Cigar Hustlers Podcast Special Interview Reinhard Pohorec Meerapfel Cigars
Transcript
123. 4:00 So we have a special
guest today.
We got a special interview that
we're going to do.
We'd like to add these in
throughout the week when they're
available.
And we have I'm going to screw
up your name.
Or at least I always worry about
me screwing up your name because
in my brain I always just want
to call you Renard.
But it's rain hard, right?
Yeah.
I just want to, I don't know
why, you know, but for me I was
like, oh, it's Renard, you know,
I I like American in it.
I don't know.
I don't know what I'm doing, but
that's definitely my MO.
But hey, thank you for coming
out to the show.
Mr. Mirfield is in the house,
you know, thanks for having me.
Unsurprisingly, you have
outdressed me.
Which is, which isn't a
difficult feat, but.
Just these clothes, really, he
does.
It's a totally different
category over there.
So you.
Know always stay true to who
you.
Are that's it yeah, I'm trying
you know, I think that there was
a period in time for me where I
tried to go a different realm I
started wearing like these
button UPS and this other stuff
and I'm.
Is that just at home?
It didn't happen.
Here, No, it went when I was
traveling on the road and all
this other stuff and I'm like,
the fuck am I doing?
This is not, it's.
Not you.
This is not conducive to, you
know, I don't like to think
about what I'm wearing.
I have six or seven black
T-shirts.
And once they, yeah, like, just
like this.
And once they start to fade or
get a little fuzzy, I or smell,
I throw them all away and I
cycle in a new six or seven.
So, but anyways, enough about
me.
Thank you for being on the show,
brother.
I'm glad that you're.
Here thanks for having.
Me, I want to touch on a couple
things for one, the origin story
about you has been covered,
right?
I don't want to get into that
and it to be honest.
If you guys want to hear more
about Reinhard's story and how
he got into the industry and his
past and stuff, check out How
about that cigar episode 225.
It's amazing, OK, And it's
covered.
So, but I do want to talk about
some other things from you
personally, right?
Because I feel like this has
been mentioned a lot in your
interviews, but it's always kind
of been overlooked.
So your grandma, she was with
you until she was 103 and she
passed this year, correct?
Correct.
Now, did she live with you?
Next door in the same building
just across the hallway and
she's been in the same building
for more than 90 years of her.
Life, you gotta pull it in a
little bit.
Pull the microphone a little.
Bit and it's like.
There you go.
And yeah, she, she, she's been
there most of her life.
And I was born in that building,
and that's where I grew up and
that's where I still AM.
So she was with you for the
majority of your life,
practically everyday.
Yeah.
So.
OK, So what was that like?
Because like, I don't really.
I had grandparents, but you
know, we weren't.
My grandparents died in an early
age, I guess to some degree.
And like, I never had any of
that development.
But like, were there memories
for you that are distinct in
your brain as far as like, who
was she to you?
You know my my earliest
childhood memories evolve around
the family table.
So standing in the kitchen with
my grandparents kneading dough
and baking bread, those are some
of the most important memories
of, of my early childhood.
And it, it very much defines who
I am and the way I grew up, the
things that I'm passionate
about.
So it had an extremely important
imprint on me from from a very
early age onwards.
And you know, as you said,
there's, there's plenty of that
covered on, on, on other shows
and interviews.
But I, I treasure it enormously
to this very day that I had my
grandparents and my parents
around.
I mean, my, my mother,
thankfully she, she could stay
at home and my, my father
provided for us working the job
that he did.
And so even though we, we didn't
have much, we had the family
table.
And it gave me this profound
love and appreciation for the
most simplistic, honest things
in life.
Right.
Like a good meal, like a piece
of bread.
And ultimately, that's what made
me so passionate about the wine
and spirits world and ultimately
cigars, because I, I think this
is the most simplistic, honest
and, and the purest expression
of all of that is people
dedicating their lives, their,
their blood, sweat and tears, as
they always say in the industry
too craft them something like
this and, and sharing your, your
core, who you are, your
philosophy, your vision, your
dreams with other people through
the means of a, of a simple and
honest product, right.
