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Cigar Weekly Interview With Don Kiki Berger
On September 4, 2006, Cigar Weekly published an article from longtime cigar bulletin board veteran Roger Farnsworth (ElkTwin), called “Feeding Frenzies - Rumor, Fear and the Madness of Crowds” (found here http://www.cigarweekly.com/magazine/cigarticles/cigarticle-200604.php, in which Roger humorously recounted a phenomenon that occurred regularly on cigar forums during the late 1990s and through the early 2000s. A highly coveted or widely discussed cigar, rarely available, suddenly arrived at the online retailers. One forum member would post the information, and within moments, the retailers were overwhelmed.
Roger’s thread itself turned into a bit of frenzy, as members chimed in about their being among the fortunate few able to get through to the operators. Of course, others lamented the fact that the lines were busy when they called, or that the cigars were already sold out by the time they were able to get through.
Roger’s thread itself turned into a bit of frenzy, as members chimed in about their being among the fortunate few able to get through to the operators. Of course, others lamented the fact that the lines were busy when they called, or that the cigars were already sold out by the time they were able to get through.
It’s been a long time since we have seen such a scenario take place. And while there is a recent example, it does not even begin to approach the absolute chaos of 10 years ago. Nevertheless, this event is still worth mentioning. In late 2007, Cigar Weekly member birdhunter02 (Mark Matthewson) received a catalog from cigar and accessory company Cuban Crafters. From that catalog, to Mark’s startled eyes, sprang amazing news. Quickly, on December 17th, 2007, he relayed the information to his fellow Cigar Weekly members by starting a thread on the forums. Many others were equally astounded. The exciting tidings? “Cupidos are BACK!”
In chronicling my own history in cigars, I have told people that I began smoking deliberately, being influenced by talk-show host Rush Limbaugh to look at cigars differently and to see that cigar smokers really are good folk. Mr. Limbaugh was, and still is, correct on that count. Many individuals I now consider life-long friends are cigar smokers.
I also began reading whatever I could find in books and magazines, learned something about the history of cigars, and came to appreciate the idea that cigars count among the finer things. In more than one of those publications, I saw the advertisement for Cupidos. I daresay that many interested cigar smokers have seen it. It is the one with the architectural line drawing of their three cigar sizes, each bearing that interesting, heart-shaped, black and purple band.
Within the publications, the Cupido cigars received high scores all around, and I began searching tobacconists for them once I’d read enough and had begun smoking in 1997. I was able to find Cupidos at only one shop in the French Quarter of New Orleans, and I paid nearly ten dollars per cigar for them. I would find reasons to ask friends to go out to the Quarter – not my normal thing – just to get to that shop. The whole story is a wonderful memory.
Cupido grew, adding the Criollo line, one of the first lines of cigars to have this capa, a year or so later. In the years following, the Cigar Boom ended. But Cupido seemed to survive, still producing those earthy cigars. Then, in 2002, it became known that the cigars were to be no more. Cupido was in trouble and had to close their doors. Henry 'Don Kiki' Berger, who had been making the cigars, was able to acquire the blend, but not the name, from the owners of Cupido, Yossi Kviatkovsky and Dixi Monaco. This blend became the La Carolina brand that Don Kiki’s company, Cuban Crafters, began making in 2004 or early 2005.
It seems, however, that I’m not the only one to have a fond, nostalgic memory of Cupido from my formative years. Recollections like this stay with a person, much as the music of high school and college years often defines a person’s musical tastes later in life. So, good cigars, smoked early in a person’s cigar journey, definitely remain a pleasant remembrance and a defining moment.
The thread that birdhunter02 started last December is still going strong as of this writing, and the newly released Cupido Criollos, which are (according to those posting) selling rather briskly, have in turn become increasingly difficult for smokers to get their hands on. It is quite possible that this entire run of cigars may sell out sooner rather than later. But what about the man with that slightly quirky name, Don Kiki? Cigar Weekly Editor-in-Chief Thomas Bender (TommyBB) recently talked to Henry 'Don Kiki' Berger about family, cigars and the industry in general.
In chronicling my own history in cigars, I have told people that I began smoking deliberately, being influenced by talk-show host Rush Limbaugh to look at cigars differently and to see that cigar smokers really are good folk. Mr. Limbaugh was, and still is, correct on that count. Many individuals I now consider life-long friends are cigar smokers.
I also began reading whatever I could find in books and magazines, learned something about the history of cigars, and came to appreciate the idea that cigars count among the finer things. In more than one of those publications, I saw the advertisement for Cupidos. I daresay that many interested cigar smokers have seen it. It is the one with the architectural line drawing of their three cigar sizes, each bearing that interesting, heart-shaped, black and purple band.
Within the publications, the Cupido cigars received high scores all around, and I began searching tobacconists for them once I’d read enough and had begun smoking in 1997. I was able to find Cupidos at only one shop in the French Quarter of New Orleans, and I paid nearly ten dollars per cigar for them. I would find reasons to ask friends to go out to the Quarter – not my normal thing – just to get to that shop. The whole story is a wonderful memory.
Cupido grew, adding the Criollo line, one of the first lines of cigars to have this capa, a year or so later. In the years following, the Cigar Boom ended. But Cupido seemed to survive, still producing those earthy cigars. Then, in 2002, it became known that the cigars were to be no more. Cupido was in trouble and had to close their doors. Henry 'Don Kiki' Berger, who had been making the cigars, was able to acquire the blend, but not the name, from the owners of Cupido, Yossi Kviatkovsky and Dixi Monaco. This blend became the La Carolina brand that Don Kiki’s company, Cuban Crafters, began making in 2004 or early 2005.
It seems, however, that I’m not the only one to have a fond, nostalgic memory of Cupido from my formative years. Recollections like this stay with a person, much as the music of high school and college years often defines a person’s musical tastes later in life. So, good cigars, smoked early in a person’s cigar journey, definitely remain a pleasant remembrance and a defining moment.
The thread that birdhunter02 started last December is still going strong as of this writing, and the newly released Cupido Criollos, which are (according to those posting) selling rather briskly, have in turn become increasingly difficult for smokers to get their hands on. It is quite possible that this entire run of cigars may sell out sooner rather than later. But what about the man with that slightly quirky name, Don Kiki? Cigar Weekly Editor-in-Chief Thomas Bender (TommyBB) recently talked to Henry 'Don Kiki' Berger about family, cigars and the industry in general.
Cigar Weekly: First, thank you for this time. I’ve read some things about you, but tell our readers, if you would, about your beginnings in Esteli. When did you first arrive there, and how did you get into tobacco? Wasn’t your father in tobacco in Cuba before you?
Don Kiki:
I went down to Nicaragua. My father was a cigar maker in Cuba. He came to the U. S., he worked in a store, then made cigars at home, and would sell in the men’s store in downtown Miami. His friend allowed him to sell the cigars in the store and he gave the owner some profit, to get me through school. People came to me during the boom - that’s how World Cigars started.
And that’s how 5 Vegas came to be. Now CI has it, but we had it first. That’s when I went to Esteli; it was too expensive in Miami. Dad was sick, so I went to Nicaragua. The boom was a problem, especially to get tobacco. Someone sold one property to me. But the ground was rocky, so I got guys hired, and we cleaned up. That’s when Orlando Padron called me, laughing (in a nice way), and he asked me, "Are you making a cigar called The Flintstones?" No one had wanted this land, but I saw the potential it had.
I started growing tobacco. Everyone was flipping out over the beautiful tobacco coming from that field. That’s what started my cigars. I wanted something different. Dad had saved seeds from Cuba - “Criollo” (Creole) is what he called it. This was a seed mixed then to become Criollo 98. Go back to Smoke… I was getting phone calls. “Everybody is stealing your name,” Bob from Smoke told me. That’s when I made the cigar for Cupido. We started aging them, and that’s how it was born, along with 5 Vegas. That’s when I moved the factory; we wanted to have it all together. I built that there, next to the field where the rollers are. World Cigar died out when one partner died. Eddie Ortega of 601 was president back then. The company made every 5 Vegas we could make. I needed a new brand. I went and got Yossi who had Cupido, so I was making almost nothing but private labels. That’s when Cupido came out, and then the Cupido Criollo. Some of those cigars were already made when we brought them out.
I didn’t want to pull out cigars until I had the kidney transplant. So I’ve had tobacco aging for five years, and this is now being made into Cupido Criollo and the Cuban Crafters Miami Edition, a new release we’re preparing for. But we’re not selling until they’re aged enough.
We don’t cellophane the Cupido Criollo. We let it sit before release, and the room was over-humidified, but we’ve had a good bit of rain in Nicaragua and Miami, and they had too much humidity upon release. I want to prevent that from happening.
We decided to bring back the Criollo due to demand. The original owners had some debts left to me. We finally got awarded the name so we could bring it back.
Cigar Weekly: I don’t want to delve too deeply into your personal life, but as I learn about people in the cigar business, I see that they tend to invest all of themselves in their cigars. Many who I have met describe their cigars as if they were their own children. You have had serious health issues over the last five years or so, correct? CW member hockeymaniac (David Schwartz) asks: "On a personal level how is your health? I understand you have had or possibly still have kidney problems. Is everything OK?"
Cigar Weekly: I don’t want to delve too deeply into your personal life, but as I learn about people in the cigar business, I see that they tend to invest all of themselves in their cigars. Many who I have met describe their cigars as if they were their own children. You have had serious health issues over the last five years or so, correct? CW member hockeymaniac (David Schwartz) asks: "On a personal level how is your health? I understand you have had or possibly still have kidney problems. Is everything OK?"
Don Kiki:
I finally got a kidney. My wife wanted to donate but the doctors told her she couldn’t, because it had to be a blood relative - sibling, parent, uncle, whoever. But after five years, they finally tested her, and she matched like a twin. I traveled to Nicaragua, and started a dialysis center in Esteli. I never left one day without work. I still checked the blendings, did my own blendings, smoked my own blendings. The doctor told me not to smoke. I even got the doctor to begin smoking.
