Alex Svenson
07-08-2008, 06:20 PM
Let me start by saying what an honor it is to have been asked by Sam to contribute to Nub Live. From the time I met Sam, it has been clear he is not only creative, but also has a vast amount of cigar knowledge that has made his Nub brand a huge success.
I’ve been smoking cigars for more than half my life. In fact, for the last 14 years I have had at least one cigar a day. In 2002 I had the opportunity to try my hand and make a living by my hobby and I entered the cigar industry on the retail side. Today I am a buyer for the second larges retail cigar distributor in the country and am heavily involved in the blending and the product development side of the cigar industry. The path I started over six
years ago has led me to an exciting career although I still think of cigars first and foremost as my passion which makes my job seem far from actual work. In my roll as Cigar.com’s Chief Merchant, I spend nearly half of my time in tobacco country, namely Central America, working with factories and blenders which entails daily contact with raw tobacco in its many phases from the farms, fermentation, aging and blending.
I am fortunate to have learned everything I know from such notable tobacco men as Hendrik “Henke” Kelner, Nestor Plasencia, Jose “Pepin” Garcia, Jonathan Drew, Jose Blanco, Abdel “AJ” Fernandez, the Oliva family, George Rico, Julio and Christian Eiroa, Rocky Patel, Mike Chiusano (Cusano) and a host of others. Through my experiences in working with these talented cigar makers, I have come to one conclusion, that there is no one right way of doing things. Everyone has their opinions when it comes to smoking, tasting and aging cigars, but they are just that, opinions.
I have formed my own conclusions based on array of experiences and teachings over the years. I look forward to sharing my thoughts on cigars with everyone here and will
also be sure to add some of my more entertaining stories and experiences in cigar country to the blog. Happy smoking!
I’ve been smoking cigars for more than half my life. In fact, for the last 14 years I have had at least one cigar a day. In 2002 I had the opportunity to try my hand and make a living by my hobby and I entered the cigar industry on the retail side. Today I am a buyer for the second larges retail cigar distributor in the country and am heavily involved in the blending and the product development side of the cigar industry. The path I started over six
years ago has led me to an exciting career although I still think of cigars first and foremost as my passion which makes my job seem far from actual work. In my roll as Cigar.com’s Chief Merchant, I spend nearly half of my time in tobacco country, namely Central America, working with factories and blenders which entails daily contact with raw tobacco in its many phases from the farms, fermentation, aging and blending.
I am fortunate to have learned everything I know from such notable tobacco men as Hendrik “Henke” Kelner, Nestor Plasencia, Jose “Pepin” Garcia, Jonathan Drew, Jose Blanco, Abdel “AJ” Fernandez, the Oliva family, George Rico, Julio and Christian Eiroa, Rocky Patel, Mike Chiusano (Cusano) and a host of others. Through my experiences in working with these talented cigar makers, I have come to one conclusion, that there is no one right way of doing things. Everyone has their opinions when it comes to smoking, tasting and aging cigars, but they are just that, opinions.
I have formed my own conclusions based on array of experiences and teachings over the years. I look forward to sharing my thoughts on cigars with everyone here and will
also be sure to add some of my more entertaining stories and experiences in cigar country to the blog. Happy smoking!