It has a nice spice profile to it but with the sweetness, a nice maduro cigar with a little depth would go well with it. Try the new Oscar Maduro from Oscar Vallardares with it. The Oscar Maduro has a candela leaf wrapped around the bottom half of the cigar. It’s one of the best maduros I’ve had in a long time. It’s rich, and it’s got a lot of coffee and chocolatey notes to it. It’s just an absolutely fantastic cigar. Warped’s El Oso, a maduro line they have made in El Titan Bronze down in Miami or the new Mr. Brownstone from Esteban Carreras would also be good choices.
At its price point, a product like Ron Barceló is not a high risk, so it should be easy to get a customer back in the store to buy it a second time. Plus, you will have sold your customer a quality product at a great price, so now you’ve also gained their trust. If a cigar or spirit is good enough in quality, it will do well as long as you have floor presence and somebody who cares enough to get out into the aisles and help the customers. When the customer sees the excitement you have for a product, it’s easy to make that sale.
With a smaller brand, if you let it grow organically, it will usually pay off. A lot of smaller companies are willing to offer you a deal or a better buy-in because they want to see their products on your shelves. They may even be willing to give you a free facing in order to get you to buy more so they can win more shelf space in your store. When brand owners are willing to work with you to get a better floor presence, you may end up with some free product, giving you a better profit margin out of those cigars. At The Party Source, we allow a lot of our facings to grow organically before we bring in a new size or product from a company.
One of the best things about being in this industry is being able to try everyone’s products. There’s so much variety, whether it be with spirits or with cigars. There are so many different options out there, yet people tend to get stuck in a rut and always smoke and drink the same thing. Be adventurous. See what else is available and learn what else might be interesting.
– Story by Nick Douglas, the assistant humidor
manager/buyer for The Party Source in Bellevue, Kentucky.
This story first appeared in the September/October 2017 issue of Tobacco Business magazine. Members of the tobacco industry are eligible for a complimentary subscription to our magazine. Click here for details.