Cigar Weekly: To follow up that previous question, many cigar makers’ cigars are reflections of themselves in many ways. Has your particular ordeal affected your cigars or your approach toward making them?
Cigar Weekly: To follow up that previous question, many cigar makers’ cigars are reflections of themselves in many ways. Has your particular ordeal affected your cigars or your approach toward making them?
Don Kiki:
It slowed me down from being able to proceed to do what I really wanted to do. That is to continue to make quality cigars, and not being able to be 100 percent, and make what I was making. I didn’t want my rollers and bunchers to start doing what I couldn’t check. I’m dedicated to Nicaragua and only come in (to the United States) to go to the doctors. I’m hands-on. Being a cigar maker by remote control doesn’t work. You have to be in front of them making sure they’re doing the right things. You can have computers and all and it’s beautiful but the blend is important. You have to be there at all time.
Cigar Weekly: How has the industry changed, for you, from that beginning in Esteli until now? How has it changed overall?
Don Kiki:
Well, it’s changed in that the only real change is you have new players in the field; you have new people you’re adjusting to. Before, during the boom, just about anything would sell. The smoker has become a connoisseur. Those people who made just anything are now having a hard time. The demand from the customer forces you to cure the tobacco. The internet has made things grow. Internet sales are the biggest thing now. It’s overtaken the mom and pop. The way you market is totally different now. At one time, you’d sell to your friend, the owner of the shop, who’d push your cigars. Today, you have to market in magazines, on the internet and like, on your site. You can help us or kill us. Now the guy who didn’t know what he was smoking, knows today when a cigar isn’t well aged and doesn’t burn right.
I think this is a great change for people like us who are dedicated to quality. Padron and I are hurt when people in Nicaragua make bad cigars - it hurts everyone. When a smoker tries a bad cigar from a quantity and quick buck cigar maker, that turns the smokers off. They say, "If that’s what a Nicaraguan tastes like, I don’t want another one."
The guys who make fake cigars from Nicaragua hurt us too. They make thousands of unbanded cigars and have bands made in the U. S. put on them. These counterfeiters hurt everyone. They’re hurting Nicaraguans in total.
Cigar Weekly: What challenges do you see in the near future and in the long term?
Cigar Weekly: What challenges do you see in the near future and in the long term?
Don Kiki:
For me, my challenge is to come out with some of the top cigars in the market, which every cigar maker wants.
I don’t have a big ego, and I don’t care to make a high number. I want people happy with my cigars; I want them to come back for my cigars. My father used to say, “Every time a cigar maker makes a cigar, puts it in a box and sells it, and the customer comes back, that’s the highest rating.”
The new Cuban Crafters Miami Edition is a challenge to make the best quality at a good price. Most of the rollers for this cigar are from the H. Upmann factory in Havana. It’s an honor to work with them because if they didn’t respect me they wouldn’t work for me. They have tremendous pride, and it’s an honor for me to have them. In Cuba, they teach them to have pride in what they make. However, the government of Cuba doesn’t give them a reason to make better cigars. They can’t go out and buy what they want since they don’t have the money and there isn’t anything to buy. When they come here, they want to do a better job. That these guys want to work for me is tremendous. To re-do the whole Cupido line and maintain the Don Kiki lines are challenges, and then to come out with new Cupido.
Cigar Weekly: What positive developments do you foresee?
Cigar Weekly: What positive developments do you foresee?
Don Kiki:
I think that the industry, the positive part I see, the companies are getting together to work against the legislation. The smoking bans are a problem; we’re not fighting each other any more. The same for fighting the taxes in Washington; we’re getting together. The consumers end up paying the taxes. We opened a store here in Miami, and we’re getting new smokers. We try to educate them about cigars and smoking.
Cigar Weekly: How is the political situation in Nicaragua? Do you have concerns about its effect on tobacco growers and cigar manufacturers?
Cigar Weekly: How is the political situation in Nicaragua? Do you have concerns about its effect on tobacco growers and cigar manufacturers?
Don Kiki:
I have no concerns. The system is very democratic. They tried Communism; they didn’t like it. The president takes hits in the papers every day, just like here in the United States. That’s positive. He has no authority to send the military anywhere, unless Congress approves it. So he can talk to Chavez all he wants, but Congress won’t go along with that or with him, no matter what he says there. The Congress is very pro-American, and the U. S. has helped the military and police with supplies and training.
We (the United States) opened the new and largest embassy in Central America in Managua. The U.S. wouldn’t do that unless they saw a future here. With the problems in the U. S. with interest rates and such, there’s tremendous investment in Nicaragua. Prices are low; they’re buying up beach areas. It will be another Costa Rica and pretty soon, there won’t be any prime land to buy; it will all be sold.
Cigar Weekly: If you would, please tell us a bit about Cuban Crafters? When did it come about, and how?
Cigar Weekly: If you would, please tell us a bit about Cuban Crafters? When did it come about, and how?
Don Kiki:
That started about six or seven years ago. Before that it was just an operation in Nicaragua. But we wanted to create our own brands and sell direct.
Cigar Weekly: What is it about the brands and lines made by Cuban Crafters that makes them unique? Which is your best-selling brand? Which brand, or line, has been the most rewarding for you as a cigar maker?
Cigar Weekly: What is it about the brands and lines made by Cuban Crafters that makes them unique? Which is your best-selling brand? Which brand, or line, has been the most rewarding for you as a cigar maker?
Don Kiki:
Cigar Weekly: Which brand or line has been more challenging?
They all sell very well. Of course the Don Kiki, J.L. Salazar and Cuban Crafters sell the most. Our tops are the Brown and White Labels. The Don Kiki Red Label is the one I smoke the most. Originally it was the 5 Vegas, now it is called Don Kiki Red Label.
Cigar Weekly: Which brand or line has been more challenging?
Don Kiki:
I think the biggest challenge is now the Miami Edition. Working with Cubans in Miami, and when you put a couple of Cubans together, everyone has an opinion, and the more you get together the worse it gets. (Laughs)
I put together a panel of 5 old Cuban guys; gave each one the same five cigars to see which blend they liked the best. They spent the day here drinking Cuban coffee and smoking. We put numbers on the blends to see what they liked. Finally, we came to the decision of one blend, and that’s what we’re doing. I liked all the blends, but I couldn’t come out with five blends. And I agreed with them on the choice of blend. It was the one I liked, too, but I wanted to be sure. The Miami Edition will have a lot of flavor - 99.9% of what a Cuban used to taste and smoke like in the old days. My father is no longer with us, but I’m pretty sure he’d be very happy to smoke this cigar. To me, that’s very important. From heaven, he’d be very happy to see me making this cigar in Miami. I wanted to name it after my parents, but then for marketing purposes changed it to the Miami.
Cigar Weekly: Most American cigar smokers, I daresay, look forward to the end of the trade embargo with Cuba. Do you have plans for that time? As an optimistic cigar smoker, I am interested and curious. What would you and could you do with Cuban leaf if it became available outside of Cuba?
Cigar Weekly: Most American cigar smokers, I daresay, look forward to the end of the trade embargo with Cuba. Do you have plans for that time? As an optimistic cigar smoker, I am interested and curious. What would you and could you do with Cuban leaf if it became available outside of Cuba?
Don Kiki:
First of all, the name of the cigar. J. L. Salazar is one of my partners. His father still lives there, and owns farms in Pinar del Rio. They have to grow tobacco for the government now. Cuba will be free, and it’s my opinion it’s close. Fidel’s days are over, and they’ll realize he’s gone and they want democracy. People come back every day and say it will happen. So we have our own farms already. All we need is a warehouse. Cuban tobacco with Nicaraguan will be an incredible blend. We’ll continue in Nicaragua. Without a doubt that as soon as it’s free, I will be in Cuba starting a factory. I’m not waiting to be the last. If I can get my father’s factory in Cuba I will do that. With the Salazar farms, we will make an incredible cigar.
People have to realize tobacco is like coffee; you have to blend and mix it with something. One type of tobacco only and it will be horrible. Cuba with Nicaragua will be incredible. That’s why I’m keeping a certain amount of my reserve so that I have well-aged tobacco. If I use it, I replace it. Cuban tobacco won’t be well aged as they use everything they can get their hands on. The rumors have been that Cuba brings in Nicaraguan tobacco, and I don’t doubt that. There’s tobacco that disappears in Nicaragua. Where does it go? They (Cuba) had problems with hurricanes and lost fields. How did they recover from that?
As always, the readers and members of Cigar Weekly have questions for you. With the inclusion of the Cupido Criollo in the new catalog causing such a stir, it is not surprising that many of the questions pertain to this development...
Kilobyte (Ken Sayar): Since the discontinuation of the Cupido brand and its recent resurface, how has it been possible to accomplish the task of capturing the original flavor and strength profile?
Kilobyte (Ken Sayar): Since the discontinuation of the Cupido brand and its recent resurface, how has it been possible to accomplish the task of capturing the original flavor and strength profile?
Don Kiki:
I grew the same tobacco and made the same tobacco. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to do it. If I’m the one who originally grew it and made the cigar, it shouldn’t be different. If I weren’t, then I’d be redoing what someone else made. It’s not a problem for me. I’m the one who knew the blend; no one but me knew it. I’m the master blender. The other guys sold it but I blended it. My rollers are the same ones. The task itself is very simple.
Kilobyte: Now that the Cupido brand is back, is it certain to be a continued line, or is this re-launch only temporary given that Cuban Crafters is the sole distributor?
Kilobyte: Now that the Cupido brand is back, is it certain to be a continued line, or is this re-launch only temporary given that Cuban Crafters is the sole distributor?
Don Kiki: Continuous line.
Co-hiba (Christopher Thayer): Is there a difference between the La Carolina line and Cupido? Those LC's are mighty tasty.
Co-hiba (Christopher Thayer): Is there a difference between the La Carolina line and Cupido? Those LC's are mighty tasty.
