In an age where many of the vaunted premium cigar companies have been family-owned for generations, Philip G. Wynne, founder of Felipe Gregorio, has traversed a different path… with resounding success.

 

A lifelong lover of fine cigars, Philip has weathered the good and bad times of the cigar industry and has emerged with greater knowledge, experience, and an undaunted passion for cigar making. Having just surpassed 16 years in the cigar business, Philip is at a point in his career where making his own super premium cigars is a reality and focal point for the coming years.

 

 

DOC: Many tobacco growers and cigar manufacturers come from several generations of family history in the industry. In your case though, you have become a first-generation owner. Since you didn't learn the cigar business from your family, you must have had many mentors. Can you tell us a bit about the people who have taught you the ropes of the cigar industry and what have been your biggest lessons?

 

PHILIP: It has been now over 16 years that I have been making cigars and I am more passionate about this industry than ever! I personally believe that a cigar is only as good as the leaf that it is made from so I place ENORMOUS value on the leaf side of the business. In that regard I have always tried to learn from the best in the industry and I have been lucky enough to have many mentors. The first was Don Jorge Buesos, the original owner of LA Flor de Copan. La Flor de Copan was [based on the] premise of being a factory owned by local growers in the Copan Valley of Honduras and was the first factory founded in Honduras in the 1800's. Don Jorge initiated me in art of cigar making and tobacco growing. Omar Ortez my Nicaraguan associate taught me the fermenting side of tobacco production and last, but not least, John Vogel [Tabacos de la Cordillera] has taught me about seed origins and single state tobaccos.

 

DOC: As a consumer and collector of cigars, I am always looking for cigars from manufacturers that display consistent quality from year to year, batch to batch, and across every line of cigars. For a company like yours that produces many cigar lines in three different countries (U.S., Dominican Republic and Nicaragua), what are the challenges you face and how do you attempt to insure the highest quality product?

 

 

DOC: Much of our focus at Stogie Fresh is on the proper techniques for storing and aging cigars. What role do you think the methods of tobacco growing, harvesting and aging has on the ability of a finished cigar to age?

 

PHILIP: As with many things the cigar is only as good as the sum of its parts, therefore if the proper tobacco is used (aged, fermented, blended) in the making of the cigar, this cigar will only continue to get better with age. A truly premium cigar needs to be made from truly premium tobacco; packaging and presentation though pleasing to the eye add nothing to the quality of the cigar.

 

DOC: Can you tell us a bit about some of your premium cigars lines and what types of smokers they might appeal to? What lines of your cigars do you think will have the greatest aging potential?

 

PHILIP: My two new lines Felipe Power and Pelo de Oro have the best aging potentials followed by Fusion and Felipe Gregorio.

 

Both the Power and Pelo de Oro are made with exquisite wrapper from a Pelo de Oro seed grown under strict supervision in Costa Rica. Fusion was made with a limited run of tobacco that I fermented in the same bale (wrapper, binder and filler) fusing the taste (hence the name). Felipe Gregorio is my classic line and has all the attributes of a super premium cigar.

 

DOC: What can we expect to see in the future of Felipe Gregorio cigars?

 

PHILIP: I will try to constantly better my cigars, I will make more limited runs based on the availability of the tobaccos that I have.

 

DOC: What would you like Stogie Fresh readers to remember about Philip Wynne and Felipe Gregorio Cigars?

 

PHILIP: Every time you smoke a cigar, close your eyes and imagine the amount of hands that have touched your cigar from field to store (at least 300) and the amount of time it took for them to prepare the tobaccos for you to enjoy. A cigar is truly the symbiosis of nature and man. The history of the soil and the lives of men are embedded in the DNA of the cigar making you one.