If you want to read about who Eric is then click here for his original interview.
Eric I won’t start from the beginning, I think everyone already knows who you are and what you’re all about. So, let’s take off from the middle. You have built a pretty impressive resume in the whisky industry and influencer space. What makes you want to walk away from all of that and promote cigar events?
EK: I am not walking away from anything. Cigars and Whiskies go together hand in hand so if anything, I’m hoping to cross promote and grow both industries. I think by having at least a working knowledge with both cigars and spirits will increase marketability for influencers.
“Do you even smoke cigars bro?” might be a common question someone asks you when all they see is posts of whisky on your Instagram. What should people know about you and your love affair with cigars?
EK: I’ve been smoking cigars since the early 1990’s and I’ve always thought of it as personal time. Whether I smoked a stick on the golf course. Playing poker with the guys or just needing to relax at a cigar bar for lunch and escaping for an hour. I have sticks in my humidor that are over 15 years old, so I laugh when people assume, I suddenly started smoking because it was a cool thing to do. I don’t have a love affair with cigars. It’s like an old marriage. Funny story is that I purchased my first Dupont Lighter in 1989 and didn’t smoke cigars until 1991. I never smoked cigarettes either. I fell in love with the “ping” and only a Dupont owner would understand.
Your first influencer cigar event is scheduled to debut on October 13, 2019. Can you give us a preview of what to expect? Also is it an invite only event, or can anyone attend?
EK: As with my whisky events my cigar events are also exclusive and private invite only. This isn’t meant to alienate or leave anyone out. My events are sponsored by Brands that have a certain expectation. They are sponsoring with the intent of getting exposure for the brand. It doesn’t have to be specifically IG based. If you’re an officer of a large cigar club or Facebook Cigar group or you work in the cigar industry you could also be invited however I will always vet all the attendees to make sure they are the right fit and also ensure they understand what is expected of them should they get an invite.
Unlike the whisky community, the cigar space seems to be segmented. What do you think you can bring to this space? What do you hope to accomplish with your event?
EK: I’m not sure I agree that the cigar community is segmented. It’s a tight knit group of people. I really enjoy smoking and chatting with fellow aficionados. Now that being said the Cigar space on Instagram is very disorganized. There are massive repost accounts. Some that give credit and some that don’t give credit but in either case most of the accounts (not all) are not whom I’d consider influencers. I have no desire to work with them on anything really. I don’t even believe that the owners of these accounts smoke. I want to focus on true accounts that are in the cigar space because they genuinely enjoy cigars and not because they want some “insta-fame”. This is also true of whisky accounts. What I try to do for my brand partners is to find the best influencers. The ones who take it seriously and still enjoy what they are doing. I believe that because I’m an “outsider “I can rock the boat a bit and say what people are thinking but not saying. Ultimately, I’m not afraid to lose or even piss off Fake accounts with lots of followers.
Give me your top 5 best smoked cigars. What is it about the cured aged tobacco that draws you in?
EK: I started out smoking Fuente Hemingway Short Stories. It was my lunch cigar. Quick enjoyable smoke. With a touch of sweetness on the wrapper.
I don’t think it’s necessary to name a top 5 cigar, but I’ll name a few that I enjoy.
Cohiba Behike (real ones) are unbelievable. What’s also unbelievable is how many fairly legit cigar accounts are selling fake Cubans to people. Sometimes even friends. I don’t need that kind of friend.
Partagas Serie D no 4 is an inexpensive daily Cuban that everyone should try.
I love most of the Plasencia line and it’s probably what I smoke the most regularly. Especially the Alma Fuerte Sixto
I also smoke a lot of Opus and I’ll be honest I really like the cigars but it’s the label that got me into it. As long as the cigars are good, I’ll always buy them because the labels are stunning. There are too many variations I smoke to name a favorite.
Lastly, I enjoy Davidoff Cigars. The price makes it difficult to be a daily smoke but just the amazing quality control of every stick is so good. It’s rare if ever that you get a bad Davidoff. There are cigars that may have more flavor or even more complexity but as far as the quality of cigar from the wrapper to the filler and Binder is unmatched in the industry in my opinion.
You have many friends in the cigar space, what is the biggest complaint you hear about this industry?
EK: There are just a saturation of accounts that serve no purpose. Many people turn a blind eye. When a repost, account gets large for example. The people who are featured regularly get a follower boost, so they happily promote and thank these accounts for featuring them because they are good for growth. It’s the wrong kind of growth. Does a #sotl really need more horny men to gawk at them? Sure, they realize that sensuality is part of the draw but that’s up to the individual accounts discretion on how and what photos to post. Behind many of these pretty faces are passionate and knowledgeable people who need to be taken seriously. Definitely for more than their looks but some need to be confident that they don’t need repost accounts or a ton of followers to be supported by brands.
Let me ask you about women and cigars. As you know in the last 5-7 years there has been a big shift and more and more women are showing interest, no, they are becoming experts in all thing’s cigars. What do you think is responsible for this movement? On that note, what else can these big tobacco industry giants do to make this industry feel more inclusion?
EK: As I partially answered in the previous question. I have many female friends in both the whisky and cigar industry. Traditionally both are still old school. They don’t always take women in the industry seriously. Many trade shows for both whisky and cigars are full of pretty women who honestly know very little about the products and are there to look pretty and it can be frustrating because the ones I know have to work twice as hard to be taken seriously and even then are treated as objects rather than people. I don’t think big tobacco is really trying that hard to change so it’s up to us to encourage and push for inclusion. Until a woman can walk into a liquor store or a humidor and be treated like a man would we still have a long way to go.
If a brand wants to work with Scotch and Time, what do you look for in terms of partnership. What should they know?
EK: I love to work with small and large brands, but the most important factor is quality. To me I can’t work with a brand that I won’t consume or smoke. It’s got to have great flavor and in terms of cigars it’s got to also be well constructed because I really get annoyed by uneven burn or bad draws. Even if it has good flavor, I don’t want to have to relight my cigar several times and if I have two or three cigars from a brand “canoe” I won’t smoke them anymore. I think it’s very common for new cigar smokers to think they are drawing improperly on a cigar and that’s why it canoes when most times it’s because it’s not properly constructed.
Any last words of wisdom?
EK: As you know I’ve always resisted interviews and it took a long time for me to agree to do one with anyone. It’s really because I don’t want what I do to be about myself. I want it to be about the brands I work with, but I realize that they also do need to know more about you. I may be fortunate to partner with great brands, but it doesn’t hurt to let people inside (I guess). For cigars it’s even more important because I do realize some people have no idea if I’m just one of those BS accounts I criticized earlier in this interview unless I say something. I appreciate those who took the time to read this and I hope I didn’t piss too many people off along the way.
