Let's talk about Casey. How'd you get into the cigar business?
My cousin, Jeff Haugen and owner of Crux Cigars, has owned premium cigar shops for over 20 years, so I have been around cigars most of my life. After I finished college in 2007 and was in the off-season for baseball, I started my professional career in the premium cigar business working in one of his retail shops.
What does it mean to be the Vice President of Crux Cigars? What does the average day look like for you?
As a small cigar manufacturing company everyone on our team wears many hats, which means there is no such thing as an average day. From sourcing tobacco, to quality control in the factory, packing boxes in distribution, on the road visiting our retail partners and supporting sales efforts.
From your standpoint, are there any identifiable trends that you can see the cigar industry shifting to in the next few years? Will Crux be taking advantage of these trends, or bucking them?
For the most part, we will not be following the trends. We will continue to listen to our highly respected retail partners who give us valuable feedback from their customers. As a small manufacturer, we believe we have an advantage to be able to adapt quickly to new trends if need be. However, we prefer to push the boundaries the industry sets allowing us to deliver unique products to the consumer.
If you were to characterize each cigar in your regular portfolio, how would you describe them to someone that's never experienced Crux before?
Our mission has always been to produce high quality, full flavored, consistent premium cigars that finish clean to allow the consumer to smoke one after another without causing palate trauma. We predominately use Nicaraguan tobaccos, which are medium to full in strength and full in flavor.
What special insights do y'all leverage for consumers from decades of retail experience prior to launching the Crux brand?
We have always tried to keep the consumer front and center while we continue to develop the Crux brand. We have learned over the years that consistency and quality are the benchmark of all great cigar brands. We listened to consumers for years and tailored our Cigar offerings based on their continued feedback. We have always tried to stay away from the norm and offer a selection of uniquely different options.
What's something that most people don't know about Crux?
We have tied many Cuban Cigar history elements into our brand names, sizes, and shapes such as Epicure, Du Connoisseur, Ninfa, Sports, and the Marblehead (aka 109).
I noticed that Crux favors skinny ring gauges. Is there a story behind this, or is it just personal preference?
We have always made it a point of emphasis to produce cigars for the under served markets and create products to acquire new cigar smokers with our small format offerings.
What can we expect from Crux in 2018?
This year we will be continuing to build our portfolio and strengthening our position with our Crux Retail Partners throughout the US market. It’s going to be an exciting year!
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