Alfredo Cruz Broker - Cigar Sales, Inc. Episode 22 Origin Series
Episode Summary
Episode 22 of the Origin Series brings independent cigar broker Alfredo Cruz into the Cigar Hustler studio in Deltona, Florida. Cruz currently represents Illusione, Foundation Cigar Company and Jetline in the state of Florida, and the conversation opens with a nod to the Jetline Patriot — the hosts' go-to workhorse torch lighter for value and reliability.
The bulk of the episode is a genuine origin story. Cruz spent roughly eight years as a pharmaceutical rep before a 2007 layoff pushed him out of corporate life. He launched a catering company serving the same pharma offices he used to call on, ran it for two years, then pivoted to cigars when the kitchen behind it disappeared. With no contacts and no roadmap, he worked off the IPCPR retailer list and Google, cold-calling manufacturers until PDR, Kristoff, La Palina and Jetline gave him a shot in March 2009. His first sale: a single box of Kristoff Criollo Robusto to Marcus Daniel Tobacconist in Old Naples.
Cruz and the hosts dig into the economics and grind of independent brokering — expenses coming straight out of your own pocket, commission checks that don't cover the month's gas, three to five visits before a retailer will even ask for a price sheet, brand life cycles that spike and fade, and getting held responsible for sales when a manufacturer under-markets its own product. There's also a candid detour into Florida seasonality (the late Jackie at Bonita Smoke Shop telling him to "come back in October"), the density of shops on his marked-up Florida map, and the retailer's eternal refrain that there's only so much room in the humidor.
The episode closes with the show's standard questions. Cruz picks Hugh Hefner as his cigar companion, cites his college professor's line "there are no friends, there are no enemies, only interests" as his best advice, names the Illusione Épernay Le Grand as his favorite cigar (one he bought boxes of long before he repped it) with the Tatuaje Black Label Corona Gorda as his outside-the-portfolio pick, and chooses Superman as his fictional smoking partner. Find him on Instagram as @CigarPimpFL. The pair smoke the Illusione Ultra No. 8 throughout.
In This Episode
- 01Jetline Patriot lighter talkThe hosts and Cruz praise the Jetline Patriot as a durable, cost-effective everyday torch lighter.
- 02From pharmaceutical rep to laid off in 2007Cruz describes eight years in pharma sales and the layoff that ended his corporate career.
- 03The catering company detourHow a $5 Cuban cafeteria lunch became a two-year catering business serving pharmaceutical offices.
- 04Breaking into cigars with no contactsCold-calling manufacturers off the IPCPR list to land his first portfolio: PDR, Kristoff, La Palina and Jetline.
- 05The first account and the first boxOne box of Kristoff Criollo Robusto to Marcus Daniel Tobacconist in Old Naples, March 2009.
- 06Why brokering is the hardest job in cigarsSelf-funded expenses, thin early commissions, brand life cycles, and being held accountable for a manufacturer's marketing.
- 07Florida territory realitiesSnowbird seasonality, shop density across the state, and the three-to-five visits it takes to earn a price-sheet conversation.
- 08The standard questionsHugh Hefner, Superman, 'no friends, no enemies, only interests,' and Épernay Le Grand as his all-time favorite.
Brands & Cigars Discussed
Linked items are in our shop. Mentions without a link aren’t currently stocked or couldn’t be matched with confidence.
Transcript
Every day I'm hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling. Every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling. Welcome to a Cigar Hustlers Podcast, where we take a closer look at the people of the cigar industry, with your host, Mike and Mike. Hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling.
Hi, Michael. Hello, Michael. So, you want me to update you on my current day? Because my day started well, but then really went into the shitter.
Oh, because of the nice haircut? Was that the highlight of your day? That was definitely part of it. Oh, it looks very nice.
Thank you. Too bad this isn't video, so everybody can see your haircut. I can take a picture and post it on your Cigar Hustlers podcast group, Facebook group. Oh, I bet they'd love that.
Of my new haircut. I bet they would love that. Two lights. Anyway, what happened with your day?
Well, I started well. Yes. Got up, went to the gym, you know, got my hair cut, got gas in my car, made it to the gas station. Oh, full day.
I didn't think that shit was going to happen, but I made it to the gas station. And then, everything kind of fell apart. What happened? Oh, that sounds terrible.
Everyone has like a dun-dun-dun. We had an employee call out a half hour before they're supposed to be here. And then another one, no call, no show. So then we had pretty much nobody to run Cigar Hustler this evening.
Do a self-service counter and, you know, honor system. You can watch the video on your phone at home. Leave a sign on the counter, leave money here. Please pay.
