I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to meet Matthias Clock in person during a cigar event in NYC. Matthias is the founder of Fine Tobacco NYC – the largest in person cigar community in the country with events exceeding 1500+ cigar enthusiast’s yearly. Matthias also is well known within the community both online and off, being knowledgeable on all things related to cigars, from proper lighting techniques to pairings, to how to fix a canoed cigar or why the canoe happened in the first place. Lastly, not to take away from his meticulously curated cigar blog, he is an avid photographer, with an eye for even the minute details. You can follow his photography on Instagram under @matthiasclock. On that note, enjoy the interview.
Matthias we all know you know your cigars well and you own a cigar review website. How did you get started in the industry. What sparked you to take your love of cigars and write about them online.
MC: My journey into the cigar industry as a writer, cigar event host and photographer has been a long and windy one. I grew up in Hillsboro, Oregon in an anti-smoking family. I moved to New York City in college to study political philosophy and economics, and had my first cigar (a Dutch Master Palma) at the end of my freshman year. I remember thinking to myself that though the flavor wasn’t great, I loved the almost meditative state that it put me in. From there I was off to the races, and spent a lot of time at Cigar Inn (now Casa de Montecristo), Davidoff and The Carnegie Club. I also immediately started Fine Tobacco NYC as a way to document my experience of different cigars.
(Photo Credit John DeMato – L: Kelvin Batista R: David Alicea)
After about six months of that, I hosted my first cigar event on the rooftop of my building at 200 Water St. There was a massive turnout and I met my two friends David Alicea and Kelvin Batista who would become my partners in creating events for the NYC cigar community.
When you first stated fine tobacco nyc what was the focus and intent of the blog?
MC: First and foremost, the blog served as a way for me to document my experience with ‘fine tobacco’ in New York City. But if I were being honest, I also have to say that I was a broke college student and with no money to spend on cigars – so I hoped I might also be able to get some product shipped to me by manufacturers looking to have their products reviewed. That ended up working out, but my focus has since shifted to making sure the current blind review team follows a consistent review structure to assign scores.
Good or bad, what’s different about smoking cigars now versus when you first started?
MC: I’ve only been smoking for about 11 years now, but I’d say the best change in those years would have to be that major manufacturers like Altadis have really stepped up their game. When I first started smoking, I struggled to enjoy classic brands like Romeo y Julieta, Montecristo, etc. They just seemed bland and sub-par compared to many of the boutiques coming on the market. Today, those brands produce some of my favorite everyday blends: Montecristo Espada and Espada Oscuro, Trinidad Espiritu, H.Upmann by AJ Fernandez, and more. I think the game-changing moment for those brands was when Altadis (their parent company) brought Rafael Nodal of Aging Room Cigars on board as Head of Product Capability, who then brought in AJ Fernandez for a number of successful collaborations.
The bad? Smoking restrictions. Some of my best memories of my early cigar and pipe smoking days are of sitting in Bryant Park smoking a cigar and reading, or walking through Central Park on fall nights puffing on a pipe with some Nat Sherman tobacco. Those days are now long gone.
If you were to give just one bit of advice to a new cigar enthusiast, what would it be?
MC: Read about the cigars you smoke. Reviews, articles, etc. – anything that will help you understand better what you are experiencing. That will help you to refine your palate, which then allows you to make better decisions about what to smoke when and in what situations.
If you could go back in time and snag any two boxes of cigars, which would you choose and why?
MC: Any box of Davidoff Chateau. Or a box of the first batch of Davidoff Grand Cru.
What is your favorite cigar memory?
MC: David, Kelvin and I hosted a Fine Tobacco NYC cigar dinner at Merchants NY Cigar bar. The two story restaurant was able to secure a license to allow the entire venue for indoor smoking. Upstairs, we had a three course dinner with Davidoff cigars paired with single malts from Balvenie. After dinner, we moved to the downstairs lounge for cigars from La Hoya Cigars and single malts from Glenfiddich. We had about 80 guests for the evening, and for someone like me who never experienced New York when indoor smoking was permitted, it felt downright criminal.
I was so busy that night managing the event, I finally ate a very satisfying steak in a back room by myself while the party downstairs was going on. It was a special night.
We often hear about cigar myths and marketing hype. If you could dispel one such myth today by shedding knowledge on the subject, what would It be?
MC: In general I find the marketing hype for many brands to be pretty tedious. Is every cigar released onto the market each year really made “using only the finest tobacco”? I guess that’s a pet peeve for another time. In any case, the myth I’d like to dispel is this notion that’s become popular on social media that “a cigar is good if you like it.” Obviously there’s an element of truth to the statement—cigars are meant to be enjoyed after all. But the idea has been taken by some to mean that there’s no such thing as master craftsmanship, and it’s just not true. Not all tobaccos are of equal quality. Not all blenders have the same training or experience. And not all factories are arranged to maintain quality and consistency as well as others. Ergo: not all cigars are of equal quality.
You’ve seen the cigar industry from so many angles. What can we do as consumers to be better stewards of our favorite hobby?
MC: Support your local brick and mortar. It’s a tough challenge these days with COVID, especially since online prices generally are cheaper. But our cigar culture in America is at risk of losing many great cigar lounges. If we want to continue to have beautiful places to smoke cigars and socialize, we need to support those businesses.
If there was a Matthias Clock theme song what would it be and why?
MC: Gotta be honest man I have no idea.
Let’s talk about proper care for cigars. I’m looking to start collecting cigars. What is the first thing I need to purchase or do to make sure my investment is not wasted?
MC: I can only speak from my own experience. I should have ditched buying wooden humidors a lot earlier and moved to tupperdors (large airtight tupperware containers that cost ~$20/each). That would have saved me a lot money and frustration in ruined cigars.
2020 was a rocky year is an understatement. What can we hope to see from you and your brand in the upcoming year?
MC: Yeah 2020 sucked. Unfortunately it meant a temporary end to our cigar and spirits pairing events in NYC. Thankfully, we’ve made the switch to virtual events successfully and have hosted three editions of Perfect Pairings where we bring together top cigar and spirits ambassadors to talk about their products, with each attendee shipped a box of cigars and spirits to pair. So in 2021 we’ll be running many more of these events to keep the community engaged and moving forward. Other than that, I hope we can collaborate with some of the NYC cigar bars and lounges to do whatever we can to support them – whether that’s publishing updates online or running small in person events just to get people back in shops. On the website, we’ll be expanding from roughly 6 reviews a month to 12-15 reviews.
Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
MC: Just a reminder to be good to yourselves and others during this whacko time we’re all going through. We’ll get through it together. Cheers.