Don Kiki:
There are very minor differences, yes. When we made La Carolina, we didn’t have the name (Cupido), and it was still in the courts. We made La Carolina and made some minor differences so that I wouldn’t get sued over making the exact same blend. Now that I can make Cupido, it will be exactly the same.
JulietasRomeo (David O’Steen): Now that the Cupido brand has resurfaced in the Criollo form, do you plan to bring back the other varieties, such as Tuxedos, etc?
JulietasRomeo (David O’Steen): Now that the Cupido brand has resurfaced in the Criollo form, do you plan to bring back the other varieties, such as Tuxedos, etc?
Don Kiki:
Yes, absolutely, but not until they’re ready. I strongly apologize, even though it happened, the rain has made things too humid, and not ready to come out. We were trying to get things out for Christmas. I was in Nicaragua to celebrate it with my employees and I didn’t realize what happened. Let them sit and you’ll see improvement in the burn and the ash.
Mealstrom (Richard McRae): I've noticed that the new Cupido bands are not as intricate (i.e. embossed, etc) as the old Cupido bands were. Were the old bands a major factor in the line being cut off?
Mealstrom (Richard McRae): I've noticed that the new Cupido bands are not as intricate (i.e. embossed, etc) as the old Cupido bands were. Were the old bands a major factor in the line being cut off?
Don Kiki: They were fancy, gold-embossed stickers with removable backs. They had to drive the price point up.
It’s the same old bands we had. The problem is that they’ve been sitting for so long. They’ve been put away; through humidity they may have leaked from the heat in boxes in Nicaragua. They are the same, there’s been no change.
Mealstrom (Richard McRae): The new boxes are also numbered. Does this mean you are only producing 9000 boxes and then stopping again?
Mealstrom (Richard McRae): The new boxes are also numbered. Does this mean you are only producing 9000 boxes and then stopping again?
Don Kiki:
Right. We did it because that’s the way it was originally. When we finish with that number, we come out with a new edition or a new number. I’ll let my market guys decide what’s best; I let them market, I make the cigars. Cigar makers, we’re not marketers, we know how to make the best damn cigars and let someone else in the family market them. Padron is the same way, the old man. He’ll take a picture of himself smoking and, to him, that’s marketing. He knows how to make cigars.
Wrinklenuts (Chris): Do you freeze your cigars prior to shipping them to reduce the chance of beetles?
Wrinklenuts (Chris): Do you freeze your cigars prior to shipping them to reduce the chance of beetles?
Don Kiki:
Yes. Always. We freeze them when we make them, so that we kill any bugs. And sometimes if it’s been over six months since being made, we freeze them again. If you freeze 20 below zero, you kill the eggs; you blow them up. To this day we’ve never had a bug problem.
JerseyDevil65 (Jim Bracilliano): What's your favorite everyday cigar?
JerseyDevil65 (Jim Bracilliano): What's your favorite everyday cigar?
Don Kiki:
The Don Kiki Red Label; I smoke them all, and wouldn’t make something I couldn’t smoke. I seem to like the Red Label. But lately the White Label has come on as a new favorite.
Bayouboy (John L. Gates): Good people there at Cuban Crafters. I’d like to ask Kiki how he enjoys making small runs of cigars for individuals, something I think he did for the Rushmore series and Don Bubba. Along with that, how long does it take to tweak a blend into a custom blend? How can you take a description of flavors and find the right tobacco to produce those flavors you want it to. Is it magic? If we were to collaborate on a cigar, what would be a minimum order? What does a maestro do in the rolling process, and the same question for the revisador (as stamped on the inside of the boxes.)
Bayouboy (John L. Gates): Good people there at Cuban Crafters. I’d like to ask Kiki how he enjoys making small runs of cigars for individuals, something I think he did for the Rushmore series and Don Bubba. Along with that, how long does it take to tweak a blend into a custom blend? How can you take a description of flavors and find the right tobacco to produce those flavors you want it to. Is it magic? If we were to collaborate on a cigar, what would be a minimum order? What does a maestro do in the rolling process, and the same question for the revisador (as stamped on the inside of the boxes.)
Don Kiki:
We often do that for certain people. The guy who did the Rushmore was young and wanted to get in business. I find nothing wrong with giving guys an opportunity. Like this guy Bubba - he’s proud of what he does, he goes out every morning and works hard to sell. There’s a lot of pride for a small guy who wants to make a living on his own. It’s a way of helping people.
It takes about a month and a half to make a cigar, package it, age it and get it out. In Bubba’s case, we let his cigars sit for 90 days. After we make the cigar we’ll let it sit.
The best thing to do, if someone is interested in having us make cigars for them, is to talk to Alberto Noguera who is or National Wholesale Director. That way, he’d tell you. I could confuse if I got into the numbers.
The Maestro has to check the tobacco, the raw tobacco in bales. He makes sure that it’s well cured. He has to check leaf from the various bales to ensure they’re what they say they are, and then to make certain it’s consistent. He picks the leaf for the blend, then mixes it until he has enough for the blend he’s looking for. Once he’s done that, he gives it to the bunchers and rollers. The same thing happens for the binder and wrapper. Then he supervises the rollers to make sure it burns and holds ash. The Maestro has to make sure they’re doing it right; he’s into the details. Then he has to smoke them as they come off the line, even if they’re humid, and he has to differentiate the blend and the humidity.
Revisador is the one who checks that the cigars are not tight, over filled, checking by weight. He checks to make sure the wrapper leaves are not torn or poorly applied and that the head is done correctly. He also checks how many cigars the rollers make, always in rounds of 50.
Red (Steven Hay): Oh man. I forgot about Rushmore. Those were so freakin' good. Any plans to come out with that blend again? Please do!!
Don Kiki: Not right now. That brand belongs to someone else. My marketing people would have to do something about that. I don’t have an answer for that.
Red (Steven Hay): Oh man. I forgot about Rushmore. Those were so freakin' good. Any plans to come out with that blend again? Please do!!
Cigar Weekly contributing editor tchapchap (Tom Chapman): The CC catalog, printed and web based, has a large accessories presence. I see Cuban Crafters as a cigar company that also markets these accessories. On the premise that this is the perception you would like the public to have, is there ever a concern that you may be viewed as an accessory marketer who also sells cigars?
Don Kiki:
I haven’t really had that concern because people know me, and that I’m a cigar maker. Most appreciate the stuff that my people come out with. I really have very little to do with that. The Perfect Cut is from people asking me how much to cut off, especially on torpedoes. The beginners would ask, and now I use The Perfect Cut. Most manufacturers now make stuff with their names on it, but we only put a small logo since people know our products.
A lot of the stores sold our products, and then they took on our cigars. It has its negative side and its positive side, I guess.
Cigar Weekly: Thanks for answering all of our questions. It’s been a pleasure to spend some time speaking with you.
Interviews
Cigar Weekly Interview With Don Kiki Berger
On September 4, 2006, Cigar Weekly published an article from longtime cigar bulletin board veteran Roger Farnsworth (ElkTwin), called “Feeding Frenzies - Rumor, Fear and the Madness of Crowds” (found here http://www.cigarweekly.com/magazine/cigarticles/cigarticle-200604.php, in which Roger humorously recounted a phenomenon that occurred regularly on cigar forums during the late 1990s and through the early 2000s. A highly coveted or widely discussed cigar, rarely available, suddenly arrived at the online retailers. One forum member would post the information, and within moments, the retailers were overwhelmed.
Roger’s thread itself turned into a bit of frenzy, as members chimed in about their being among the fortunate few able to get through to the operators. Of course, others lamented the fact that the lines were busy when they called, or that the cigars were already sold out by the time they were able to get through.
Roger’s thread itself turned into a bit of frenzy, as members chimed in about their being among the fortunate few able to get through to the operators. Of course, others lamented the fact that the lines were busy when they called, or that the cigars were already sold out by the time they were able to get through.
It’s been a long time since we have seen such a scenario take place. And while there is a recent example, it does not even begin to approach the absolute chaos of 10 years ago. Nevertheless, this event is still worth mentioning. In late 2007, Cigar Weekly member birdhunter02 (Mark Matthewson) received a catalog from cigar and accessory company Cuban Crafters. From that catalog, to Mark’s startled eyes, sprang amazing news. Quickly, on December 17th, 2007, he relayed the information to his fellow Cigar Weekly members by starting a thread on the forums. Many others were equally astounded. The exciting tidings? “Cupidos are BACK!”
In chronicling my own history in cigars, I have told people that I began smoking deliberately, being influenced by talk-show host Rush Limbaugh to look at cigars differently and to see that cigar smokers really are good folk. Mr. Limbaugh was, and still is, correct on that count. Many individuals I now consider life-long friends are cigar smokers.
I also began reading whatever I could find in books and magazines, learned something about the history of cigars, and came to appreciate the idea that cigars count among the finer things. In more than one of those publications, I saw the advertisement for Cupidos. I daresay that many interested cigar smokers have seen it. It is the one with the architectural line drawing of their three cigar sizes, each bearing that interesting, heart-shaped, black and purple band.
Within the publications, the Cupido cigars received high scores all around, and I began searching tobacconists for them once I’d read enough and had begun smoking in 1997. I was able to find Cupidos at only one shop in the French Quarter of New Orleans, and I paid nearly ten dollars per cigar for them. I would find reasons to ask friends to go out to the Quarter – not my normal thing – just to get to that shop. The whole story is a wonderful memory.
Cupido grew, adding the Criollo line, one of the first lines of cigars to have this capa, a year or so later. In the years following, the Cigar Boom ended. But Cupido seemed to survive, still producing those earthy cigars. Then, in 2002, it became known that the cigars were to be no more. Cupido was in trouble and had to close their doors. Henry 'Don Kiki' Berger, who had been making the cigars, was able to acquire the blend, but not the name, from the owners of Cupido, Yossi Kviatkovsky and Dixi Monaco. This blend became the La Carolina brand that Don Kiki’s company, Cuban Crafters, began making in 2004 or early 2005.