And I think that very much comes
from the way I was brought up
and those early memories that I
I told you about.
Right.
OK, so let me ask you this
simple, simple beginnings,
humble beginnings, right?
But I mean, if you Fast forward
now, right, you're smoking $100
cigar.
There's nothing simple and
humble about your get up, right?
So how did you get from that
from those beginnings to kind of
the image that you are now?
Oddly enough, there was.
There was always something so
incredibly appealing about the
finer things in life.
And when I turned 18 I went to
what they call an American bar
in Vienna.
Dimly lit wood panios on the
wall, the great Amrikana playing
in the background.
And I went there with a suit and
tie, had my first ever cigar and
my first ever cocktail.
And so don't ask me why, but
maybe because I felt like there
was a chip on my shoulder
because of my upbringing and my,
my family background that I
always gravitated towards these
finer things in life.
And probably that's because they
were never really available to
us.
And it was only through my
career and through my
professional journey in life
that I could explore a lot of
these things.
And I'm, I'm eternally grateful
for the, the, the wine and
spirits world and the
hospitality side of things that
gave me the opportunity to
travel to all these places,
whether it's Brazil, Mexico,
Scotland, I even went to Russia
for the, for the finals of
Bacardi legacy places that I
never thought I could ever
travel to products that I would
have never imagined I could be
exploring and tasting in my
life.
And so there was always
something in me that that told
me, you know, that there's
something more to discover.
And.
I, I gravitated towards that and
it, it became a natural
transition were professionally
I, I moved into those industries
and into those, those products
that I, I just felt were, were
mesmerizing and and beautiful.
And at the same time, I, I very
much think that even in $1000
bottle of Scotch or cognac and
in $100 cigar, there's something
extremely simplistic and honest
and humble, even though they,
they have a high price tag
coming with it, but it doesn't
change the core proposition.
It doesn't change the essence of
the product, right?
If, if that makes sense.
And so I, I still think that
it's extremely true to, to who I
am, but just on, on a different
level or it, it found a
different alleyway.
So I mean, it's kind of similar
to like the Ritz Carlton story.
Have you ever heard of it,
right?
You know, like you have a guy
who gets in the hospitality
business, right and eventually
builds.
I mean, I guess the greatest
customer service based oriented
hotel ever, right?
Starts from humble beginnings,
so you know.
And fun fact, I I used to be a
bartender at the American bar at
the Savoy in London, and Cesar
Ritz was the first general
manager.
No kidding.
Or hotel director of the Savoy
in London and the first
executive chef was Auguste
Escofier, who was also
considered a legend behind the
stove.
No kidding.
And.
It was exactly those stories,
these legacies, that always
piqued my interest.
So still to this day, I, I don't
like the, the whole notion of,
of luxury.
It, it means so many different
things to different people.
And it's never about the price
of the product or the experience
that comes with it.
To a certain degree, that's a
natural consequence of
everything that's put into it in
the first place.
But it's the story behind it.
It's the intent with which a
product or service has been
created and, and been put forth
in into the hands of people who
appreciate the fine things in
life.
And so I was much more
interested in in the story
behind it and what you mentioned
about Ritz Carlton, for example,
and Cesar Ritz.
Those are these intricacies and
details that I always found
inspiring.
OK, so now I got 2 questions.
Now you got to go in two
different directions.
So let me double back here
because we started about family
and family kind of developed you
into you getting into this line
of work where you eventually,
you know, you learn hospitality.
What's the best piece of advice
one of your parents gave you?
And I didn't tell you about that
one.
I wanted to get your raw
response.
Was there ever something that
your mom or your dad or your
grandma said to you that you're
like, OK, I'm going to take
that.
And absolutely.
My mother told me just go, just
walk and the path will unfold
whilst you go.
Wow, that's pretty powerful,
man, especially coming from a
mother, right, You know, because
moms have a tendency to be like,
you know, stay here.
Like, yeah, you can find
something around here where you
can kind of develop and you'll
do great or whatever.
But to say, hey, go, you know,
and and you'll find your path.
When did she say that?
How old do you think you were?
It was around the age of 20 and
it was a particularly
challenging time in my life.
