensory perception as well as the art of hospitality relevant for every person, industry or business.
On the Sensory Experience Podcast Pohorec introduces you to the mindset of young and aspiring business personalities, why everybody is in hospitality nowadays and how to most enchantingly experience life with all your senses.
Connect with POHOREC Sensory Experience on:
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/pohorec.sensory/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Pohorec-Sensory-Experience-473189399761792/
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/reinhardpohorec/
Check out the website: www.pohorec.com
From the publisher's feed
Welcome to the Light ’em Up Lounge — the award-winning global cigar lounge and lifestyle show hosted by Reinhard Pohorec & Christian Wohlrab.
“Where Cigars Light Up Conversations”
We sit down with world-class guests to spark meaningful dialogue and explore the finer things in life. While cigars bring us together, the conversations go far beyond smoke: wine & spirits, hospitality, art, design, music, luxury, lifestyle, and business.
📅 Bi-Weekly episodes & highlights
🎤 Monthly live shows with interactive Q&A
✨ Deep-dive interviews with icons, innovators & creators
🔥 Behind-the-scenes insights into the cigar & luxury lifestyle
With more than 4 million views and 400+ episodes, the Light’em Up Lounge has become a global stage for inspiration, connection, and discovery.
👉 Join the conversation. Subscribe today and become part of the Light’em Up community.
📩 Get your personal invitation to the next live event: www.lightemupworld.com