You know, credit card, just swipe card here. But it did start to turn around because apparently there was a schedule mix-up and one of those employees thought that she was supposed to be here at 3:00. There was a lot of hugging out front with her mother, like something traumatic had happened. What if she listens to the podcast?
Eh. We didn't say a name. There's only one she that works. I hate when your wife does that to us though, when she doesn't show up when she's supposed to.
Backpedal, backpedal, backpedal, backpedal, cover, cover, cover. So we have a friend of ours here. Wait! What?
What do you want, the status update right now? No, no, you didn't do the-- Oh, shit, shit, shit, okay, okay, yeah, yeah. Okay, you ready? One, two, three, go!
Hi, I'm Mike. And I'm Mike, too. And this is a Cigar Hustlers podcast. We have a good friend of ours in the studio/office here, one mister-- Oh, last week I said you were just gonna start calling at the studio.
Oh, shit. In the studio, one Mr. Alfredo Cruz. Say hi, Alfredo.
Hello, everyone. He's got a romantic voice. He does. Hello.
Hello. Alfredo Reps is a broker He's a major for Illusion, Foundation, and JetLine. JetLine Cigars. JetLine Lighters.
JetLine Lighters. So what is this, before we get into it, what is the JetLine Lighter, the Patriot, is that what this is? That's the Patriot right there, yeah. I got a, you know, fucking shameless plug, that is definitely the best lighter that I abuse and use on the regular.
As far as relight and cost efficiency, I don't care if I throw it away. I usually try and steal one whenever I'm traveling, as soon as I land, I'm like, "Hey, you got a JetLine? You got a Patriot? That's the same one I take around normally, daily.
The one I brought today, I'm obviously showing off to try and... Pedaling. Pedaling. Of course, you know, showcasing.
You know, what's nice about Alfredo, and I'll kind of give you a geographical explanation as to where Cigar Hustler is, it's the epicenter of the cigar industry, obviously, in Deltona, Florida, which is just east of Orlando. So, as being a broker, Alfredo has decided to grace us with his presence on an annual basis, so this is our annual visit, that's not entirely true, but I do like to break his balls, maybe by annual, maybe twice a year. I'm sure I was here at least three months ago. He called, you called like last week, I think.
I did, I did call, I do call once in a while, check in on your hands. Yeah, I do my best to make that conversation as awkward as possible. " Good, where's Nick? And then I just dead air him.
I gotta stop with the closed-ended questions. He's like, sweet, okay, so yeah, just, you know, and I won't let him get it into a sale or anything and tell him I need anything or anything like that, I just leave it playing. And this is the good brother, the other one's worse. Yeah, the other brother's definitely far meaner than I am, that is for sure, for sure.
All right, so, obviously the podcast is origin-based, we want to kind of get to know you and how you found yourself into the cigar industry. So what did you do before you got into the cigar industry? I did a lot of stuff. Mainly after college, I was a pharmaceutical rep.
Believe it or not, I wore a suit and tie every single day for about eight years. And you wound up in the cigar industry. Yeah, that degree. All that money I spent on college was so, you know.
So you started off as a pharmaceutical rep. As a pharmaceutical rep. And then in 2007, left that industry, it just kind of changed. So, well, first of all, that's very vague.
Second of all, because at this point, I've come to the conclusion that you were peddling Viagra, and now that it's readily accessible at every gas station as, you know, the fucking knockoff bullshit, that's kind of where you tanked. Not exactly a different medication, but same concept. In 2007, they didn't need as many of us anymore, so it just, you know. You got the axe.
Yeah, I got the axe, and then any other company I would have gone to would have been waiting for the axe, so I just said, you know, I need to do something different. And as a pharmaceutical rep, I always had trouble finding a good caterer. So believe it or not, I just opened up a catering company within a month of being laid out. I didn't know that.
So I had a catering company for two years doing pharmaceutical functions. Yeah. So what did you do for, like, what was your food lineup for catering? I had, well, I originally started because I had a relative through my now ex-wife, my wife at the time, that had a little Cuban cafeteria.
And I went there for lunch one day, and it just kind of hit me. " You know, a smaller portion. For 200 people? Yeah, well just, yeah, larger scale, smaller portions, you know, presented this way, a certain way, the way it's expected, you know, a little more corporate type.
And then I just marked it up, and I printed out some menus, incorporated, went out, did the same thing I did before as a drug rep, visited the same offices. Right. And I worked with my former colleagues as reps, and I did really well for two years, but then when she got rid of the little cafeteria, then all of a sudden I had to kind of either, you know. Start making your own.
Yeah. Start making raisin beans and some tacos. I'm not a restaurant guy. Well, I mean, I taught her how to do some Italian food, some wraps, and other kind of little variety.