It seems, however, that I’m not the only one to have a fond, nostalgic memory of Cupido from my formative years. Recollections like this stay with a person, much as the music of high school and college years often defines a person’s musical tastes later in life. So, good cigars, smoked early in a person’s cigar journey, definitely remain a pleasant remembrance and a defining moment.
The thread that birdhunter02 started last December is still going strong as of this writing, and the newly released Cupido Criollos, which are (according to those posting) selling rather briskly, have in turn become increasingly difficult for smokers to get their hands on. It is quite possible that this entire run of cigars may sell out sooner rather than later. But what about the man with that slightly quirky name, Don Kiki? Cigar Weekly Editor-in-Chief Thomas Bender (TommyBB) recently talked to Henry 'Don Kiki' Berger about family, cigars and the industry in general.
In chronicling my own history in cigars, I have told people that I began smoking deliberately, being influenced by talk-show host Rush Limbaugh to look at cigars differently and to see that cigar smokers really are good folk. Mr. Limbaugh was, and still is, correct on that count. Many individuals I now consider life-long friends are cigar smokers.
I also began reading whatever I could find in books and magazines, learned something about the history of cigars, and came to appreciate the idea that cigars count among the finer things. In more than one of those publications, I saw the advertisement for Cupidos. I daresay that many interested cigar smokers have seen it. It is the one with the architectural line drawing of their three cigar sizes, each bearing that interesting, heart-shaped, black and purple band.
Within the publications, the Cupido cigars received high scores all around, and I began searching tobacconists for them once I’d read enough and had begun smoking in 1997. I was able to find Cupidos at only one shop in the French Quarter of New Orleans, and I paid nearly ten dollars per cigar for them. I would find reasons to ask friends to go out to the Quarter – not my normal thing – just to get to that shop. The whole story is a wonderful memory.
Cupido grew, adding the Criollo line, one of the first lines of cigars to have this capa, a year or so later. In the years following, the Cigar Boom ended. But Cupido seemed to survive, still producing those earthy cigars. Then, in 2002, it became known that the cigars were to be no more. Cupido was in trouble and had to close their doors. Henry 'Don Kiki' Berger, who had been making the cigars, was able to acquire the blend, but not the name, from the owners of Cupido, Yossi Kviatkovsky and Dixi Monaco. This blend became the La Carolina brand that Don Kiki’s company, Cuban Crafters, began making in 2004 or early 2005.
It seems, however, that I’m not the only one to have a fond, nostalgic memory of Cupido from my formative years. Recollections like this stay with a person, much as the music of high school and college years often defines a person’s musical tastes later in life. So, good cigars, smoked early in a person’s cigar journey, definitely remain a pleasant remembrance and a defining moment.
The thread that birdhunter02 started last December is still going strong as of this writing, and the newly released Cupido Criollos, which are (according to those posting) selling rather briskly, have in turn become increasingly difficult for smokers to get their hands on. It is quite possible that this entire run of cigars may sell out sooner rather than later. But what about the man with that slightly quirky name, Don Kiki? Cigar Weekly Editor-in-Chief Thomas Bender (TommyBB) recently talked to Henry 'Don Kiki' Berger about family, cigars and the industry in general.
Cigar Weekly: First, thank you for this time. I’ve read some things about you, but tell our readers, if you would, about your beginnings in Esteli. When did you first arrive there, and how did you get into tobacco? Wasn’t your father in tobacco in Cuba before you?
Don Kiki:
I went down to Nicaragua. My father was a cigar maker in Cuba. He came to the U. S., he worked in a store, then made cigars at home, and would sell in the men’s store in downtown Miami. His friend allowed him to sell the cigars in the store and he gave the owner some profit, to get me through school. People came to me during the boom - that’s how World Cigars started.
And that’s how 5 Vegas came to be. Now CI has it, but we had it first. That’s when I went to Esteli; it was too expensive in Miami. Dad was sick, so I went to Nicaragua. The boom was a problem, especially to get tobacco. Someone sold one property to me. But the ground was rocky, so I got guys hired, and we cleaned up. That’s when Orlando Padron called me, laughing (in a nice way), and he asked me, "Are you making a cigar called The Flintstones?" No one had wanted this land, but I saw the potential it had.
I started growing tobacco. Everyone was flipping out over the beautiful tobacco coming from that field. That’s what started my cigars. I wanted something different. Dad had saved seeds from Cuba - “Criollo” (Creole) is what he called it. This was a seed mixed then to become Criollo 98. Go back to Smoke… I was getting phone calls. “Everybody is stealing your name,” Bob from Smoke told me. That’s when I made the cigar for Cupido. We started aging them, and that’s how it was born, along with 5 Vegas. That’s when I moved the factory; we wanted to have it all together. I built that there, next to the field where the rollers are. World Cigar died out when one partner died. Eddie Ortega of 601 was president back then. The company made every 5 Vegas we could make. I needed a new brand. I went and got Yossi who had Cupido, so I was making almost nothing but private labels. That’s when Cupido came out, and then the Cupido Criollo. Some of those cigars were already made when we brought them out.
I didn’t want to pull out cigars until I had the kidney transplant. So I’ve had tobacco aging for five years, and this is now being made into Cupido Criollo and the Cuban Crafters Miami Edition, a new release we’re preparing for. But we’re not selling until they’re aged enough.
We don’t cellophane the Cupido Criollo. We let it sit before release, and the room was over-humidified, but we’ve had a good bit of rain in Nicaragua and Miami, and they had too much humidity upon release. I want to prevent that from happening.
We decided to bring back the Criollo due to demand. The original owners had some debts left to me. We finally got awarded the name so we could bring it back.
Cigar Weekly: I don’t want to delve too deeply into your personal life, but as I learn about people in the cigar business, I see that they tend to invest all of themselves in their cigars. Many who I have met describe their cigars as if they were their own children. You have had serious health issues over the last five years or so, correct? CW member hockeymaniac (David Schwartz) asks: "On a personal level how is your health? I understand you have had or possibly still have kidney problems. Is everything OK?"
Cigar Weekly: I don’t want to delve too deeply into your personal life, but as I learn about people in the cigar business, I see that they tend to invest all of themselves in their cigars. Many who I have met describe their cigars as if they were their own children. You have had serious health issues over the last five years or so, correct? CW member hockeymaniac (David Schwartz) asks: "On a personal level how is your health? I understand you have had or possibly still have kidney problems. Is everything OK?"
Don Kiki:
I finally got a kidney. My wife wanted to donate but the doctors told her she couldn’t, because it had to be a blood relative - sibling, parent, uncle, whoever. But after five years, they finally tested her, and she matched like a twin. I traveled to Nicaragua, and started a dialysis center in Esteli. I never left one day without work. I still checked the blendings, did my own blendings, smoked my own blendings. The doctor told me not to smoke. I even got the doctor to begin smoking.
Cigar Weekly: To follow up that previous question, many cigar makers’ cigars are reflections of themselves in many ways. Has your particular ordeal affected your cigars or your approach toward making them?
Cigar Weekly: To follow up that previous question, many cigar makers’ cigars are reflections of themselves in many ways. Has your particular ordeal affected your cigars or your approach toward making them?
Don Kiki:
It slowed me down from being able to proceed to do what I really wanted to do. That is to continue to make quality cigars, and not being able to be 100 percent, and make what I was making. I didn’t want my rollers and bunchers to start doing what I couldn’t check. I’m dedicated to Nicaragua and only come in (to the United States) to go to the doctors. I’m hands-on. Being a cigar maker by remote control doesn’t work. You have to be in front of them making sure they’re doing the right things. You can have computers and all and it’s beautiful but the blend is important. You have to be there at all time.
Cigar Weekly: How has the industry changed, for you, from that beginning in Esteli until now? How has it changed overall?
Don Kiki:
Well, it’s changed in that the only real change is you have new players in the field; you have new people you’re adjusting to. Before, during the boom, just about anything would sell. The smoker has become a connoisseur. Those people who made just anything are now having a hard time. The demand from the customer forces you to cure the tobacco. The internet has made things grow. Internet sales are the biggest thing now. It’s overtaken the mom and pop. The way you market is totally different now. At one time, you’d sell to your friend, the owner of the shop, who’d push your cigars. Today, you have to market in magazines, on the internet and like, on your site. You can help us or kill us. Now the guy who didn’t know what he was smoking, knows today when a cigar isn’t well aged and doesn’t burn right.
I think this is a great change for people like us who are dedicated to quality. Padron and I are hurt when people in Nicaragua make bad cigars - it hurts everyone. When a smoker tries a bad cigar from a quantity and quick buck cigar maker, that turns the smokers off. They say, "If that’s what a Nicaraguan tastes like, I don’t want another one."
The guys who make fake cigars from Nicaragua hurt us too. They make thousands of unbanded cigars and have bands made in the U. S. put on them. These counterfeiters hurt everyone. They’re hurting Nicaraguans in total.
Cigar Weekly: What challenges do you see in the near future and in the long term?
Cigar Weekly: What challenges do you see in the near future and in the long term?
Don Kiki:
For me, my challenge is to come out with some of the top cigars in the market, which every cigar maker wants.
I don’t have a big ego, and I don’t care to make a high number. I want people happy with my cigars; I want them to come back for my cigars. My father used to say, “Every time a cigar maker makes a cigar, puts it in a box and sells it, and the customer comes back, that’s the highest rating.”
The new Cuban Crafters Miami Edition is a challenge to make the best quality at a good price. Most of the rollers for this cigar are from the H. Upmann factory in Havana. It’s an honor to work with them because if they didn’t respect me they wouldn’t work for me. They have tremendous pride, and it’s an honor for me to have them. In Cuba, they teach them to have pride in what they make. However, the government of Cuba doesn’t give them a reason to make better cigars. They can’t go out and buy what they want since they don’t have the money and there isn’t anything to buy. When they come here, they want to do a better job. That these guys want to work for me is tremendous. To re-do the whole Cupido line and maintain the Don Kiki lines are challenges, and then to come out with new Cupido.
Cigar Weekly: What positive developments do you foresee?
Cigar Weekly: What positive developments do you foresee?