I had a severe illness.
I, I pretty much stopped what I
was doing before.
I studied socioeconomics and I
was a skiing instructor and
worked with handicapped pupils,
almost became a professional
musician.
But I got lost and I I always
wanted to care of take care of
other people and do good for
others.
But I I always forgot about
myself.
Right.
And, and that was when, when she
said those words to me because
I, I felt lost too many choices,
so many different things that I
was, I was interested in and I
could see myself working in, in
million different industries.
So at the end of the day, you
know when, when you have too
much choice, you know you're,
you're just, you're just lost.
And yeah, you kind of spread too
thin.
You don't really have the
direction to go, so you wind up
taking no direction at all.
Yeah, and I always focused on
the end goal.
And so many coaches and so many
smart books or podcasts will
tell you like, you have to know
where you're going in order to
get there.
Whereas, well, my mother told me
sort of the opposite of go
right, you need start walking,
right?
And then you'll figure out.
And then you can get the goal A.
100%.
Right.
OK.
So that's perfect because that
that actually takes me into the
next question.
So what is the goal for
Reinhardt?
You know, you know, I'm going to
ask you questions about Miraphel
later, but what's the goal for
you at the end of the day?
What do you want to do here?
I want to share meaningful and
memorable experiences with other
people and I want to share a
little bit of what I discovered
to be so extremely beautiful and
enriching, life enhancing in
savoring these incredible
products and having such
memorable experiences.
I, I want to share a little bit
of that as an inspiration with
other people for them to, to see
some of the incredible beauty
that's, that's around us.
You know, I, I think especially
in today's day and age where
everything is so fast-paced
digital online, we often times
forget or simply overlook all
the richness around us.
A great conversation, you know,
just that's what the cigar is
always about for me.
It's to take time for yourself,
take time for a great
conversation with another
person, read a book, study or
just contemplate and, and, and
meditate it, it doesn't matter.
It's time for yourself and
that's so incredibly important
nowadays.
But we, we tend to overlook all
these things because it's, it's
almost too, too simplistic.
It's we take it for granted.
And that's one thing that I
learned particularly through my,
my, my sensory journey and
focusing on smell and taste and
creating experiences that are
holistic from a sensory
perspective.
You suddenly realize there are
so many wonderful things to
discover that we often times
overlook.
And that's really at the core of
everything that I want to do is
make people aware of the
abundance around them and share
those experiences.
So.
By taking the by expressing
that, taking the time, by
expressing, hey, you know that
sensory experience, Are all of
those things always going to do
you see yourself doing those
things solely with Mirfell or do
you have a bigger goal
eventually?
Like what is it?
What is it is is does that exist
or are you still on the hey,
just continue going forward
path?
You know, obviously you have a
great relationship with
Jeremiah.
Obviously you have a lot of
things going well with Mirabel.
You know, I mean, personally,
you know, your when your cigar
hit number one of the year, I
was I was like, I don't know,
right.
I'm like, OK, that's kind of out
of nowhere.
But you know what, I respect
half wheel all the time.
And when they put a number one
up, I know that it's not biased,
right?
I know that it's not geared
toward a, a particular vision,
right?
Or someone didn't buy enough ad
space, you know, or some of that
other bullshit that we always
see in this industry.
So of course, I was instantly
intrigued to smoke a cigar.
And when I smoked the cigar, I
was like, son of a bitch, this
is an amazing cigar, right?
And it was something that was
totally different as far as my
experience.
So I understood why it made #1
but what does it mean for you as
far as do you?
Can you see yourself being with
Mirfeld for the next 20 years?
Absolutely.
Yeah, yeah.
OK.
I think that's great, man.
You know, so you're very content
with where you're at.
You think that you that the the
goals that you have are aligned
with Jeremiah and the Mirfeld
family and you can kind of.
Otherwise I wouldn't have
started working with him in the
1st place, you know right?
I was self-employed for, for 10
years prior to that.
And it's not an easy step to
leave behind your
entrepreneurial journey and your
own business and to work for
somebody or with somebody again
and.
Well, you're no longer in
charge, right?
Like you don't.
