Fouad Kashouty, the owner and co-founder of Hiram & Solomon, started this company in 2015, mainly for the purpose of raising money for Masonic charities. Six years later, Hiram & Solomon is an international premium cigar company that has sold over a million cigars in over 30 countries. He is a devoted Masonic brother of over 26 years and a Master Mason, and he has served as secretary and Master of his lodge. He has also fulfilled his obligations within the Scottish Rites.
When Fouad first approached CFW about this project, CFW asked him why this was important to him. He told us that what caught his attention was CFW’s mission and how ethically and passionately all the volunteers discharged their responsibilities to the charity. Additionally, when he read posts and letters from the troops thanking CFW for their packages, it really drew him into wanting to be part of the mission. After he visited with veterans and learned from them how much a great cigar meant to deployed troops, he was inspired to take action and get involved. In speaking with Fouad’s wife, Romy, about this collaboration, she shared, “Every time we donated a bundle, I just felt that was not acceptable and that we needed to do more. I am not only extremely proud that CFW is allowing us to work with them, but I love bragging about it!”
Hiram and Solomon currently has eight lines, not including the future CFW cigar #Live2AServe, and all but two have been at Plasencia. The Curamus and the CFW cigar were made at the PDR Abe Flores Factory. The name “Live 2 Serve” is the overall motto of the charity CFW, and it means everything from the manufacturers who support them, the retailers that are donation centers, the donors and, finally, the troops themselves, all serve and support.
Fouad immediately fell in love with the name, the story behind the name and the band artwork that CFW’s director of marketing, RJ Witcher, designed for #Live2Serve. Fouad worked very hard with the factory’s master blender and came up with several blends that he felt best fit with the name, story and artwork of the future CFW cigar. CFW’s board members were very proud to be part of Fouad’s brilliant process of coming up with the final blend of the cigar. The Live2Serve cigar has a San Andrés wrapper, a Mexican binder, and ligero, seco, Dominican Corojo, ligero Dominican Criollo ’98 and Pennsylvania Broadleaf filler tobaccos.
#Live2Serve is a medium- to full-bodied cigar, and it is a perfect early morning cigar or a cigar to enjoy among friends. Because this is a limited release, CFW strongly suggests that CFW donation centers order this cigar early on and that consumers pick this up as soon as it becomes available.
The Hiram & Solomon’s CFW collaboration will be the fourth since CFW inception and the first of 2021. CFW is very excited about this project and the future ones that Fouad and Romy are already working on for CFW. You can keep up with CFW and all of its current and future projects by subscribing to its newsletter at cigarsforwarriors.org.
This story first appeared in the May/June 2021 issue of Tobacco Business magazine. Members of the tobacco industry are eligible for a complimentary subscription to our magazine. Click here for details.