Swedish meatballs? No. No Swedish meatballs. No, I go to Ikea for that.
So I realized I was gonna have to go and commit and rent a space, and I didn't know the first thing about setting up a kitchen or any of that. I'm a marketing guy, I'm a middle man, and this is what I do. " And I started exploring cigars, 'cause there was an opportunity at the time with a big company. When I gave them my salary history, they kinda tossed me to the side.
" But I already kind of wanted in, and so I found a few small companies that were willing to take a chance with me, and I started repping with originally PDR, Kristoff, La Palina, and JetLine. That was my original portfolio. So how does that transition actually occur? I mean, first of all, I totally understand as far as working with family, right?
So I could see how that would fall apart. Never work with family. I highly advise against it. I remember the man whose partner is his brother, his wife now works at the shop, and I think the children are starting to work here too.
I don't know, well, but they don't clock in. The kids don't clock in. I don't clock in. That's true.
Which I appreciate, which is very nice. Anyway, sorry. You know, there's perks for that. You have your own key, your alarm code, people leave you alone, you can smoke your cigars and make your China Connects at a given time.
Can we go as I please? That's not all bad. Yeah. " Yes.
So, that's okay. So, how do you transition? How do you find your way into the cigar industry? Uh, in my case, I just started with...
If you say you went back to the same places again and started selling cigars. I was gonna say that. It didn't work that way. I know these 20 guys, and they'll buy anything I get.
So, hey, if Viagra's not working out, how do you feel about PDR? It was definitely a difficult learning curve, because nobody knew me, and this is a business where a lot of relationships are a big, you know, a big help. Right, but how'd you get into it? I literally just started calling these companies around and… Calling cigar companies?
Yeah. They didn't have reps. There was really not that many… How did you just… Remember, this is before Groover. It was pretty much Pete, was the only independent in Florida.
So, there was a lot of… Well, was it Pete's brother, or was it Pete? Actually, I started right probably a couple weeks before Paul passed. Really? Yeah, so Paul was around, but Paul had his thing.
Well, actually, it wasn't Pete. Yeah, it was Paul. Pete was still selling metal containers in a different industry, and I knew him from a local shop. How did you decide on cigars?
When I learned that it was an independent broker thing, where you didn't work for a company, that layoff in 2007 was really impactful. I had worked my entire life since I was old enough to legally work, and I had never been let go from a job, and all of a sudden I found myself in my mid-30s, married, head of a household, responsible for everything, and because... And unemployed. Right, but mostly because, through no fault of mine.
My numbers were there, everything was there, but just the layoff happened, they got rid of the majority of the sales force, because they overgrew, and it was just a lot there. " It was a great corporate set-up. I'd never want to have to depend on anybody else. I want to just do my own thing, and it just seemed like, as a broker, and I saw, you know, I'd heard about Paul.
I didn't know Paul that well, but I knew that he did fairly well, well, really well, with the brands that he had, and I figured, let me just give this a shot and go that route. So you started calling. So I called, the first brand was PDR, and Abe, he had no representation, and he was like, eh, why not, just send me some cigars and some, you know, the little brochures. And whatever, have at it.
I had no information whatsoever. I started with the IPCPR list and basically Google. And I just started going around kind of blindly feeling my way around and trying to figure out where to go and who to see and all that. So the learning curve was pretty steep.
It was difficult, yeah. So this is mainly in South Florida, I'm assuming. No, when I started off, anybody who was on the IPCPR list, at the very least, They were on my target list, you know, if I could make it out there, I did. In the state of Florida?
In the state of Florida, yeah. Okay, yeah. So, were you the first broker for PDR? I was.
, right? I don't know if he had, I think he had other brokers at the time. Right, yeah. Yeah, I think he had other reps back then at the time.
I'm trying to think, I mean, I know for sure John Fee has been with him forever in Hawaii, but I'm trying to think of some of the other guys. Well, that's a hell of a commute. Yeah, a little bit. I got one event on an island and I have to go.
Well, Hawaii is extremely difficult, too, right? The taxes and all that, yeah, and the smoking laws are horrific over there, it's crazy. Right. So, yeah, he's got a tough gig, but, you know, he lives on, what do I call it, Fantasy Island.
It's not the one that's on fire, right? Mr. Rourke. No, he's not one of the bigger ones.
So, I mean, in my opinion, the brokers have one of the most difficult jobs in the industry, right? It's extremely challenging because everything is, you know, cost-benefit, it's coming out of your pocket, so you always have to make those decisions of, you know, whatever do I go to, how long do I stay there, and all that, whereas, you know, when you work for one of these big companies, they kind of just tell you, okay, this is what you got to do, here's your charge card, expense, everything, and, you know, you have your good days, you have your bad days, and with us, eventually it balances out once you grow your portfolio. " Right, what am I doing in my life? Not only that, but you're also, I mean, your head is constantly on the chopping block as far as overall sales, right?