To a certain degree, yes.
I mean, I, I have the the
privilege to sit next to
Jeremiah and, and together we
design our strategies and, and
the path forward.
So I'm, I'm very hands on in
pretty much all aspects of the
business, which is also why I
think this project is, is so
special because despite the
impact that the Miracle family
has had on the industry, it's
still such a small family
business.
We're, we're all hands on and
working together to get to where
we want to go.
And that's also what intrigued
me about the Miracle Cigar in
the first place.
It was never a business or a
business case to begin with.
It was created out of the love
and passion for the industry and
with the with the intention of
sharing some of the rich family
history, some of the marital
legacy with the people out there
who care about tobacco and who
care about cigars.
And that to me was far more
intriguing than anything else.
And you know, I don't care about
job titles and positions, right?
Nor do I care about the money
aspect of it.
It has to align with my core
principles and values.
And that's the one thing that I
immediately recognized with
Jeremiah when I sat down with
him for the first time.
And when we met through let him
up in, in the beginning and then
all the conversations that we
had thereafter, something
clicked.
And I, I realized, you know,
here's a gentleman who's very
true to his word and who's very
dedicated to perpetuating his
family legacy.
And it, it just made a made all
the difference for me.
And that's when when I felt this
is this is where I believe this
is the fit.
And it's a fit.
OK, 'cause you, well, you kind
of answered this, but what is So
what is the goal for Mirabel,
right?
What is the goal for the cigar?
Is it solely just to continue
forward with the legacy and
create that?
That's it.
Like there's no global
domination.
There's no, you know you.
Know when, when you make 613
boxes of every vitola per year,
there's no global domination
with that.
I mean, it's, it's such a small
niche of a niche of the market.
It's such a small segment of the
industry that barely touches
99.9% of all the other cigars
out there, most of which are
fantastic nowadays.
I mean, we, we truly live in a
golden era of, of tobacco and
cigars, I think.
Something I think that's
partially true, to be honest.
And I agree with you because we
both know that, you know, once
the numbers kick in, once the
monetary aspect and the business
aspect of it all gets in the
way, it's all too tempting to,
you know, cut the little corner
here and there and try to make
up for that with a with a nice
gimmicky marketing story and
some, some flashy packaging and
stuff.
And that's another thing that I
recognized with Jeremiah and the
entire Marriff family is when
you have a legacy on your
fingertips that goes back 400
years and many, many
generations, you don't take that
lightheartedly and you don't cut
corners because you don't simply
jeopardize 400 years of family
history for a little extra buck
at the end of the.
Year, right.
So just to kind of give a back
story briefly.
If I if I may just add because I
think it's it's important to
your question.
That's also very much part of
the proposition of marital cigar
is to.
To do things in a way that not
many other people can or would
be willing to.
OK, I think that's fantastic,
man.
You know, but that just to kind
of get a little bit more in
details The Who Mirapels are,
because I think that not a lot
of people in the industry, not a
lot of cigar smokers are aware
of who the Mirapels are, right.
So, so you, you briefly tapped
on the fact that they've been in
tobacco growing for over 400
years.
And trading.
And trading tobacco and their
one of their big notoriety
things is Cameroon wrapper,
right?
Especially selling to the Fuente
family, right?
How So what what kind of made
them determine the price point
for where they're at?
You know, because this isn't
definitely this, this is a
higher end cigar as far as the
price is concerned.
Is it because of that legacy?
Is it because of what they want
to really kind of?
I think it's a natural
consequence of the incredible
craftsmanship and attention to
detail that goes into every
single element of the entire
Miracle Cigar experience.
If if you think about a 20 plus
year old vintage Cameroon
wrapper and the other tobaccos
in the blend being 17/18/19
years of age as well, you you
can hardly put a price tag onto
that because it doesn't really
exist.
Hardly anybody else has tobacco
of of that nature and age at
their disposition.
And then you add on top the the
ring, which is a piece of art in
and by itself and took over four
years in development.
The ribbon hen dyed in France by
one of the oldest families still
working those traditional
techniques and they they only
supply Hermes, Chanel, the Les
Mitajo tell in Monaco, the the
Polonia wooden chests coming
from Japan, considered the royal
wood of Japan.
