After listening to the video for a half hour, I wonder how one goes about running a fledgling, growing company and, at the same time, flying around the world and partying all the time. No offense to Mr. Caldwell, but he gives me the impression of being a quick-buck-artist. I've never tried his cigars, so I won't comment there. I really do appreciate the comments of the two industry guys above, Mr. Saka and Mr. Huber. As in any business, some guys do it for the money, and some guys do it for the joy of making a good product, for the love of the craft itself. It's not a moral or ethical thing at all. There's nothing wrong with doing something for the money only. We live in a free-market, capitalist society. I just admire people who do something for the love of the craft itself more than those who do it for the love of the money. Some find money rewarding, some find good craftsmanship rewarding; the product itself is just the side-effect.
At the end of the day, quality is the standard; and quality is the direct effect of good craftsmanship in this industry. Take Eduardo Fernandez and Arsenio Ramos for example. I think they make a damn fine cigar that no one knows about. It's cheap too. You can get a box of ten for like $45. Caldwell's latest cigar, 'The Last Tsar', is $180 for a box of ten. So I'm faced with a choice. Buy a cigar from a master blender and a master grower, who both have long histories in the tobacco industry going all the way back to pre-revolutionary Cuba, for $4.50; or I can buy a cigar from some hotshot marketing whiz, whose only interest is taking my money and partying in Paris for the weekend. For me, the choice is an easy one, and I save $140 in the process. Eduardo Fernandez makes enough money farming tobacco, so his interest in making a cigar has to be rooted in quality. Arsenio Ramos is a master blender/roller from Havana who has been rolling cigars for 60+ years, so his only interest is the craftsmanship itself. So, yeah, it's $4.50 cigar, but if marketed the same way Caldwell markets his cigar, probably an $18 cigar.
But I'm not on the business side of the industry, so I don't know how all that works. But from a consumer's perspective, it's simple. I'm looking for highest quality at lowest price. Would I have paid $300+ for Las Calaveras EL 2015 this year? Definitely. But I got a box at Famous for $200. Considering the quality of the cigar, as a consumer, that's a steal. Not only that, but as a consumer I'm now encouraged to buy more products from this particular company because of the quality of the craftsmanship. It appears that Mr. Huber is more interested in selling me a top-quality product than in simply taking my money. Same goes for My Father Cigars, Don Giolito and a few others.
Finally, it's forums like BOTL that kind of function as de facto consumer watchdog groups. I come here to see what people are smoking and what people like. Money's too important to me to go out and buy a bunch of brands I know nothing about, only to find it's poor quality and something I don't like. In fact, most of the cigars in my humidor right now first earned their approval here. Reading here that Caldwell cigars are mediocre and really expensive says a lot about the product. And then I see a video about the owner flying around the world and partying while wearing tailored clothing--I know where his heart is at.