Don Kiki:
I think that the industry, the positive part I see, the companies are getting together to work against the legislation. The smoking bans are a problem; we’re not fighting each other any more. The same for fighting the taxes in Washington; we’re getting together. The consumers end up paying the taxes. We opened a store here in Miami, and we’re getting new smokers. We try to educate them about cigars and smoking.
Cigar Weekly: How is the political situation in Nicaragua? Do you have concerns about its effect on tobacco growers and cigar manufacturers?
Cigar Weekly: How is the political situation in Nicaragua? Do you have concerns about its effect on tobacco growers and cigar manufacturers?
Don Kiki:
I have no concerns. The system is very democratic. They tried Communism; they didn’t like it. The president takes hits in the papers every day, just like here in the United States. That’s positive. He has no authority to send the military anywhere, unless Congress approves it. So he can talk to Chavez all he wants, but Congress won’t go along with that or with him, no matter what he says there. The Congress is very pro-American, and the U. S. has helped the military and police with supplies and training.
We (the United States) opened the new and largest embassy in Central America in Managua. The U.S. wouldn’t do that unless they saw a future here. With the problems in the U. S. with interest rates and such, there’s tremendous investment in Nicaragua. Prices are low; they’re buying up beach areas. It will be another Costa Rica and pretty soon, there won’t be any prime land to buy; it will all be sold.
Cigar Weekly: If you would, please tell us a bit about Cuban Crafters? When did it come about, and how?
Cigar Weekly: If you would, please tell us a bit about Cuban Crafters? When did it come about, and how?
Don Kiki:
That started about six or seven years ago. Before that it was just an operation in Nicaragua. But we wanted to create our own brands and sell direct.
Cigar Weekly: What is it about the brands and lines made by Cuban Crafters that makes them unique? Which is your best-selling brand? Which brand, or line, has been the most rewarding for you as a cigar maker?
Cigar Weekly: What is it about the brands and lines made by Cuban Crafters that makes them unique? Which is your best-selling brand? Which brand, or line, has been the most rewarding for you as a cigar maker?
Don Kiki:
Cigar Weekly: Which brand or line has been more challenging?
They all sell very well. Of course the Don Kiki, J.L. Salazar and Cuban Crafters sell the most. Our tops are the Brown and White Labels. The Don Kiki Red Label is the one I smoke the most. Originally it was the 5 Vegas, now it is called Don Kiki Red Label.
Cigar Weekly: Which brand or line has been more challenging?
Don Kiki:
I think the biggest challenge is now the Miami Edition. Working with Cubans in Miami, and when you put a couple of Cubans together, everyone has an opinion, and the more you get together the worse it gets. (Laughs)
I put together a panel of 5 old Cuban guys; gave each one the same five cigars to see which blend they liked the best. They spent the day here drinking Cuban coffee and smoking. We put numbers on the blends to see what they liked. Finally, we came to the decision of one blend, and that’s what we’re doing. I liked all the blends, but I couldn’t come out with five blends. And I agreed with them on the choice of blend. It was the one I liked, too, but I wanted to be sure. The Miami Edition will have a lot of flavor - 99.9% of what a Cuban used to taste and smoke like in the old days. My father is no longer with us, but I’m pretty sure he’d be very happy to smoke this cigar. To me, that’s very important. From heaven, he’d be very happy to see me making this cigar in Miami. I wanted to name it after my parents, but then for marketing purposes changed it to the Miami.
Cigar Weekly: Most American cigar smokers, I daresay, look forward to the end of the trade embargo with Cuba. Do you have plans for that time? As an optimistic cigar smoker, I am interested and curious. What would you and could you do with Cuban leaf if it became available outside of Cuba?
Cigar Weekly: Most American cigar smokers, I daresay, look forward to the end of the trade embargo with Cuba. Do you have plans for that time? As an optimistic cigar smoker, I am interested and curious. What would you and could you do with Cuban leaf if it became available outside of Cuba?
Don Kiki:
First of all, the name of the cigar. J. L. Salazar is one of my partners. His father still lives there, and owns farms in Pinar del Rio. They have to grow tobacco for the government now. Cuba will be free, and it’s my opinion it’s close. Fidel’s days are over, and they’ll realize he’s gone and they want democracy. People come back every day and say it will happen. So we have our own farms already. All we need is a warehouse. Cuban tobacco with Nicaraguan will be an incredible blend. We’ll continue in Nicaragua. Without a doubt that as soon as it’s free, I will be in Cuba starting a factory. I’m not waiting to be the last. If I can get my father’s factory in Cuba I will do that. With the Salazar farms, we will make an incredible cigar.
People have to realize tobacco is like coffee; you have to blend and mix it with something. One type of tobacco only and it will be horrible. Cuba with Nicaragua will be incredible. That’s why I’m keeping a certain amount of my reserve so that I have well-aged tobacco. If I use it, I replace it. Cuban tobacco won’t be well aged as they use everything they can get their hands on. The rumors have been that Cuba brings in Nicaraguan tobacco, and I don’t doubt that. There’s tobacco that disappears in Nicaragua. Where does it go? They (Cuba) had problems with hurricanes and lost fields. How did they recover from that?
As always, the readers and members of Cigar Weekly have questions for you. With the inclusion of the Cupido Criollo in the new catalog causing such a stir, it is not surprising that many of the questions pertain to this development...
Kilobyte (Ken Sayar): Since the discontinuation of the Cupido brand and its recent resurface, how has it been possible to accomplish the task of capturing the original flavor and strength profile?
Kilobyte (Ken Sayar): Since the discontinuation of the Cupido brand and its recent resurface, how has it been possible to accomplish the task of capturing the original flavor and strength profile?
Don Kiki:
I grew the same tobacco and made the same tobacco. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to do it. If I’m the one who originally grew it and made the cigar, it shouldn’t be different. If I weren’t, then I’d be redoing what someone else made. It’s not a problem for me. I’m the one who knew the blend; no one but me knew it. I’m the master blender. The other guys sold it but I blended it. My rollers are the same ones. The task itself is very simple.
Kilobyte: Now that the Cupido brand is back, is it certain to be a continued line, or is this re-launch only temporary given that Cuban Crafters is the sole distributor?
Kilobyte: Now that the Cupido brand is back, is it certain to be a continued line, or is this re-launch only temporary given that Cuban Crafters is the sole distributor?
Don Kiki: Continuous line.
Co-hiba (Christopher Thayer): Is there a difference between the La Carolina line and Cupido? Those LC's are mighty tasty.
Co-hiba (Christopher Thayer): Is there a difference between the La Carolina line and Cupido? Those LC's are mighty tasty.
Don Kiki:
There are very minor differences, yes. When we made La Carolina, we didn’t have the name (Cupido), and it was still in the courts. We made La Carolina and made some minor differences so that I wouldn’t get sued over making the exact same blend. Now that I can make Cupido, it will be exactly the same.
JulietasRomeo (David O’Steen): Now that the Cupido brand has resurfaced in the Criollo form, do you plan to bring back the other varieties, such as Tuxedos, etc?
JulietasRomeo (David O’Steen): Now that the Cupido brand has resurfaced in the Criollo form, do you plan to bring back the other varieties, such as Tuxedos, etc?
Don Kiki:
Yes, absolutely, but not until they’re ready. I strongly apologize, even though it happened, the rain has made things too humid, and not ready to come out. We were trying to get things out for Christmas. I was in Nicaragua to celebrate it with my employees and I didn’t realize what happened. Let them sit and you’ll see improvement in the burn and the ash.
Mealstrom (Richard McRae): I've noticed that the new Cupido bands are not as intricate (i.e. embossed, etc) as the old Cupido bands were. Were the old bands a major factor in the line being cut off?
Mealstrom (Richard McRae): I've noticed that the new Cupido bands are not as intricate (i.e. embossed, etc) as the old Cupido bands were. Were the old bands a major factor in the line being cut off?
Don Kiki: They were fancy, gold-embossed stickers with removable backs. They had to drive the price point up.
It’s the same old bands we had. The problem is that they’ve been sitting for so long. They’ve been put away; through humidity they may have leaked from the heat in boxes in Nicaragua. They are the same, there’s been no change.
Mealstrom (Richard McRae): The new boxes are also numbered. Does this mean you are only producing 9000 boxes and then stopping again?
Mealstrom (Richard McRae): The new boxes are also numbered. Does this mean you are only producing 9000 boxes and then stopping again?
Don Kiki:
Right. We did it because that’s the way it was originally. When we finish with that number, we come out with a new edition or a new number. I’ll let my market guys decide what’s best; I let them market, I make the cigars. Cigar makers, we’re not marketers, we know how to make the best damn cigars and let someone else in the family market them. Padron is the same way, the old man. He’ll take a picture of himself smoking and, to him, that’s marketing. He knows how to make cigars.
Wrinklenuts (Chris): Do you freeze your cigars prior to shipping them to reduce the chance of beetles?
Wrinklenuts (Chris): Do you freeze your cigars prior to shipping them to reduce the chance of beetles?
Don Kiki:
Yes. Always. We freeze them when we make them, so that we kill any bugs. And sometimes if it’s been over six months since being made, we freeze them again. If you freeze 20 below zero, you kill the eggs; you blow them up. To this day we’ve never had a bug problem.
JerseyDevil65 (Jim Bracilliano): What's your favorite everyday cigar?
JerseyDevil65 (Jim Bracilliano): What's your favorite everyday cigar?
Don Kiki:
The Don Kiki Red Label; I smoke them all, and wouldn’t make something I couldn’t smoke. I seem to like the Red Label. But lately the White Label has come on as a new favorite.
Bayouboy (John L. Gates): Good people there at Cuban Crafters. I’d like to ask Kiki how he enjoys making small runs of cigars for individuals, something I think he did for the Rushmore series and Don Bubba. Along with that, how long does it take to tweak a blend into a custom blend? How can you take a description of flavors and find the right tobacco to produce those flavors you want it to. Is it magic? If we were to collaborate on a cigar, what would be a minimum order? What does a maestro do in the rolling process, and the same question for the revisador (as stamped on the inside of the boxes.)