It's all these little details
and intricacies that ultimately
make for the experience.
And they all have a role to play
in telling the story of the
family members.
Hence these generational family
blends were every single one of
them, Richard Ernst, Meyer and
eventually the Heller, they're
all named after one of the
family generations.
So the idea is to give you a, a
taste, give you a sense of who
were these gentlemen and what
was their contribution to the
world of tobacco and cigars.
And price is is, I don't want to
say it's, it's a mere
afterthought, but it's just a
consequence of of all these
elements of deconstruction.
Look at what the, the, the
Swiss, the, the watchmakers or
the German supercars or the the,
the old couture legacy brands
have done so successfully.
They, they all looked at at
their industry and the product
that they were offering.
And they dismantled it and
deconstructed it into the the
the most minuscule components,
tweaked every single one of them
and took them of the to a level
of the extreme to to bring
forward and to bring out a level
of perfection is a big word.
But craftsmanship, really, and
dedication and commitment to the
craft that very few other people
or brands were either willing or
capable to do.
And that's exactly what Jeremiah
and the family set forth to do
is to take or to bring that
level of finesse and elegance to
the world of Henley Premium
cigars, all of which is very
much reflective of their, their
history and, and the way they
were brought up.
And also being an, an old
European family, which I think
is a, is a very different way of
looking at things compared to
the more Latin American part of
the industry, which is
predominant now.
And that's very much where
premium cigars came from when
you think about it in the
miracles, they were trading
sacred leaf from New World into
Spain as far back as 1610.
So a lot of the that part of the
industry, that core of the
premium cigar side of things
came out of Europe.
And then of course, it it
transformed and it morphed over
the years.
But it's that notion of old
European elegance and finesse
that the miracles truly stand
for.
Got it, got it.
So like as we said before, you
know, obviously Mirabel's well
known for selling tobacco to a
lot of the icons in the
industry.
Which is also the reason why
they were primarily behind the
scenes of the industry and not
really visible to the end
consumer, right, because they
were trading tobacco with the
icons of the industry as you
mentioned, whether that's the
Fuente family or the the Lyon
family, General Cigar and Lita
Gomez and.
Now Roma, which I'm excited
about.
And and Roma craft, absolutely,
but that happens mostly behind
closed doors and not very much
visible to the end consumer.
And Miracle Cigar is the
opportunity for us to put
something in front of the most
discerning consumers hands and
tell them, you know, this is the
miracle story and you can
explore that and you can taste
that through the means of an
actual cigar.
Right.
So now these, I mean these
colleagues per SE, you know that
you've that that relationships
have been developed with for
generations to some degree now
they're your competitors, right?
Like, how do you think they feel
about you guys kind of coming
into that space of creating your
own cigar?
I, I really wouldn't think of it
as a as a competitive situation,
right?
Mostly for the reason that I, I
mentioned earlier anyways, that
this is such a small project,
right?
That it, it barely touches 99.9%
of the rest of the industry
anyways, right?
And I have experienced that in
the industry.
The icons are so closely
connected to each other and
support each other in whichever
way we can.
And there's there's room for
everybody in this industry.
I mean, the the challenge that
we all have at our hands is to
grow the pie for everybody and
not to take a slice of the pie
from somebody else.
Oh yeah.
And.
Rising tide raises all ships.
True.
And so we still work with all of
these other people and, and
hopefully we'll continue to do
so for, for generations to come.
So I, I don't really think of it
that way.
And I, I really don't think that
they would, they would, they
would either, right?
But of course, you know, it's
also an industry where we have a
lot of strong characters.
Yeah, and I mean, I call them
egos, yeah.
And that's perfectly fine,
right?
I think that just makes for the
overall beauty of our.
Industry for sure, for sure.
OK, so, oh man, I just lost my
train of thought 'cause I was
like, oh, I got another great
question.
But so.
OK, so you live in Austria, you
have a fiance, right?
And you are at the helm of
navigating this vision and this
dream for Jeremiah and the
Meerfeld family.
How do you do it right?
