The Stogie Guys

This started out to be about a cigar, but, like so many things involving the Internet, it evolved into something else altogether. What began as a simple search to get information on a cigar given to me about which I knew nothing led, instead, to a site I can only describe as a masterwork of cigar scholarship.

The website is called Zen & the Art of the Cigar. I had read reviews there numerous times, but failed to really explore the site. It was only after the incredible information that turned up as I was searching for the Gurkha European Selection Habano 2000 that I began to grasp what was there.

Interestingly, it has something in common with a Zen koan because, while I can describe it simply, that would utterly belie its complexity. What am I talking about? Well, you could say it‘s a list of all the Gurkha cigars, comprising, as I write this, 93 blends. But in reality there’s so much in addition to the basics. You’ll learn about wrappers, strength, vitolas and what’s an Internet exclusive. And more. Jamie Sprenkel is the man behind the site and the list, as well as others he has compiled and made available under the Manufacturer Spotlight link at the top of his site.

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[Editors’ Note: The following was written by Mark McGinty, author of The Cigar Maker. His work has appeared in Cigar City Magazine, Maybourne Magazine, and La Gaceta. You can contact him at mmcginty_32@yahoo.com.]

Angel Cuesta and Peregrino Rey, both in their thirties when they started the famous cigar company in 1896, were just a pair of entrepreneurs in a city with dozens of cigar factories. In fact, the Tampa Tribune thought so little of them that the newspaper didn’t even bother to check the spelling of their names and with little fanfare, announced that Cuesta Ray [sic] had formed in Ybor City, Florida, employing 100 workers. The paper would have never expected this pair of young Spaniards to create a revolutionary cigar company that would set industry standards for quality and marketing and become one of the most recognized brands in the world.

Cuesta and Rey’s idea of cigar company management included the novel ideas of international marketing, quality control, and worker incentives, ideas that are commonplace today but bordered on being radical during the 1890’s. But it was the unique talents of each man, and their ability to divide the responsibilities of management, that played a critical role in the success of Cuesta-Rey.

Cuesta was a promoter, Rey a production manager. While Cuesta created brand identification and customer loyalty though shrewd marketing schemes, Rey ensured the quality of the product matched the reputation touted in its advertisements. He imposed a rule that no shipment of incoming tobacco would be accepted until one of the partners had personally inspected it.

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