So if the bucks, for whatever reason, and I don't entirely agree with this, I think that it's really wrong, most companies will hold you responsible if sales don't work out, right? Well, and brands have ups and downs, and I've seen them with many different brands. I won't go into any specific details, but you've seen it as well, where some brands just get rude. We have to get you drunk to get that information.
We should have started this with rum or something. I can only do vodka, I'm on keto right now, trying to slim down. Very nice. So with most brands, they'll have a life cycle, a trend, where they'll, for whatever might be the reasons between the cigars, the marketing, the story, whatever factors come into play, and the brand will just blow up.
But it might only last, you know, six months, a year, two years, three years, and then it kind of dwindles down. You know, it's our job that when it does spike to try and keep it as close to that, you know, top as possible, but, you know, there's always those ups and downs, and it's just, it's the market, it's really competitive out there, there's a lot of good cigars out there, there's a lot of manufacturers doing the right things, and really, you know, taking us to task from a competitive standpoint where it's just really, really challenging, and it never gets easier. This is the only thing I've ever done for this long that has not gotten easier. " Yeah, what am I going to do now?
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's definitely hard, and, you know, you're kind of held liable, too, for the marketing of a manufacturer, which, you know, I don't think is entirely fair. I don't think that it's difficult to kind of make a great cigar, back that cigar, believe in that cigar, and, you know, kind of build that, develop that brand. However, if your owners or, you know, your higher-ups aren't properly marketing it or at least making points of contact with consumers and retailers, then they kind of fall to the wayside.
If it falls to the wayside and the sales drop, you're still responsible for it where they're not. And that's what I'm--that's what I think is kind of-- That makes sense. I understand what you're saying now, yeah. All the factors have to be there.
The manufacturer has to do their part, you know, we have to do our part, you know, because we can do so much. There's only, you know, I don't know if I've ever shown you the map of Florida. I have a map where every shop, at least the shops that I visit, is marked off with a little yellow star. It just looks like, yeah.
Oh, man, it's crazy. They're everywhere. There's so many. So, you know, it's a lot.
So I try and get to everybody as frequently as I can. And it's, you know, so, but there's always going to be periods where maybe, you know, you got an event in one side of the state. So you have to kind of skip out on another part. And then, so, you'll miss a rotation, and then, so instead of being six, you know, four, six, eight weeks between a visit, it might be 16, yeah, like, I was here three months ago.
I was going for that break if you didn't. I know, I know. Like I said, I'm just. There must have been an event over in Tampa or something on your rotation.
Yeah, right. It was January, Nick was with me in Tampa, so I blame Nick. Right? All Nick's fault.
Yeah, yeah. Hashtag let's hang out. Yeah, hashtag let's hang out. All right, so what was your first account that you opened up?
Do you remember what it was? My first account? Yeah. Come on, I had to give you, like, a semi-erection when it happened.
You're like, "I don't even want to get that one! " It wasn't much. It wasn't much. But it was still the first one.
It was one box. Ooh, big one. Marcus Daniel bought one box of Christophe Criollo Robusto from me. No shit.
What's the name in the shop? In Old Naples. Marcus Daniel tobacconist. Okay.
I thought it was a guy. Is he still there? Yeah, he's got a lot of his own stuff. He makes his own cigars, pipe tobacco, a bunch of stuff.
Across the board, there's a bunch of his own stuff. So he didn't have a lot of other products in there. But I guess the fact that I came in and we talked, he liked the cigar, he bought a box from me. I mean, now I rarely sell a box.
A box, yeah. No shit. Doesn't even pay for the gas he didn't get there. You kidding me?
I like one box. Okay, I'll tell you later, Mike Lake. So like this is, I'm assuming, what, 2009, 2009? 2009 and March, March, 2009.
All right, so you started kind of hitting shops, I'm assuming in South Florida, right? And you're working your way up? Those were the easiest ones to start off. Yeah, so yeah, I mean, because that's where you're based out of, right?
Right, right. But even still, when you started off, those accounts didn't come around right away with your first point of contact. It took, yeah, it took a few visits. I mean, fucking Naples, Florida is far away from Miami.
Eh, for me it's not even an overnight territory just because it's about a two hour drive. Right, but how many shops are from your house to Naples? How many shops did you visit before you hit? In Naples back then, there weren't many.
There's a lot more now, but there weren't many. Between Miami and Naples across Alligator Alley? No, there's one that used to be Alligator Alley, now Smoke on the Water. Yeah, that's my dude.