I mean, you know, it's I know
that's like a it's like some
hey, the.
Simple answer is you don't.
Right.
Yeah, It's like, you know, just
how do you play baseball?
You know what I mean?
Like you don't.
It's like, OK, let me break all
that down, right.
Yeah, how do you do it?
Because, you know, eventually,
you know, listen, you're young,
right.
Thank you.
You know, like you're mid 30s,
thirty 6 I think, right?
Spot on.
And like, you're engaged, right?
Marriage is is you're looking
down the barrel of marriage,
right?
Which is a beautiful thing.
Eventually you're gonna start
pulling the goalie here and
hopefully you're gonna have some
kids, right?
If that's the plan, I would
assume that's the plan.
But you know, and now you have
this landscape of this market
that you're not originating
from, right?
And you have to figure out a way
how to navigate through all
that.
How do you do it?
Again, I think the the simple
answer first is you don't.
And you, you get up every
morning, do your best and try to
service all of our individual
partners to the very best of my
abilities.
And we have a very small group
of partners.
So we only work with about 30
shops in the United States and
about 100 partners.
I love that.
Globally, I absolutely love
that.
And my ambition is to service
every single one of them as as
best as I can in this, in the
most personal and loving and
caring way.
And obviously my day only has 24
hours like everybody else's day.
So of course there might be
shortcomings every now and then,
but we're just human in that big
part of the equation though, is
to very carefully hand select
our partners in the first place
and make sure that our visions
are aligned and that we're
trying to, to get to the to the
same end goal or trying to get
there together.
So you mentioned the fact that
I'm not from the US originally
and I've spent a good amount of
time here in the country
travelling to various different
states from from east to West.
And it's beautiful and it's
incredibly enriching to see the
variety and the diversity in
terms of cultures and, and
people and just the the
different layouts of shops and
lounges and how people operate.
And that's beautiful because
that makes us who we are and it
makes for, for the diversity in
our industry.
I always say variety is the
spice of life.
So even though that's the case,
I still think at the end of the
day, we have a common goal and
we try to to create an
experience for the people who
walk through the door and who
want to enjoy a great moment for
themselves or with other people
at the lounge, at the shop.
And when we managed to bring
together our visions, our ideas
and philosophies, and out of
that wave 1 clear and, and, and
cohesive story, that's, that's,
that's all we can strive for.
And that's that, that's all I
could wish for.
So I think it, it very much
boils down to understanding the
individual position and
challenges that our partners are
facing, supporting them to the
best of my abilities and, and,
and be there for them.
And it that doesn't have to mean
that, you know, I, I come.
Knocking at your door.
Every single day, I think
there's other ways of being
present and and showing our
partners that we care and
providing them with all the
tools necessary for them to be
successful with the product.
And again, a success in this
case to me doesn't mean numbers
or selling a shit ton of boxes.
It's sharing that story and
making sure that the people who
enjoy one of these cigars get a
bit of an idea of what's behind
it, because otherwise this is a
wasted product.
It's a waste of the tobacco and
the cigar.
People just light it up and
smoke it because it's expensive
or it looks fleshy and gimmicky.
I'd rather not have people do
that.
But if we managed to make them
not even understand, but just
sit back and think for a moment
of what they have in their hand
and what it took over centuries
and generations to get to this
point, we have a winner.
OK.
So I think what you're telling
me is a couple things.
Number one is you're not geared,
the product in itself is not
geared towards the high end
consumer.
It's actually a little bit more
niche, right.
It's because a lot of high end
consumers, they'll just smoke
$100 cigar just because ha ha,
ha, right.
I am smoking the 100, you know,
or like the David Avora, that's
$750 or whatever.
They don't know shit about the
cigars.
Not all of them, right?
But there are, there are some of
them that don't know shit about
the cigars, but they just want
to say, hey, I'm smoking $700.00
cigar, right?
You're actually gearing your
market base towards a higher end
consumer.
People who care.
That are educated right like
they're.
Or want to be educated?
Right, there's we.
Don't know, we don't know.
Have to be there.
It's a journey.
Yeah, there's a guy that says,
hey, I own a Ferrari because I
own a Ferrari, right?
