Talk to us about Joan. How’d you get your start in the cigar business?
Well the first thing that I’m going to say is that everything happened when I found someone who believed in the same things and shared the same personal values that I do. After that, it was a matter of time for me to know that creating a cigar product was my thing.
The mere fact of being able to aim for things like what I have achieved today, made me take that step forward and undergo the risk of exploring something as deep and beautiful as cigars are.
When I learned the basics of smoking, what nowadays we call cigar tasting, I realized that no matter what the price was, the mission had to be completed. I had something in my hand that just can’t be lost in time.
I had a vision in my mind for the cigar that I wanted to craft but I didn’t have the concept of the branding developed.
My starting point from the bottom was straight into manufacturing, no branding ideas whatsoever in my mind. The only thing I knew was that based on what I had seen, Dominican cigars weren’t performing as people used to remember or talk about. From the different tobaccos I’ve tasted, I knew deep inside me that the idea in my mind could be achievable but it was going to take both time, and friends to help me out.
How’d you settle on the name Flor y Nata and ultimately Modern Tobacconist Art?
Plain and simple. One day my father asked me what I was trying to do and when he heard my idea of having a high end item put into a reasonable price, he came up with this expression that in English is translated to ‘the cream of the crop’.
Details of the whole Flor Y Nata brand story and Noxio will be released later into another interview. Stay tuned!
Speaking of art, what is your process when creating the blends to showcase your brand name?
It was just time. It took me from 2013 to late 2014 to actually be able to discern which flavor tones I was looking for and put those in a stick; fortunately, I had the right guy that was able to interpret what I wanted with a lot of accuracy. Now on my second batch the interpretation was even better and we got very, very close to my ideals.
What’s the most valuable piece of advice that you’ve received in the business? How about the worst advice?
The best and worst advice of all it’s just a juxtaposition of beginning and ending.
Rule of life is that you have to begin very small and spend a lot of time and effort in order to get the shot and achieve a goal. That’s just the feeling that I get when I sell a Flor Y Nata and people get very happy about what they get. At the end of the day, I can sleep well celebrating and looking back on how this whole process has developed.
How would you describe your cigars to someone that’s never smoked them before? What’s your intent for each one?
Smoke it and you tell me, I’m pretty sure you will get a full box over and over.
What’s it like working with all the different personalities producing out of Manufactura Rivas?
You have to understand that this is a relationship business, and maybe one of the last businesses where a personal relationship becomes your day to day.
Jobs and deals are sometimes still made with a handshake; at the same time I‘ve had the opportunity to stay professional and advance my career.
What do you have in store for your fans in the next 12-18 months?
I’ve just released a rebranding of Flor Y Nata and the Temptation (Maduro) line is now optimized. Also, last week I had the full release of my experiment from 2015, the other leg of the job, The Loyalty (Habano Natural) line. Together, both of them form my “In the Garden of Good and Evil” collection.
The last batch was made in Oct 2017 and I did some experimental new vitolas, which are going to be released later on (they were made on the same date and I’m saving them for my “look what I can do” samplers). More details to follow later on, depending on customer feedback. I’ll be picking one or two vitolas of those and making them into core lines. I’m very excited.
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