I like that guy. Mr. Daniel. G-Money and Nick.
I like to harass him. I like to harass him. I started doing keto because of G-Money, because of Gianni. Yeah, well, he lost like a hundred pounds.
Dude, crazy. He looks good. Yeah. So, but like, I'm trying to paint a picture as to how you got to your first open account, right?
So you open, you wake up, you're at your house, and you start to hit the road, right? So, realistically, you can hit on a bad day two or three accounts, on a good day six accounts, I'm assuming? When I started out, I could hit about 10 or 12, because nobody gave me the time of day. Like, hey, okay.
Hey, exactly. I was in and out. How you doing, Alfredo? PDR Cigars?
Yeah. Fucking cool story, bro. Get the fuck out of here. Leave me a price sheet.
Exactly. Have a nice fucking day. Pretty much, yeah. That's kind of how it went at first.
So I was hitting a lot of shops. I was kind of just getting things out there. Setting the feelers. Yeah.
The first two brands that kind of really took off for me more, like you mentioned earlier about the advertising and everything, were Christophe and La Polina. They were doing a lot of advertising. There was a lot of brand awareness. And fortunately for us, being in a Snowbird sanctuary, a lot of people, the brand was already, those brands were already kind of, well, mostly Kristoff was growing up north, so the Snowbirds were coming down and asking for it.
So when I came in, a lot of cases, everybody had a request for it from their seasonal customers. Unfortunately, I learned about seasonality in Florida that year, when I decided in the summer-- Oh, especially in Naples. Yeah, in the summer to work that whole area. And the rest in peace, Jackie, from Bonita Smoke Shop.
I come in one day. It was like June. And I started talking to her about the brands. I'm all excited.
You know, I got all this enthusiasm. She just looked at me and said, son, come back in October. I'm like, what? Are you kidding me?
Now I get it. Yeah, that whole area, like pretty much Naples and Sarasota. It's really quiet this time of year. And so, yeah, that's some of the stuff you learn over time.
Right. So, how many no's do you think you got before you opened up your first, sold your first box at Marcus Daniels? Man, I honestly cannot remember. I try to, I try not to.
Block out the negatives. Yeah! You know, it's just kind of like, I'm trying to give people some form of hope, right? Like, people start with their brands, or let's say a broker comes out and, you know, they get out of the pharmaceutical industry and they get into tobacco for God knows what fucking reason.
Catering isn't working out or whatever the case may be. And, you know, they got the cigar. They're excited about the cigar. They start hitting shops, and, you know, they're getting the, hey, okay, get the fuck out, you know what I mean?
So, like, maybe you don't want to remember how many no's, but it had to be a lot. A lot. Maybe a time span instead of a number of no's. Yeah, I mean, you know.
Like where you had it six months before. " Let's just sit down, right? Yeah, like a buying sign where they say, "Let me see a price sheet. " So it took a lot of that, and like I said, the business is a very tight-knit group in the sense that it takes you a while to just kind of get in front of 'em and get in front of 'em and then they finally-- Become one of them.
Yeah, they finally realize, okay, this guy's not going away, I'm gonna have to make some room in the humidor. I'm gonna have to buy some to make some showin' up. Yeah, 'cause you know, you guys have a challenge, there's only so much room in the humidor, there's only so many products that you feel as a retailer are marketable and are gonna move, and so it's always-- See, he's been here more than you think. That's exactly what you tell everybody.
There's only so much room in the Humidor, and there's… Well, that's a standard mood. That is your quintessential retailer remark, you know. I mean, it's just the facts. Well, yeah.
In all honesty, I mean, like, there's probably three brands that I want to take on that, you know, if I had the space and availability, I would take them on today, but, you know. Well, we need Greg to come and build a bigger Humidor. Yeah, but even still, you have to make sure that that makes sense, because if your size expands, does that mean you're going to sell more cigars? I don't know, I don't own a shop.
Exactly. I come and go as I please, we established this earlier. You know what your traffic is for inside. Now, online is a different animal.
Maybe if you take on a different brand, you'll boost more sales in its entirety. But this fucking podcast isn't about me, goddammit, Mike. Sorry, I was just trying to give my buddy here a little more credit for more visits. Yeah, well, what kind of fun is that?
We got him in the hot seat. We got a mic in front of him. We're recording this. We got to blast him a little bit.
I mean, I'm letting him, you know, I'm giving him a little cup. He's taking it easy on me. He's taking it easy on me. Yeah, it's off pitch.
I'm casually breaking his balls, but I'm still, you know. All right, I'm going to adjust my knobs. I flat out said, being a broker is the toughest part, the toughest position in this industry. Well, you did it to the cigar owner the other day.
