I've recently been so impressed with the Isabela Cigar Company, having reviewed their True Cuban-sized Corona, smoked another on a Sabbath Smoker, and too done their Firecracker on a Radio Herf -- that I tracked down Mr. Johnny Piette to ask him Who What Where When Where Why.
He graciously answered and here is the result, gentlepersons.
Who has mentored you and who have you mentored?
I have been mentored and am mentored...as it is a continuing process, the age old process of the Master teaching and the young guy trying to do it quicker, better, and most importantly...learning to LISTEN!! -- by our Cuban Master Vicente Ortiz, who teaches me about cigars, soil, earth, and the harmony required to grow and pick the right leaves etc. Most importantly, he teaches me life's lessons, stories of his past, shares his present, and hopes for the future!!!
What have you compromised and what won’t you compromise?
Every minute of every day we outwork ourselves so we DON'T compromise...and if you are a small craft maker, often times the reasons for compromise all center around TIME...Time creates the best tobaccos, time heals and rejuvenates the precious soil, time gives the rollers the ability to make the best of their craft, time yields the best blends, time separates the ripe from the green, and so forth...
So right now we are at the limits of time due to the pressures requests and deadlines of the high demand, and now we must use our heads more so than ever, to try and stay ahead of, without compromising...TIME
When is it a failure?
A Failure is something that we relish and come across often...failures allow us to grow and learn....Vicente has an old saying, and he is old... "A wise man and a fool both make the same mistakes, the only difference is the wise man does everything he can...not to repeat them!!!"
Where are you on your journey and where are you going?
Where are we on our Journey and where are we going??? Since we don't have that critical point of knowing where our start line and finish line is...we are at the point of enjoying what we do, creating that spark of super excitement that we get when we come up with an amazing blend, and the buzz of excitement of getting these blends into the hands of others who appreciate what we are doing...and energize us to keep going!!!
Why do you succeed?
You know, when you're doing what you do, or what we do, you just DO IT...you never think about "succeeding" or making money, or having that watch you wanted or whatever, you just DO IT. At least for us, anyways...so when you ask about succeeding, I don't have an answer because I never considered us "succeeding" or "successful"....its just what we do -- and we are blessed, so far, to have been doing it for a long time, and blessed that we continue to grow. More people continue to love and appreciate our work, and get what we are doing...!
*
* *
Thanks for reading, gentlepersons. As always, it is greatly appreciated and humbling. Please go to the Isabela Cigar Company website for more info. You can also order their offerings direct via their site, and I sincerely recommend ya do so.