Recently. I had the rare privilege to meet and talk to Carlos Fuentes. Jr. of Cigar Family and maker of Fuentes cigars which feature Fuentes. Diamond Crown and Opus cigars. He came to meet and greet cigar aficionados in Lubbock during an afternoon stop at the local cigar merchant and to push his charity organization which raises funds for medicine education and baseball parks in Nicaragua. I was enjoying the afternoon talking to one of his sales reps about the cigar business while puffing one of the better Fuentes Churchill's at a table at the store when Carlos (some call him Carlitos because his father is still in the business although "Carlitos" is probably older than I) came and asked if I minded if he sat down at our table. I said no on behalf of the table and even moved the food of a friend of mine to make room for him knowing that the friend would come back and see I'd given his seat away but what are friends for? Carlos sat down and removed his trademark Panama straw hat and began to chat about the Boston Red Sox game on television. So we began talking baseball and he let us know he was a Red Sox fan even though he was from Tampa. Florida. While there is room for growth in all of us restraint is certainly a worthy objective at times since there are some teams I really don't like. Boston being one of them. But as they began saying in the 1960's. "Who am I to judge?" when I'm sitting at the table with Mr. Carlos Fuentes of Cigar Family and Fuentes cigars?I mentioned to him that I had been in Tampa recently and enjoyed the city (it really is a gorgeous city). He asked if I knew that Tampa was home to the cigar (hell no) and I said. "Why no. I didn't know that." Yes he went on and he mentioned the move of tobacco by trade and that cigar makers began the trade there and that they moved to various places including Cuba over the years. Where is your family from to begin with? I asked and he replied Cuba and Nicaragua (of course anyone with a family in the cigar business for more than 10 years will have their roots in pre-Castro Cuba - a truth and not a stereotype). He however was born in Tampa and raised there but he travels quite often to the tobacco plantations in Nicaragua. I asked about his project and he went on for about 10 minutes describing in detail how the money he raises by the $50 purchase of two of his finer cigars has gone to doctors hospitals ball parks and schools in Nicaragua. Baseball is a worthy enterprise. I noted to him and he noted the popularity of the sport in Latin America especially Mexico and Central America including Cuba and the Caribbean islands. We then moved to politics where you learn that many of the cigar manufacturers are hyper-conservative. Their trade and love (and a cigar lover is exactly that) is under assault by the puritanical health nuts in Western nations who are on this quest for the elusive escape from death award. Politically savvy (which is not rare among the makers and retailers of cigars or the magazines which tout them like Cigar Aficionado) he explained why the direction of the election was spelling disaster for the industry in the United States but that we were not alone. Australia his most recent trip overseas has just begun a push to eliminate smoking in virtually every establishment and he even noted some countries in Africa are doing the same. While the pretzel logic of the puritanical health nuts seems to be prevailing people are finding ways to enjoy cigars and he feels as though the industry will survive. The average Joe Sixpack. Plumber or other name you affix will begin to have less of a chance to enjoy them as though go up in price. We talk about cigars then and how they are made. To smoke a cigar is to smoke a product that has been in the making for a minimum of eight years he explained. From seed selection to planting and growing (some tobacco is sun grown and some is shaded for the effect of strength) to aging (this is where health nuts lose their edge cigars are not chemically treated the tobacco is fermented like wine and the smoker rarely inhales) to selecting lots and blending the tobacco into a "stick" with the idea of consistency to warehousing in their molds to removing labeling boxing and shipping - the process is long well-supervised and marketing is very intentional. The topic is so interesting that I noted that Carlos went from passive to passionate at this stage of the conversation. We move back to baseball and I note my friend whose spot I took has wedged himself in between two men at the table now having about 15 people in number (originally meant for three) as people gather to hear the cigar master speak as we sit at his feet and listen. We talked and laughed and I considered a shameless attempt at throwing myself at Carlitos mercy for a job in an industry I love. But groveling and crying while hugging the feet of such a man seemed to me to be in a word.. well less than dignified. But I did consider it for just a fleeting moment. I felt comfortable enough at that point to let him know that being a native Houstonian and an Astros fan. I was now pulling for his home town's team. He nodded approvingly (I could tell he approved) and he reasserted the fact that he liked Boston. Baseball however is his favorite sport. I nodded as well (as if he cared what my favorite sport was). At that point he pulled out his cutter (how you take the cap off a cigar to smoke it) and cut the end of an Opus XX (can you say $30?). He searched for a lighter and about 50 were produced at the table by people who were now enjoying his company as well. Sitting in an afternoon with a group of people you don't know but whom you know as friends. Sitting with a man whose company is kept by people who make money we cannot begin to fathom (I saw the label in his hat - Monticristi came back and googled it.... I won't be wearing Monticrist's) from around the world and yet who can sit and talk with blue collar guys like he can with the upper crust. Sitting with baseball on as a background activity and while smoking a fine cigar. Talking politically without arguing. What more can you ask?
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Related article:
http://baseballmoments.blogspot.com/2008/10/of-cigars-politics-baseball-and-friends.html
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