Bayouboy (John L. Gates): Good people there at Cuban Crafters. I’d like to ask Kiki how he enjoys making small runs of cigars for individuals, something I think he did for the Rushmore series and Don Bubba. Along with that, how long does it take to tweak a blend into a custom blend? How can you take a description of flavors and find the right tobacco to produce those flavors you want it to. Is it magic? If we were to collaborate on a cigar, what would be a minimum order? What does a maestro do in the rolling process, and the same question for the revisador (as stamped on the inside of the boxes.)
Don Kiki:
We often do that for certain people. The guy who did the Rushmore was young and wanted to get in business. I find nothing wrong with giving guys an opportunity. Like this guy Bubba - he’s proud of what he does, he goes out every morning and works hard to sell. There’s a lot of pride for a small guy who wants to make a living on his own. It’s a way of helping people.
It takes about a month and a half to make a cigar, package it, age it and get it out. In Bubba’s case, we let his cigars sit for 90 days. After we make the cigar we’ll let it sit.
The best thing to do, if someone is interested in having us make cigars for them, is to talk to Alberto Noguera who is or National Wholesale Director. That way, he’d tell you. I could confuse if I got into the numbers.
The Maestro has to check the tobacco, the raw tobacco in bales. He makes sure that it’s well cured. He has to check leaf from the various bales to ensure they’re what they say they are, and then to make certain it’s consistent. He picks the leaf for the blend, then mixes it until he has enough for the blend he’s looking for. Once he’s done that, he gives it to the bunchers and rollers. The same thing happens for the binder and wrapper. Then he supervises the rollers to make sure it burns and holds ash. The Maestro has to make sure they’re doing it right; he’s into the details. Then he has to smoke them as they come off the line, even if they’re humid, and he has to differentiate the blend and the humidity.
Revisador is the one who checks that the cigars are not tight, over filled, checking by weight. He checks to make sure the wrapper leaves are not torn or poorly applied and that the head is done correctly. He also checks how many cigars the rollers make, always in rounds of 50.
Red (Steven Hay): Oh man. I forgot about Rushmore. Those were so freakin' good. Any plans to come out with that blend again? Please do!!
Don Kiki: Not right now. That brand belongs to someone else. My marketing people would have to do something about that. I don’t have an answer for that.
Red (Steven Hay): Oh man. I forgot about Rushmore. Those were so freakin' good. Any plans to come out with that blend again? Please do!!
Cigar Weekly contributing editor tchapchap (Tom Chapman): The CC catalog, printed and web based, has a large accessories presence. I see Cuban Crafters as a cigar company that also markets these accessories. On the premise that this is the perception you would like the public to have, is there ever a concern that you may be viewed as an accessory marketer who also sells cigars?
Don Kiki:
I haven’t really had that concern because people know me, and that I’m a cigar maker. Most appreciate the stuff that my people come out with. I really have very little to do with that. The Perfect Cut is from people asking me how much to cut off, especially on torpedoes. The beginners would ask, and now I use The Perfect Cut. Most manufacturers now make stuff with their names on it, but we only put a small logo since people know our products.
A lot of the stores sold our products, and then they took on our cigars. It has its negative side and its positive side, I guess.
Cigar Weekly: Thanks for answering all of our questions. It’s been a pleasure to spend some time speaking with you.
Lifestyles
Cigar Weekly Interview With Don Kiki Berger
On September 4, 2006, Cigar Weekly published an article from longtime cigar bulletin board veteran Roger Farnsworth (ElkTwin), called “Feeding Frenzies - Rumor, Fear and the Madness of Crowds” (found here http://www.cigarweekly.com/magazine/cigarticles/cigarticle-200604.php, in which Roger humorously recounted a phenomenon that occurred regularly on cigar forums during the late 1990s and through the early 2000s. A highly coveted or widely discussed cigar, rarely available, suddenly arrived at the online retailers. One forum member would post the information, and within moments, the retailers were overwhelmed.
Roger’s thread itself turned into a bit of frenzy, as members chimed in about their being among the fortunate few able to get through to the operators. Of course, others lamented the fact that the lines were busy when they called, or that the cigars were already sold out by the time they were able to get through.
Roger’s thread itself turned into a bit of frenzy, as members chimed in about their being among the fortunate few able to get through to the operators. Of course, others lamented the fact that the lines were busy when they called, or that the cigars were already sold out by the time they were able to get through.
It’s been a long time since we have seen such a scenario take place. And while there is a recent example, it does not even begin to approach the absolute chaos of 10 years ago. Nevertheless, this event is still worth mentioning. In late 2007, Cigar Weekly member birdhunter02 (Mark Matthewson) received a catalog from cigar and accessory company Cuban Crafters. From that catalog, to Mark’s startled eyes, sprang amazing news. Quickly, on December 17th, 2007, he relayed the information to his fellow Cigar Weekly members by starting a thread on the forums. Many others were equally astounded. The exciting tidings? “Cupidos are BACK!”
In chronicling my own history in cigars, I have told people that I began smoking deliberately, being influenced by talk-show host Rush Limbaugh to look at cigars differently and to see that cigar smokers really are good folk. Mr. Limbaugh was, and still is, correct on that count. Many individuals I now consider life-long friends are cigar smokers.
I also began reading whatever I could find in books and magazines, learned something about the history of cigars, and came to appreciate the idea that cigars count among the finer things. In more than one of those publications, I saw the advertisement for Cupidos. I daresay that many interested cigar smokers have seen it. It is the one with the architectural line drawing of their three cigar sizes, each bearing that interesting, heart-shaped, black and purple band.
Within the publications, the Cupido cigars received high scores all around, and I began searching tobacconists for them once I’d read enough and had begun smoking in 1997. I was able to find Cupidos at only one shop in the French Quarter of New Orleans, and I paid nearly ten dollars per cigar for them. I would find reasons to ask friends to go out to the Quarter – not my normal thing – just to get to that shop. The whole story is a wonderful memory.
Cupido grew, adding the Criollo line, one of the first lines of cigars to have this capa, a year or so later. In the years following, the Cigar Boom ended. But Cupido seemed to survive, still producing those earthy cigars. Then, in 2002, it became known that the cigars were to be no more. Cupido was in trouble and had to close their doors. Henry 'Don Kiki' Berger, who had been making the cigars, was able to acquire the blend, but not the name, from the owners of Cupido, Yossi Kviatkovsky and Dixi Monaco. This blend became the La Carolina brand that Don Kiki’s company, Cuban Crafters, began making in 2004 or early 2005.
It seems, however, that I’m not the only one to have a fond, nostalgic memory of Cupido from my formative years. Recollections like this stay with a person, much as the music of high school and college years often defines a person’s musical tastes later in life. So, good cigars, smoked early in a person’s cigar journey, definitely remain a pleasant remembrance and a defining moment.
The thread that birdhunter02 started last December is still going strong as of this writing, and the newly released Cupido Criollos, which are (according to those posting) selling rather briskly, have in turn become increasingly difficult for smokers to get their hands on. It is quite possible that this entire run of cigars may sell out sooner rather than later. But what about the man with that slightly quirky name, Don Kiki? Cigar Weekly Editor-in-Chief Thomas Bender (TommyBB) recently talked to Henry 'Don Kiki' Berger about family, cigars and the industry in general.
In chronicling my own history in cigars, I have told people that I began smoking deliberately, being influenced by talk-show host Rush Limbaugh to look at cigars differently and to see that cigar smokers really are good folk. Mr. Limbaugh was, and still is, correct on that count. Many individuals I now consider life-long friends are cigar smokers.
I also began reading whatever I could find in books and magazines, learned something about the history of cigars, and came to appreciate the idea that cigars count among the finer things. In more than one of those publications, I saw the advertisement for Cupidos. I daresay that many interested cigar smokers have seen it. It is the one with the architectural line drawing of their three cigar sizes, each bearing that interesting, heart-shaped, black and purple band.
Within the publications, the Cupido cigars received high scores all around, and I began searching tobacconists for them once I’d read enough and had begun smoking in 1997. I was able to find Cupidos at only one shop in the French Quarter of New Orleans, and I paid nearly ten dollars per cigar for them. I would find reasons to ask friends to go out to the Quarter – not my normal thing – just to get to that shop. The whole story is a wonderful memory.
Cupido grew, adding the Criollo line, one of the first lines of cigars to have this capa, a year or so later. In the years following, the Cigar Boom ended. But Cupido seemed to survive, still producing those earthy cigars. Then, in 2002, it became known that the cigars were to be no more. Cupido was in trouble and had to close their doors. Henry 'Don Kiki' Berger, who had been making the cigars, was able to acquire the blend, but not the name, from the owners of Cupido, Yossi Kviatkovsky and Dixi Monaco. This blend became the La Carolina brand that Don Kiki’s company, Cuban Crafters, began making in 2004 or early 2005.
It seems, however, that I’m not the only one to have a fond, nostalgic memory of Cupido from my formative years. Recollections like this stay with a person, much as the music of high school and college years often defines a person’s musical tastes later in life. So, good cigars, smoked early in a person’s cigar journey, definitely remain a pleasant remembrance and a defining moment.
The thread that birdhunter02 started last December is still going strong as of this writing, and the newly released Cupido Criollos, which are (according to those posting) selling rather briskly, have in turn become increasingly difficult for smokers to get their hands on. It is quite possible that this entire run of cigars may sell out sooner rather than later. But what about the man with that slightly quirky name, Don Kiki? Cigar Weekly Editor-in-Chief Thomas Bender (TommyBB) recently talked to Henry 'Don Kiki' Berger about family, cigars and the industry in general.
Cigar Weekly: First, thank you for this time. I’ve read some things about you, but tell our readers, if you would, about your beginnings in Esteli. When did you first arrive there, and how did you get into tobacco? Wasn’t your father in tobacco in Cuba before you?