It's fast.
And then there's a guy that
says, hey, I own a Ferrari
because of the compression X.
Is this the the transmission?
Is this the suspension?
And all of these things are
superior to, you know, an
automobile.
And that's why I have the
Ferrari.
You brought up a wonderful point
and and Jeremiah makes a similar
analogy when he talks about a
Pagani.
It's a car, right?
It'll get you from A to B, and
probably not in a more
comfortable way than a
Volkswagen or a BMW.
But for the few people who care
about all these crazy details
and about the visionary behind
it, who spend so much time and
energy and money on crafting
something that's out of the
ordinary and provides you with a
stunning experience, that's the
key.
And that's what we want to focus
on.
And it takes a very stubborn
personality to do that.
And it takes a very dedicated
person to do that.
And I firmly believe that those
who know, know, and those who
care, care.
And it might take an extra day
or an extra year or an extra
decade to reach those people or
to share those intricacies and
make people aware and make
people care.
But we're in for the for the
long run anyways.
Right.
I mean, you're already in in 400
years.
I mean one's another.
And so as you said, yeah, it's,
it's a very particular niche and
and and type of, I dare say
customer, but but somebody who
who actually cares.
Right.
This is a consumer, right?
OK, real quick, just wanted to
add, there was one thing that
you said that I thought was
fantastic and I don't like to
really, you know, repeat things
that you say on podcast, but it
was something about cigars and
what's important to you about
how to how you kind of reflect
on it at the end of the day.
Can you go ahead and elaborate
on that real quick for us, the
three things that you're talking
about, how do you end your day
and what's the best way to end
your day?
So it, it's actually something
that's not really focused on
cigars primarily, but it's
something that I, I used to
share with people when I was
giving lectures or seminars.
And it has to do with, with
awareness and appreciation in
general, I think.
And the whole concept is to, at
the end of your day, sit back
and reflect on three things that
struck you as memorable or
positive during that day.
And it's a simple exercise of
trying to capture these moments,
your emotions in that particular
moment, and to to memorize 3
little elements during the day,
no matter how simple or
meaningful they might have been.
But to think back, capture those
little moments and, and, and
carry that sense of positivity
in your heart and go to bed with
that.
And what you realize is that
after a couple of days, you
start to actively look for those
golden Nuggets throughout the
day.
And it changes your way of
thinking and it changes your
perception and your awareness
for those kind of things.
Because you, you already think,
well, you know, tonight I have
to think about these three
memories or these 3 little
moments, these golden Nuggets.
So you become way more attentive
during the day and appreciative
of these moments.
I think that's fantastic, man.
I'm just glad that you brought
that up.
I'm glad that we, we, we got
that on on so I can clip it for
sure.
So do you have anything else you
want to add, you know?
A lot of people will say that
I'm.
I'm stubborn and I'm I'm.
Stubborn.
And the and the die hard
positive person and and I am
because I'd I'd much rather have
it that way.
Much rather be stubborn and
positive than stubborn and
negative.
You know absolutely of.
Course, without question.
Mr. Mike, do you have anything
to add?
No.
Nothing from the board monkey
tonight.
Nothing from the board monkey.
OK.
Alright, I was waiting for that
curveball pub.
Yeah.
No, 'cause it was a very serious
interview.
I mean, it was a very good
interview, but there wasn't a
light hearted spot to throw in a
zinger or something.
It just, it wasn't that kind of
interview.
It didn't fit that, no.
I I had some things, but I was
like, that's not appropriate so.
You know one other thing, if you
we were talking about 30
retailers and you were talking
about them having a particular
vision and it being aligned with
the Meerfeld family.
If you were to find out that one
of those particular retailers
didn't have the same vision that
you had, what would the
organization do?
Would you continue?
Yeah, absolutely.
We'll change it.
You have to be very protective
and careful with such a delicate
and fragile and valuable
proposition, right?
And same as when you, when you
craft the product, same as when
you blend the cigars, you select
the tobaccos, you age the
tobaccos, you roll the cigars.
There's no shortcuts and there's
no cutting corners.
