PCA Magazine Winter 2020

36 PCA The Magazine | WINTER 2020 PREMIUMCIGARS.ORG By 2015, I felt I had built up a very unique experience in the industry, havingworked brick andmortar, and then production andmanufacturing. I felt it was time to spreadmywings and startmy own company. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life, but I also realized the pending FDA regulationsmight make it hard to start a company if I waited any longer. Can you tell me more about your decision to launch your business? I startedwithDrewEstate in March 2003, when it was just an up-and-coming brand. Back then, weworked out of the back of Nick Perdomo’s house (the backwas a cigar factory). By the time I decided to leave, I had turned it into the biggest cigar factory inNicaragua, bringing production up from5,000 cigars per day to 105,000 cigars a day. The teamhadbecomemy family, and I hada great joband position, sodeciding to leavewas hard. It tooka coupleof years to finallydecide, but finally I said tomyself, “If I don’t do this, I’ll always regret it.”At the time, I knewpendingFDAregulations mightmake it hard if Iwaited. Inhindsight, I’mglad Imade the decisionwhen I did, otherwise I wouldn’t havemade theAugust 2016 substantial equivalency date. How did you come up with the name Foundation Cigar Company? I had a list of names, but one kept ringing inmy ears: FOUNDATION. When I lived inRome in 2000, Imet the famous pipemaker, MassimoMusico (I’malso a BIG pipe smoker!), who later created Foundation byMasimoMusico. We became good friends, and when I was startingmy company five years ago,Massimo gaveme his blessing to use the name. Talk about the artistry behind your brand and your logo? Our logo comes froman oldNicaraguanCoin. It is the pyramid logowith a sun and volcanos representing Nicaragua—home to some of the most active volcanos. Forme, it really displays the foundation of what good tobacco is all about. Without the sun, wewouldn’t exist, andwithout the volcanoes, wewouldn’t have the fertile land to grow the tobacco; I wanted the logo to really represent what Nicaragua is all about. On your website, you state your “goal is to work with specially selected tobacconists who recognize [your] passion and dedication for quality artisan products.” Can you tell me more about your process for finding and choosing tobacconists to carry your brand? Honestly, many shops have supported us since our very first year. They knew I had been living in Nicaragua since 2003 and that my life was dedicated to premium tobacco and hand-made cigars. We launched at the 2015 IPCPR Trade Show with El Güegüense (pronounced L-Way-When- Say) aka The Wise Man. I wanted to display my love for Nicaraguan tobacco and my love for the culture of this place that has become my second home. In Foundation’s first year, I started with one person “I FELT IT WAS TIME TO SPREAD MY WINGS AND START MY OWN COMPANY. IT WAS ONE OF THE HARDEST DECISIONS OF MY LIFE.”