Don Kiki:
I went down to Nicaragua. My father was a cigar maker in Cuba. He came to the U. S., he worked in a store, then made cigars at home, and would sell in the men’s store in downtown Miami. His friend allowed him to sell the cigars in the store and he gave the owner some profit, to get me through school. People came to me during the boom - that’s how World Cigars started.
And that’s how 5 Vegas came to be. Now CI has it, but we had it first. That’s when I went to Esteli; it was too expensive in Miami. Dad was sick, so I went to Nicaragua. The boom was a problem, especially to get tobacco. Someone sold one property to me. But the ground was rocky, so I got guys hired, and we cleaned up. That’s when Orlando Padron called me, laughing (in a nice way), and he asked me, "Are you making a cigar called The Flintstones?" No one had wanted this land, but I saw the potential it had.
I started growing tobacco. Everyone was flipping out over the beautiful tobacco coming from that field. That’s what started my cigars. I wanted something different. Dad had saved seeds from Cuba - “Criollo” (Creole) is what he called it. This was a seed mixed then to become Criollo 98. Go back to Smoke… I was getting phone calls. “Everybody is stealing your name,” Bob from Smoke told me. That’s when I made the cigar for Cupido. We started aging them, and that’s how it was born, along with 5 Vegas. That’s when I moved the factory; we wanted to have it all together. I built that there, next to the field where the rollers are. World Cigar died out when one partner died. Eddie Ortega of 601 was president back then. The company made every 5 Vegas we could make. I needed a new brand. I went and got Yossi who had Cupido, so I was making almost nothing but private labels. That’s when Cupido came out, and then the Cupido Criollo. Some of those cigars were already made when we brought them out.
I didn’t want to pull out cigars until I had the kidney transplant. So I’ve had tobacco aging for five years, and this is now being made into Cupido Criollo and the Cuban Crafters Miami Edition, a new release we’re preparing for. But we’re not selling until they’re aged enough.
We don’t cellophane the Cupido Criollo. We let it sit before release, and the room was over-humidified, but we’ve had a good bit of rain in Nicaragua and Miami, and they had too much humidity upon release. I want to prevent that from happening.
We decided to bring back the Criollo due to demand. The original owners had some debts left to me. We finally got awarded the name so we could bring it back.
Cigar Weekly: I don’t want to delve too deeply into your personal life, but as I learn about people in the cigar business, I see that they tend to invest all of themselves in their cigars. Many who I have met describe their cigars as if they were their own children. You have had serious health issues over the last five years or so, correct? CW member hockeymaniac (David Schwartz) asks: "On a personal level how is your health? I understand you have had or possibly still have kidney problems. Is everything OK?"
Cigar Weekly: I don’t want to delve too deeply into your personal life, but as I learn about people in the cigar business, I see that they tend to invest all of themselves in their cigars. Many who I have met describe their cigars as if they were their own children. You have had serious health issues over the last five years or so, correct? CW member hockeymaniac (David Schwartz) asks: "On a personal level how is your health? I understand you have had or possibly still have kidney problems. Is everything OK?"
Don Kiki:
I finally got a kidney. My wife wanted to donate but the doctors told her she couldn’t, because it had to be a blood relative - sibling, parent, uncle, whoever. But after five years, they finally tested her, and she matched like a twin. I traveled to Nicaragua, and started a dialysis center in Esteli. I never left one day without work. I still checked the blendings, did my own blendings, smoked my own blendings. The doctor told me not to smoke. I even got the doctor to begin smoking.
Cigar Weekly: To follow up that previous question, many cigar makers’ cigars are reflections of themselves in many ways. Has your particular ordeal affected your cigars or your approach toward making them?
Cigar Weekly: To follow up that previous question, many cigar makers’ cigars are reflections of themselves in many ways. Has your particular ordeal affected your cigars or your approach toward making them?
Don Kiki:
It slowed me down from being able to proceed to do what I really wanted to do. That is to continue to make quality cigars, and not being able to be 100 percent, and make what I was making. I didn’t want my rollers and bunchers to start doing what I couldn’t check. I’m dedicated to Nicaragua and only come in (to the United States) to go to the doctors. I’m hands-on. Being a cigar maker by remote control doesn’t work. You have to be in front of them making sure they’re doing the right things. You can have computers and all and it’s beautiful but the blend is important. You have to be there at all time.
Cigar Weekly: How has the industry changed, for you, from that beginning in Esteli until now? How has it changed overall?
Don Kiki:
Well, it’s changed in that the only real change is you have new players in the field; you have new people you’re adjusting to. Before, during the boom, just about anything would sell. The smoker has become a connoisseur. Those people who made just anything are now having a hard time. The demand from the customer forces you to cure the tobacco. The internet has made things grow. Internet sales are the biggest thing now. It’s overtaken the mom and pop. The way you market is totally different now. At one time, you’d sell to your friend, the owner of the shop, who’d push your cigars. Today, you have to market in magazines, on the internet and like, on your site. You can help us or kill us. Now the guy who didn’t know what he was smoking, knows today when a cigar isn’t well aged and doesn’t burn right.
I think this is a great change for people like us who are dedicated to quality. Padron and I are hurt when people in Nicaragua make bad cigars - it hurts everyone. When a smoker tries a bad cigar from a quantity and quick buck cigar maker, that turns the smokers off. They say, "If that’s what a Nicaraguan tastes like, I don’t want another one."
The guys who make fake cigars from Nicaragua hurt us too. They make thousands of unbanded cigars and have bands made in the U. S. put on them. These counterfeiters hurt everyone. They’re hurting Nicaraguans in total.
Cigar Weekly: What challenges do you see in the near future and in the long term?
Cigar Weekly: What challenges do you see in the near future and in the long term?
Don Kiki:
For me, my challenge is to come out with some of the top cigars in the market, which every cigar maker wants.
I don’t have a big ego, and I don’t care to make a high number. I want people happy with my cigars; I want them to come back for my cigars. My father used to say, “Every time a cigar maker makes a cigar, puts it in a box and sells it, and the customer comes back, that’s the highest rating.”
The new Cuban Crafters Miami Edition is a challenge to make the best quality at a good price. Most of the rollers for this cigar are from the H. Upmann factory in Havana. It’s an honor to work with them because if they didn’t respect me they wouldn’t work for me. They have tremendous pride, and it’s an honor for me to have them. In Cuba, they teach them to have pride in what they make. However, the government of Cuba doesn’t give them a reason to make better cigars. They can’t go out and buy what they want since they don’t have the money and there isn’t anything to buy. When they come here, they want to do a better job. That these guys want to work for me is tremendous. To re-do the whole Cupido line and maintain the Don Kiki lines are challenges, and then to come out with new Cupido.
Cigar Weekly: What positive developments do you foresee?
Cigar Weekly: What positive developments do you foresee?
Don Kiki:
I think that the industry, the positive part I see, the companies are getting together to work against the legislation. The smoking bans are a problem; we’re not fighting each other any more. The same for fighting the taxes in Washington; we’re getting together. The consumers end up paying the taxes. We opened a store here in Miami, and we’re getting new smokers. We try to educate them about cigars and smoking.
Cigar Weekly: How is the political situation in Nicaragua? Do you have concerns about its effect on tobacco growers and cigar manufacturers?
Cigar Weekly: How is the political situation in Nicaragua? Do you have concerns about its effect on tobacco growers and cigar manufacturers?
Don Kiki:
I have no concerns. The system is very democratic. They tried Communism; they didn’t like it. The president takes hits in the papers every day, just like here in the United States. That’s positive. He has no authority to send the military anywhere, unless Congress approves it. So he can talk to Chavez all he wants, but Congress won’t go along with that or with him, no matter what he says there. The Congress is very pro-American, and the U. S. has helped the military and police with supplies and training.
We (the United States) opened the new and largest embassy in Central America in Managua. The U.S. wouldn’t do that unless they saw a future here. With the problems in the U. S. with interest rates and such, there’s tremendous investment in Nicaragua. Prices are low; they’re buying up beach areas. It will be another Costa Rica and pretty soon, there won’t be any prime land to buy; it will all be sold.
Cigar Weekly: If you would, please tell us a bit about Cuban Crafters? When did it come about, and how?
Cigar Weekly: If you would, please tell us a bit about Cuban Crafters? When did it come about, and how?
Don Kiki:
That started about six or seven years ago. Before that it was just an operation in Nicaragua. But we wanted to create our own brands and sell direct.
Cigar Weekly: What is it about the brands and lines made by Cuban Crafters that makes them unique? Which is your best-selling brand? Which brand, or line, has been the most rewarding for you as a cigar maker?
Cigar Weekly: What is it about the brands and lines made by Cuban Crafters that makes them unique? Which is your best-selling brand? Which brand, or line, has been the most rewarding for you as a cigar maker?
Don Kiki:
Cigar Weekly: Which brand or line has been more challenging?
They all sell very well. Of course the Don Kiki, J.L. Salazar and Cuban Crafters sell the most. Our tops are the Brown and White Labels. The Don Kiki Red Label is the one I smoke the most. Originally it was the 5 Vegas, now it is called Don Kiki Red Label.
Cigar Weekly: Which brand or line has been more challenging?
Don Kiki:
I think the biggest challenge is now the Miami Edition. Working with Cubans in Miami, and when you put a couple of Cubans together, everyone has an opinion, and the more you get together the worse it gets. (Laughs)
I put together a panel of 5 old Cuban guys; gave each one the same five cigars to see which blend they liked the best. They spent the day here drinking Cuban coffee and smoking. We put numbers on the blends to see what they liked. Finally, we came to the decision of one blend, and that’s what we’re doing. I liked all the blends, but I couldn’t come out with five blends. And I agreed with them on the choice of blend. It was the one I liked, too, but I wanted to be sure. The Miami Edition will have a lot of flavor - 99.9% of what a Cuban used to taste and smoke like in the old days. My father is no longer with us, but I’m pretty sure he’d be very happy to smoke this cigar. To me, that’s very important. From heaven, he’d be very happy to see me making this cigar in Miami. I wanted to name it after my parents, but then for marketing purposes changed it to the Miami.