But it's a fact. Wait, being a retailer is not. No, I don't know. Just on with the show.
We're on, we're on the show. We're on the show. Stop busting my balls. I'm one of you.
This is the show. This is the show. You turned on me. You rat bastard.
Where's that mute button? I got a mute button over here. So what is your favorite shop that you hang out at? Cigar hustler.
I like a lot of things about a lot of different cigar shops. Oh, very political, isn't it? That's not going to work. Wait until we get to the other question.
But obviously, I live in Miami. Yes. And so, you know, I go between a couple different ones for a couple different reasons. Right.
I spend a good amount of time at Cigar Shop at Bird Road, used to be Havana Imador, and at Caribbean Cigars. Those are like the two that I kind of rotate between. And then during the day, I'll go by Sabor Havana sometimes, but it's closest to my house. Right.
But there's so many shops, man. I try to show love to everybody equally, but it's, it's a, that's, that's one of those parts of the map that's just, right, with little yellow spots. So, what was the last, so, you mentioned Caribbean, I like, I like Caribbean, I like him, I have any of them too, Steve works, he's a good dude, but, so, Caribbean has this whole thing called a series of, fuck that guy, FTG. We do have a non-broadcasted...
Jack Taranio, I wonder if you mentioned in our last podcast. We have a talk show, yeah, it's Jack and Hector, Hector Alfonso, they just send out a group text, if I happen to be local, I pop in there, usually we get a few other people in there, and yeah, it's usually an interesting time, they hate when I go on though, because they want gossip, and my lips are sealed, bro. Oh, that's good. He's very political, you can tell.
That's good. I can't talk shit about anybody. " And he will flat out fucking instantly tweet it, Facebook it. No, I'm just kidding.
I'm just fucking with Spence. So, what was the last episode of FTG? If you don't want to mention names, you don't have to. Yeah, they were trying to get a personal matter, some information from me, but my honest answer, and it's 100% true, I've had no contact with this person for a good amount of time, and I have no idea what's going on with their relationship, this is like relationship stuff, it's not even, it has nothing to do with cigar business, this is 100% gossip, and I'm like, I really just don't know, and they're like, oh man, you're holding out, I'm not holding out, dude, I really just don't know.
But if you did know, you would have held out. I probably would have. All right. We should start a small segment called FTG.
Fuck that guy? Fuck that guy. Oh, yeah, that'll be great in the cigar industry. No one will talk to us.
No one will go to the show anymore. We're not ever going on. Fuck that guy's sewing circle, it's called. Yeah, fuck that guy, yep, the fuck that guy's sewing circle.
All right. So what are we smoking? We're smoking the Ultra No. 8.
By Illusion. By Illusion. A little shameless plug there for you. Thank you very much for bringing them out here.
And this is a really good cigar, for sure. I really liked, I was at Caribbean, I don't know, a few months ago, and Alan gave me the Rothschild, like I was telling you earlier, and I thought that that was a really, really good smoke. I don't know if Dion would even identify me, but if I ever saw him, but I could tell you that we did have one interaction when we were really new to the industry. And we didn't know, I'm going to keep it as fucking DL as I can, but we really didn't know a lot about the industry at the time, and I think that my brother flat out insulted Dion unintentionally, so I hope that he doesn't remember that, but you never know, hey, whatever, fuck it, you know, sometimes you want to make an omelet, you got to bake a few eggs, I guess, all right?
I need to know more about this story. Oh, yeah, well, you have to ask Greg, because it's his story, it's not my story. He's there for next time he's FTG. Yeah.
Let me tell you what I learned about Mike and Greg. On the next episode of FTG. You wouldn't believe what he told me. FTG Sewing Circle.
Well, you want to get to the questions? We can do the questions, yes. Excellent. All right, we have a series of questions we ask everybody who comes on the show.
Dun, dun, dun. We didn't tell you about this shit, did we? Standard questions, did we? No.
We like that nobody listens, so you don't get to hear the questions beforehand. Do you want to do the status update first, as far as the views? Oh, yeah. Well, I don't have total numbers, but we are big in a new country.
Yes, tell me this country. Djibouti. Djibouti? Who's Djibouti?
It's spelled with a D, but it's pronounced Djibouti. It's a small country on the horn of Africa. Really? Like nine people all of a sudden just went boop and they listened to the episode.
Like wildfire. Like wildfire. It's crazy over in Djibouti. It's like number eight now on our list in Djibouti.
Fucking... Isn't that nice? Djibouti's got it going on. Djibouti, Djibouti.
