| Kaplowitz: I was originally turned on to your brand in my desperate search for a double claro/candela thing. The cigar shop I found myself in at the time had only your 88 in their entire inventory. Why has the green stick fallen so out of favor these days? Especially when you consider they were the norm of generations past. Dion Giolito: It was a very popular wrapper in the 40s and 50s. When I got in the business in the early 90s, it was still very popular in my area with the old-timers. I really can't answer why the candela wrapper has fallen out of fad, at least in the premium hand rolled market. It is still very prevalent in the mass-market arena. Kap: Why did you decide to embrace this style of wrapper? Where there any issues in doing so along the way? DG: I liked the wrapper because of it's olde tyme mystique and flavor. The story I always tell is that when I was working for another shop before going out on my own, I would sell a ton of candela Berings, Nat Ciccos etc. I would see these old cats shuffle into the store with the the betting sheets and papers rolled under an arm of their frumpy tweed jackets. They'd buy them by the handfuls, then shuffle back out the door, and that’s precisely what they did, "shuffle." We even named one of our customers "The Shuffler." Anyways, I always thought it ironic how they'd come in day after day from betting the ponies downtown, or wherever. They'd bet practically every last dime on horses, but would rather walk a couple of miles than spend the fifty cents on bus fare. I kinda dug their gambling, lush-life style. When I was in a position to make a candela cigar, I did it. Not that there weren't candelas in the market already like Fuente, and Macanudo Jade, etc., but because I could do it, and I wanted to.  DG: It's amazing that you hacked the true password the first time. Delivering the steak? I dunno. there's a whole bunch of reasons, I guess. Listening to yourself, listening to others, listening to the tobacco, trusting your own instincts, filtering all of the bullshit that's constantly going on around you, putting something together that you can believe in that others can as well, having access to superior tobacco, a good team on the back end of the business, as well as the front end, and finally, being able to comfortably say the word "no." There's a whole bunch of other shit too. Kap: I often hear it asked what a person’s favorite cigar might be. I find error in this approach, so I’ll fine-tune: who is currently your favorite blender? Why? DG: Henke [Hendrik Kelner]. He's the best. Love or hate Davidoff, he has mastered Dominican tobacco production, fermentation and blending. There are others in the DR as well that are very good, but he's the man. I've never been a big fan of DR tobacco, but Henke's techniques make me a fan of his tobacco. The way he blends to the Olfactory, to the stimulation of the palate, amongst other techniques. When around tobacco, It's always my goal to look for specific, and intrinsic characteristics in the leaf to produce physical, censorial, and psychological results. Kap: Beyond the blend itself, do you perceive a certain pairing or atmosphere when you put on your mad scientist labcoat, or is your mind decidedly upon stick alone? DG: My mind is always on the tobacco. People can and will pair cigars with whatever they like. Kap: What are some of your own favorite pairings? What ambiance do you prefer to surround yourself with as you experience a cigar? DG: I'm not really into "pairing." I'm into enjoying a cigar with whatever, I really don't get into melding my cigar experience with my liquid experience. It's always about the cigar whether it's water, Dr. Pepper or Bruichladdich - makes no difference to me. As far as ambiance, I dunno because I generally always enjoy a cigar. Cigars don't really create moments for me. Kap: Shifting away then from external enjoyments, what is the one characteristic, inherent in a cigar, that could make or break your enjoyment thereof? DG: Under-fermented, aggressive tobacco that drills a hole through the middle of your tongue. Kap: Are you really as odd as you’d like me to believe? DG: Maybe? Probably? Odd is relative to the company you keep. If you're surrounded by other unique and odd individuals, then you wind up feeling quite normal, I'm sure. Kap: What’s next, sir? DG: Selling out in the most grotesque way - lol. Riding and Shining. Making it a point to never return to the business like so many others in this industry have after selling. This is something that I've had a hard time wrapping my head around as to why. Passion? Ego? Boredom? Whatever.  |