Cigar Weekly: Most American cigar smokers, I daresay, look forward to the end of the trade embargo with Cuba. Do you have plans for that time? As an optimistic cigar smoker, I am interested and curious. What would you and could you do with Cuban leaf if it became available outside of Cuba?
Cigar Weekly: Most American cigar smokers, I daresay, look forward to the end of the trade embargo with Cuba. Do you have plans for that time? As an optimistic cigar smoker, I am interested and curious. What would you and could you do with Cuban leaf if it became available outside of Cuba?
Don Kiki:
First of all, the name of the cigar. J. L. Salazar is one of my partners. His father still lives there, and owns farms in Pinar del Rio. They have to grow tobacco for the government now. Cuba will be free, and it’s my opinion it’s close. Fidel’s days are over, and they’ll realize he’s gone and they want democracy. People come back every day and say it will happen. So we have our own farms already. All we need is a warehouse. Cuban tobacco with Nicaraguan will be an incredible blend. We’ll continue in Nicaragua. Without a doubt that as soon as it’s free, I will be in Cuba starting a factory. I’m not waiting to be the last. If I can get my father’s factory in Cuba I will do that. With the Salazar farms, we will make an incredible cigar.
People have to realize tobacco is like coffee; you have to blend and mix it with something. One type of tobacco only and it will be horrible. Cuba with Nicaragua will be incredible. That’s why I’m keeping a certain amount of my reserve so that I have well-aged tobacco. If I use it, I replace it. Cuban tobacco won’t be well aged as they use everything they can get their hands on. The rumors have been that Cuba brings in Nicaraguan tobacco, and I don’t doubt that. There’s tobacco that disappears in Nicaragua. Where does it go? They (Cuba) had problems with hurricanes and lost fields. How did they recover from that?
As always, the readers and members of Cigar Weekly have questions for you. With the inclusion of the Cupido Criollo in the new catalog causing such a stir, it is not surprising that many of the questions pertain to this development...
Kilobyte (Ken Sayar): Since the discontinuation of the Cupido brand and its recent resurface, how has it been possible to accomplish the task of capturing the original flavor and strength profile?
Kilobyte (Ken Sayar): Since the discontinuation of the Cupido brand and its recent resurface, how has it been possible to accomplish the task of capturing the original flavor and strength profile?
Don Kiki:
I grew the same tobacco and made the same tobacco. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to do it. If I’m the one who originally grew it and made the cigar, it shouldn’t be different. If I weren’t, then I’d be redoing what someone else made. It’s not a problem for me. I’m the one who knew the blend; no one but me knew it. I’m the master blender. The other guys sold it but I blended it. My rollers are the same ones. The task itself is very simple.
Kilobyte: Now that the Cupido brand is back, is it certain to be a continued line, or is this re-launch only temporary given that Cuban Crafters is the sole distributor?
Kilobyte: Now that the Cupido brand is back, is it certain to be a continued line, or is this re-launch only temporary given that Cuban Crafters is the sole distributor?
Don Kiki: Continuous line.
Co-hiba (Christopher Thayer): Is there a difference between the La Carolina line and Cupido? Those LC's are mighty tasty.
Co-hiba (Christopher Thayer): Is there a difference between the La Carolina line and Cupido? Those LC's are mighty tasty.
Don Kiki:
There are very minor differences, yes. When we made La Carolina, we didn’t have the name (Cupido), and it was still in the courts. We made La Carolina and made some minor differences so that I wouldn’t get sued over making the exact same blend. Now that I can make Cupido, it will be exactly the same.
JulietasRomeo (David O’Steen): Now that the Cupido brand has resurfaced in the Criollo form, do you plan to bring back the other varieties, such as Tuxedos, etc?
JulietasRomeo (David O’Steen): Now that the Cupido brand has resurfaced in the Criollo form, do you plan to bring back the other varieties, such as Tuxedos, etc?
Don Kiki:
Yes, absolutely, but not until they’re ready. I strongly apologize, even though it happened, the rain has made things too humid, and not ready to come out. We were trying to get things out for Christmas. I was in Nicaragua to celebrate it with my employees and I didn’t realize what happened. Let them sit and you’ll see improvement in the burn and the ash.
Mealstrom (Richard McRae): I've noticed that the new Cupido bands are not as intricate (i.e. embossed, etc) as the old Cupido bands were. Were the old bands a major factor in the line being cut off?
Mealstrom (Richard McRae): I've noticed that the new Cupido bands are not as intricate (i.e. embossed, etc) as the old Cupido bands were. Were the old bands a major factor in the line being cut off?
Don Kiki: They were fancy, gold-embossed stickers with removable backs. They had to drive the price point up.
It’s the same old bands we had. The problem is that they’ve been sitting for so long. They’ve been put away; through humidity they may have leaked from the heat in boxes in Nicaragua. They are the same, there’s been no change.
Mealstrom (Richard McRae): The new boxes are also numbered. Does this mean you are only producing 9000 boxes and then stopping again?
Mealstrom (Richard McRae): The new boxes are also numbered. Does this mean you are only producing 9000 boxes and then stopping again?
Don Kiki:
Right. We did it because that’s the way it was originally. When we finish with that number, we come out with a new edition or a new number. I’ll let my market guys decide what’s best; I let them market, I make the cigars. Cigar makers, we’re not marketers, we know how to make the best damn cigars and let someone else in the family market them. Padron is the same way, the old man. He’ll take a picture of himself smoking and, to him, that’s marketing. He knows how to make cigars.
Wrinklenuts (Chris): Do you freeze your cigars prior to shipping them to reduce the chance of beetles?
Wrinklenuts (Chris): Do you freeze your cigars prior to shipping them to reduce the chance of beetles?
Don Kiki:
Yes. Always. We freeze them when we make them, so that we kill any bugs. And sometimes if it’s been over six months since being made, we freeze them again. If you freeze 20 below zero, you kill the eggs; you blow them up. To this day we’ve never had a bug problem.
JerseyDevil65 (Jim Bracilliano): What's your favorite everyday cigar?
JerseyDevil65 (Jim Bracilliano): What's your favorite everyday cigar?
Don Kiki:
The Don Kiki Red Label; I smoke them all, and wouldn’t make something I couldn’t smoke. I seem to like the Red Label. But lately the White Label has come on as a new favorite.
Bayouboy (John L. Gates): Good people there at Cuban Crafters. I’d like to ask Kiki how he enjoys making small runs of cigars for individuals, something I think he did for the Rushmore series and Don Bubba. Along with that, how long does it take to tweak a blend into a custom blend? How can you take a description of flavors and find the right tobacco to produce those flavors you want it to. Is it magic? If we were to collaborate on a cigar, what would be a minimum order? What does a maestro do in the rolling process, and the same question for the revisador (as stamped on the inside of the boxes.)
Bayouboy (John L. Gates): Good people there at Cuban Crafters. I’d like to ask Kiki how he enjoys making small runs of cigars for individuals, something I think he did for the Rushmore series and Don Bubba. Along with that, how long does it take to tweak a blend into a custom blend? How can you take a description of flavors and find the right tobacco to produce those flavors you want it to. Is it magic? If we were to collaborate on a cigar, what would be a minimum order? What does a maestro do in the rolling process, and the same question for the revisador (as stamped on the inside of the boxes.)
Don Kiki:
We often do that for certain people. The guy who did the Rushmore was young and wanted to get in business. I find nothing wrong with giving guys an opportunity. Like this guy Bubba - he’s proud of what he does, he goes out every morning and works hard to sell. There’s a lot of pride for a small guy who wants to make a living on his own. It’s a way of helping people.
It takes about a month and a half to make a cigar, package it, age it and get it out. In Bubba’s case, we let his cigars sit for 90 days. After we make the cigar we’ll let it sit.
The best thing to do, if someone is interested in having us make cigars for them, is to talk to Alberto Noguera who is or National Wholesale Director. That way, he’d tell you. I could confuse if I got into the numbers.
The Maestro has to check the tobacco, the raw tobacco in bales. He makes sure that it’s well cured. He has to check leaf from the various bales to ensure they’re what they say they are, and then to make certain it’s consistent. He picks the leaf for the blend, then mixes it until he has enough for the blend he’s looking for. Once he’s done that, he gives it to the bunchers and rollers. The same thing happens for the binder and wrapper. Then he supervises the rollers to make sure it burns and holds ash. The Maestro has to make sure they’re doing it right; he’s into the details. Then he has to smoke them as they come off the line, even if they’re humid, and he has to differentiate the blend and the humidity.
Revisador is the one who checks that the cigars are not tight, over filled, checking by weight. He checks to make sure the wrapper leaves are not torn or poorly applied and that the head is done correctly. He also checks how many cigars the rollers make, always in rounds of 50.
Red (Steven Hay): Oh man. I forgot about Rushmore. Those were so freakin' good. Any plans to come out with that blend again? Please do!!
Don Kiki: Not right now. That brand belongs to someone else. My marketing people would have to do something about that. I don’t have an answer for that.
Red (Steven Hay): Oh man. I forgot about Rushmore. Those were so freakin' good. Any plans to come out with that blend again? Please do!!
Cigar Weekly contributing editor tchapchap (Tom Chapman): The CC catalog, printed and web based, has a large accessories presence. I see Cuban Crafters as a cigar company that also markets these accessories. On the premise that this is the perception you would like the public to have, is there ever a concern that you may be viewed as an accessory marketer who also sells cigars?
Don Kiki:
I haven’t really had that concern because people know me, and that I’m a cigar maker. Most appreciate the stuff that my people come out with. I really have very little to do with that. The Perfect Cut is from people asking me how much to cut off, especially on torpedoes. The beginners would ask, and now I use The Perfect Cut. Most manufacturers now make stuff with their names on it, but we only put a small logo since people know our products.
A lot of the stores sold our products, and then they took on our cigars. It has its negative side and its positive side, I guess.
Cigar Weekly: Thanks for answering all of our questions. It’s been a pleasure to spend some time speaking with you.