That is fantastic. I mean, I feel like there's a joke there that I just can't, I can't develop. Yeah, I don't know either, but it happened yesterday, I had to Google it, I had no idea where it was, 'cause it's spelled like D-H-I-J-U-T or something, but it was phonetically on the internet so I could see it was Djibouti. I've heard of Djibouti, but I couldn't find it.
You've heard of my booty? What's the national language there? Not English, I don't know. Maybe that's why we're so popular there, because they don't speak English.
Well, thank you everybody out in Djibouti. Everybody in Djibouti, big shout out to the Djibouti fans. Yes, it's very nice of you. So, yeah, hey, we got an update there.
That's a very nice thing for sharing that with us. We're at over 2,600 views. This won't be posted or up anytime soon, but the Johan episode is very popular. The one up Tuesday.
Hashtag Dominican Wealth. Yes, and that is catching on, too, like wildfires on social media. I see that, yeah. It's fucking blowing up.
It was really funny. It was my boy at an Instagram was telling me about DW. " And I'm like, are you talking about Dominican wealth? Did we mention that in the last podcast?
Oh, we did, yeah. Oh, yeah, you called him that through the whole thing. And we talked about his Paris and the trips and all that stuff. But, like, it was already kind of circulating.
But the origin is here. Like, I gave him that fucking name. So I'm gonna take credit for that. And he's embraced it, too, so Joan doesn't mind.
You know, it was kind of like a submission. Like, he fought it at first, and he tried to counter back, and it didn't work well, so we just kept beating it into him. I think it's the old, any press is good press. For sure.
Yeah, for sure. All right, let's get to the questions. Oh, the questions. The questions.
I've got to go to the books. Dun, dun, dun. So I don't pop that up. All right, one person, living or dead, would you like to have a cigar with?
Living or dead that I'd like to have a cigar with. Wow. Dead air. Dead air.
Winston Churchill. Winston Churchill. So I know he smoked. Yeah, that's true.
So what if the other guy didn't smoke? There isn't anybody else? I mean, you can't really just base it solely on the fact. I mean, you could say Winston Churchill because he's definitely a colorful, interesting character.
Who gives a fuck if he smoked? All right. I was trying to be historical. Hugh Hefner.
Hugh Hefner. Well, that's still historical. Hopefully at his place. All right.
Exactly. Oh, yeah, at his place. Well, it's gone now. It's been sold.
Well, you know. Can you imagine the cleanup in that fucking? Oh, the pool alone. Lots of bleach.
Lots of the crue. Had the peroxide draining it, scrubbing that thing down. All right, excellent, Hugh Hefner. Hugh Hefner.
Okay, next question. Best piece of advice anyone ever gave you? Dead air. Dead air.
Dead air. If you'd give me a little advance notice. No, no advance notice, no advance notice. So why'd you go Hugh?
With Hugh? I mean, come on, bro. Do you have to ask? The mansion.
I mean, you know, you gotta figure my way in or my way out. I got my way out. I might accidentally run into something. I got you.
I might run into something. Over and over and over and over. Yeah, I'll jump in the grotto. I'll jump in the grotto.
I don't care. I know it's filthy, but I just don't jump in. Splash the water around like a clean spot. Why not?
I'll take a selfie in there in no time. All right, so I bought you some time. What's the best piece of advice I ever gave you? He was thinking about being in the grotto.
He was not thinking about the question. Well, it's something that one of my professors in college said, And it was a very blanket statement, it was more about, I studied international affairs, it was more about geopolitics, but it applies kind of to everything, relationships and business, and there are no friends, there are no enemies, only interests. Only interests. And that stuck with you?
Yeah. For like 75 years? Yeah, for a long time. Well, yeah, it's been a while, it has been 75 years, honestly.
Like, how long ago did you get that? That was in the 90s. So, holy shit. holy shit, and here you are.
You know what I mean? Still alive. So it obviously stuck with you. Still alive.
Rocking the keto dive. He's probably not. He was pretty old at the time, so Professor George might be gone. No longer around with us, yeah.
But a part of him is now... He lives on. Exactly. And he was mentioned on the podcast.
Alright, next question. What is your favorite cigar? It's been for a long time, the Epernay Le Grand. It's self-serving because I rep for him now, but this This was true, and I can get third-party confirmation on this, that even in the past, I did purchase boxes of this while I was selling other cigars.
Right. So like, this is an interesting scenario here, because it was a favorite cigar before he repped it, and now it's a favorite cigar. That's right. So, now that you don't rep it, or now that you rep it, we need another answer.
Outside of my line, I usually go for, you have it in the humidor, the black label Tatuaje Corona Gorda. That's one of my go-tos. Okay, that's a great stick. For sure.
