stogie fresh exclusive
There was something that touched me the first time I read the history of Avalon Cigars. Maybe it’s because the ideas that prompted the startup happened with two friends chatting over cigars and wine, which is exactly how the concept of Stogie Fresh began. Or maybe it was the name: Avalon, which pays tribute to the hometown of bluesman extraordinaire, Mississippi John Hurt. If you’ve ever listened to Mississippi John Hurt’s blend of blues, you will know the rapture that is also attendant to a great cigar.
The first time I came across the Avalon Cigars web site, I was attracted to this chemistry of cigars, libation, music and, most importantly, friendships. After contacting Tom Ramsey, one of Avalon’s founders, I was impressed with his enthusiasm for spreading the message of Avalon Cigars. So, I asked him if he and his partner and cofounder Gary Hilton would be willing to share some of their thoughts and values about their company and about themselves. What follows is the outcome of our collaboration.
Below: Gary Hilton (left) and Tom Ramsey
DOC: The Avalon branding is tied closely with the theme of the blues. What is your link to music and, especially, the blues?
TOM: Having grown up in Mississippi, I guess we took for granted that this great music was all around us. Not just blues, but great rock and roll too. When we decided to do a “Mississippi Cigar” the blues was the first thing that came to mind. Living here, so close to the Delta, we were able to find these artists and convince them to sign contracts with us pretty easily. Now we have the rights to use the images and names of some of the pioneers of American music. Pinetop and Honeyboy are true legends. Pinetop has played with the Stones and Honeyboy was with Robert Johnson on the night he died. If we weren’t a couple of Mississippi boys, I don’t know if we would have even gotten this far.
GARY: I agree with Tom, sometimes the closer you are to something the harder it is to see. My career has been in marketing and advertising for 20 years so I approached the idea of a Delta-blues-themed cigar very objectively. You don’t have to do much investigating however, to find out the significance Mississippi artists have had on American music. In fact, some historians believe the first cigar created in this country was by Native American. So I guess for us the roots run very deep.
Below: the Avalon Store
DOC: In your partnership, what is it about your chemistry together that makes Avalon Cigars work?
TOM: Our personalities are completely different in some ways and in other ways we’re just alike. When we have a new idea, I am the one who wants to start right then and there, no hesitation, no “working it through.” Gary gives me a look like a parent in a grocery store whose kid keeps asking if he can pick out the cereal. One of the ways that we are alike is that we are both fiercely loyal. Without question, we know that we have each other’s back, no questions asked.
GARY: Although it doesn’t fit the typical mold for 21st century business practice we both take a visionary view on this start-up particularly. Start with the big idea and work out the details later.
DOC: How did you arrive into the world of cigars and how has owning a cigar company changed your experience of your daily smoke? (Or has it changed?)
TOM: Depending on how you look at it, my cigar habit has either gotten to be free, or REALLY expensive.
GARY: I’ve been an avid cigars smoker since 1997 and been helping market, brand and position them on a retail level almost as long. Luckily, my agency had certain accounts that allowed me to smoke some of the best cigars in the world via a trade account. You can really enjoy a great smoke when you’re not concerned with how much it costs.
DOC: As a smaller cigar company, what can you accomplish that the “big boys” cannot. What is your market niche?
TOM: Right now, while we are small, we are accessible. The guys who pick up our smokes can also pick up the phone or shoot us an email and we have the time to respond personally. This one-on-one feedback helps tremendously. It gives us a loyal core following who will go out there and spread the word and it also lets us know pretty quickly when we do something right or wrong. As we grow, and the demands on our time increase, regrettably we just won’t have near as much time to spend talking with the retail consumers. Hopefully, we’ll learn enough from them in these early days to keep us grounded as we expand.
GARY: Our niche may, at first seem to be our branding. Customers will find out quickly however, instead it is our dedication to a craft that yields fantastic cigars. Our aging process is also unique. We use various traditional woods as well as pecan wood. This gives the cigar a hint of something a little different.
DOC: Your three cigar lines are the Juke, the Masters, and the Haint. Can you tell us a bit about the characteristics of each line and whom you see as the target market for each line?
TOM: The Jukes and Masters are differentiated by country of origin and price point. The Jukes ($5-7) are made in Estelí, Nicaragua and the Masters ($9-12) are made in Miami’s famed Calle Ocho district. We worked with Don Carols Cobas to come up with blends that would work well with the pecan aging. He is a real gem. He’s eighty-two years old and has spent his entire life in the cigar industry. He was making cigars in Cuba when he decided to come here to the USA and has continued the same Cuban traditions since he started his American shop in 1959. Some people get the wrong impression about our cigars and think that they are flavored. These are very traditional smokes. The pecan aging adds slight hints of a woody or nutty aroma, much in the way that oak barrels influence the taste of Chardonnay wines. However, you don’t ever hear someone describing Chardonnay as being a “flavored” or “infused” wine. These smokes are marketed toward the traditional cigar smoker who is looking for something new.
GARY: The Haint line was conjured up during some of our aging R & D. We messed around with every tea, herb, oil and spice you can think of. After a while we found some combinations that just worked better than others. We eventually came to five distinctly different ones (sweet, spicy, woodsy, floral and tart). The branding came effortlessly. Given where we grew up, all you have to do is smell these sticks to be taken back to some time when Hoodoo and spells ran up and down the Mississippi.
DOC: Tell us about the people that manufacture your cigars. How do you work with them to produce the blends for Avalon Cigars?
TOM: About five years ago, soon after I first met Don Carlos Cobas, I called the shop to ask if they could do some special bends for me, you know…add a little ligero here, a little more seco there…and pretty soon we had come up with some nice new blends. At the time, I had no intention of getting into the cigar business, but once that decision was made, we looked no further than Don Carlos. We didn’t even consider anyone else.
GARY: Seems like so many new people in the business today are interested in the business aspect of cigars. We genuinely have a friendship with the Miami crew. We even argue like family. We bring new unconventional ideas to an otherwise traditional business, but their experience is immeasurable; we couldn’t do it without them.
DOC: What can we expect to see from Avalon Cigars over the next 12-months.
TOM: We’ll be coming out with some special edition sticks and perhaps another line. We intend on heading down to the Dominican Republic in the early fall to meet with some manufacturers there. Maybe we’ll have a Dominican Puro someday.
GARY: We want to establish ourselves as a staple on retailer’s shelves all over the country. We want our Masters and Juke series to be on consumer’s wish lists. We want to get better and better at what we are doing.
Contact Information:
Gary Hilton: gary@avaloncigars.com
Tom Ramsey: tom@avaloncigars.com
Tom Ramsey and Gary Hilton:
Avalon Cigars
Friday, July 13, 2007