And if we were to experience
that with one of our partners, I
think first a very serious
conversation is too.
But then if, if we were to
realize that our visions and our
goals are not aligned, then
we'll, we'll simply stop
supplying them with product
because otherwise you just put
the entire project and the the
entire idea at jeopardy and and
we won't.
Do that right, OK, Where are
you?
Are you going to be at a
particular event this week?
Do you want to plug it at all?
Because it'll this thing will
come out probably middle of the
week.
So I I have two more stops and
events to do before the end of
this week. 1 is in Greenwich, CT
with Mike Afangno who was a
great partner and a great
supporter of ours.
You got the whole Jeremiah
speech.
I saw that on on social media.
And then?
What's the name of the shop?
It's the Tobacconist of
Greenwich, OK in Greenwich, CT.
And what's the date?
I want to say it's the 6th of
November and then on the 7th
I'll be with Capital Cigar in
Bethesda, OK, with Pam and and
his crew and George Brightman
will be with me.
George has become a yeah, he's
a, he's a good guy.
He's a friend and A and a mentor
and he'll he'll join me.
Can you talk to him a little bit
about cameras and some other
things?
Cameras.
Yeah.
Because when you do a post, when
you do a video, I see an
interview with you.
There's a painting in the
background, right?
The image is perfect.
You know, you represent this
thing, right?
That is, you're compelled to
watch.
I you know, if I'm not even a
cigar consumer and I look at
that and you're doing an
interview, I'm like, I want to
hear what he has to say.
He's got shit together, right?
Like the image looks good,
right, George, he's out front of
his house off of his phone.
That's that He hasn't even
bothered to clean and like the
image, the content is there,
right?
There's decades and decades of.
It's crazy what the right.
I just feel like it's
discounted.
Yeah, you say, hey, listen, man,
like, look, let's let's talk
about this.
Can we, can we get just a little
bit of a setup for you?
But.
Mike, here's the point.
I mean, look at this.
Yeah, this is incredible.
And this should be a role model
for a lot of people in the
industry as to how you put
together a podcast, a live show,
no matter what it is, right?
Not a lot of people do that.
For sure.
When when you look at social
media content creation, even
marketing materials in the cigar
industry in general, a lot of
that is sort of, you know, done
on the fly or sort of half
assed, right?
And I don't know if that's
because they don't care enough
or because they don't have the
means to do it any differently.
But I think the industry has a
long ways to go when it comes to
professionalizing their
communication and marketing and
social media and all of that.
And also with cigar media, I
think for, for a lot of people,
it's a very passionate thing,
but it's sort of a side hustle
thing where you do it on the fly
and you don't care too much
about the the setup and the the
technicalities of it, the
microphone and the camera and
the lighting.
And I get all of that.
And ultimately we would agree
that it's the content, it's the
words that are that you shared
during such a session that
matter.
But I'm, I'm exactly like you.
It's everything around that you.
Have to captivate a. 100%.
You know what I mean?
You got 2 seconds to grab
somebody and if they come across
it and you know, like we got to
fix that.
Like we got to fix it.
Very.
True.
All right.
Well, dude, I know that we're
going to get upstairs here.
We're going to do a meeting,
We're going to talk to our
employees about the Miravel
cigars.
And I really appreciate you
coming out here.
And it shows to me what type of
image it is that the Miravel
family is looking for.
Because I think that as a store,
we're not a big store.
We don't sell a ton of product,
but we are very passionate about
what we do.
We're very honest about what we
do.
And we do have a a particular
image that we strive for.
So I really appreciate you
acknowledging that and thank you
very much, dude.
You do that exceptionally,
exceptionally well, I have to
say.
And I really, really appreciate
it.
I appreciate everything that you
do for the industry on many
different levels, whether that's
with your own brand, with the
store, your online presence.
I applaud you for that.
And it's a privilege for me to
be here and share, spend time
with you, share a bit of, you
know, our story with with you
and and with your employees.
So yeah, I couldn't be happier
than than to be here.
Thank you.
Thanks so much.
All right.
Thanks.
Show Notes
Special Interview with Vice President of Meerapfel Cigars Reinhard Pohorec