He's very fast. He's got good answers. He's got good answers. He's got good answers.
But we're making good times. I don't buy a lot of cigars when I do. That's one of them. Yeah.
I just steal them. Okay, what fictional character would you like to... Yeah, you don't pay for anything. What fictional character would you like to share a cigar with?
Ooh. Superman. Superman? All day.
Okay. Like Superman, like Christopher Reeves, Superman? That's actually my answer. I've been asked in interviews, and they say, you know, Who would you like to want to make it next to, or Superman, who do you consider like a fictional role model, and I say Superman, they look at me like, why would you say Superman, and I say, well look at this guy, he has all the power that you could ever have, and he could use it for whatever self-serving means he wants to, and he uses it to, you know, help people, for good in the American way and all that good stuff.
Truth, Justice of the American Way. Yeah, Truth, Justice of the American Way, right. That could just be, you know, walking into banks and taking all the money he wants. Yeah, that's true, they couldn't stop him.
Yeah. They could stop him. Batman stopped him. Well, Batman, Batman, but they brought him back to life.
Yeah, you're talking Justice League. Well, yeah. Like the movie. That's where he, oh, that stupid Batman versus Superman movie, that was terrible.
Yeah. That was terrible. "Your mother's married? My mother's married!
" Do you want to skip together? together so it's not the spandex then it's just the fact that it's not the spandex it's not any one of the actors or characters i don't roll that way but it's just the idea of this guy has all this power and he uses it for good and not for self-serving purposes so that's you know that's pretty so when you're running for president no time soon that's for sure all right uh last question it's not really a question but how do people get a hold of you your instagram social My Instagram is CigarpimpFL, and my Facebook is Alfredo Cruz, and if you're a cigar smoker, you probably have three or eight hundred mutual contacts with me, so you'll see me come right up. There you go. You got it.
So the Cigarpimp is also smoking the water. It's the Cigarpimp, and we had to talk about this in the past. But we didn't have it on recording. " He's a cool dude.
Yeah, super chill guy. Love that guy. So, Cigar Pimp, FL. Cigar Pimp, FL.
Cigar Pimp, FL. Cigar Pimp, FL. Very nice. That's it, that's all the questions.
All right. That's it, so congratulations, you have survived the Cigar Hustle Podcast. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much for having me on.
" And dude, you're a good guy, and we wish you nothing but the best, and we like the products at your rep, even though we only carry 66% of them at this current time. Yeah, we're getting there. We're getting just one to go, that's it. We've got 100%.
One trigger pull away from 100%. Maybe four more visits and we'll take on a box. Wait, wait, there's only so much room in the humidor. It's tactful, you gotta be tactful, Michael.
Just throw it out there. She'll put on a shirt. Trying to throw me under the bus. I mean, like, I've honestly got, like, yeah, three accounts that I want to take on that, you know.
Would you like to develop that? No. Because I don't carry them. It ruins all your leverage that way, too.
I don't carry them. Exactly. You have to ask yourself, how much leverage do I really have? Let's prioritize the three, illusions first.
Illusions first, eh? All right, well, I think that would be it, we're done, it's all finished. And the feedback thing is on the back end of it, or what do you want to do? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that all gets added in the thing, but you can say it if you'd like to say it, it makes you feel good.
If you'd like to leave us, we would love it if you gave us some feedback on the show. Anybody, anybody want to leave feedback? Anybody? Good, bad?
Yeah, reviews, if you want to have a specific person on the show, we'll do our best to douse them with chloroform and drag them in the back office. And wait for them to wake up and then answer, ask them a bunch of ridiculous questions. Let's just ask them questions while they're passed out. Yeah.
It'll be like the regular questions. Yeah, this is like the dead air. All right, and yeah, that's it, I think. We're done.
All right, bye. That's it, folks. Show's over. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can leave them on our Facebook page at CigarHustlersPodcast.
You can follow the show on Instagram at CigarHustlersPodcast. You can follow Mikey at CigarHustler. And you can follow myself at FloridaCigarClub_Mike on Instagram. Make sure to rate, comment, and subscribe on whatever provider you listen to the show at.
Thanks for listening! The End
Show Notes
Episode 22 Alfredo Cruz Cigar Broker extraordinaire stopped in and as usual we jump on the chance to hold him hostage and learn all about his life.....
Listen in and see how catering lead him to is career repping Illusione, Foundation and Jetline to name just a few!!
As always we welcome you thoughts, comments and guest suggestions on our FaceBook page "A Cigar Hustlers Podcast". You can follow the show in IG @cigarhustlerspodcast. Mikey can be followed on IG @cigarhustler and Mike @floridacigarclub_mike.
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