Who’s this Claudio guy that we’ve all been hearing about?
I'm not a third generation Cuban that was picking tobaccos in the fields with Grampa, actually I had never smoked a cigar before I started in the industry. It all came together when I met Henky Kelner while translating for him in a seminar.
When I saw him for the first time, after 30 seconds I said, "I want to be like him.” His passion and knowledge completely captured me in a way that I stopped giving Italian classes to a local school in Santo Domingo and I asked for a job to Davidoff.
I worked two and half years in the Dominican Republic for them and then went to work at the Davidoff shop in Geneva for 2 years before being promoted as the Davidoff Brand Manager in Italy for 3 years. My passion and knowledge for tobacco and cigars grew in a spectacular way because I touched all aspects of the industry, really from the seed to shelf.
I've been very lucky, but taking a lot of risk as well, never saying no to a new challenge or a moving to a new country to continue my passion. After a total of nine years at Davidoff, I left the company and moved to Miami to start working as a consultant for some small brand before I met Mombacho cigars and became a partner. That was late 2011 and, being dedicated to tobacco, production, and cigars, I moved to Granada in 2012.
How would you describe Casa Favili to someone that’s never seen it or heard its history before?
When my partners asked me what I needed to make world class premium cigars I said, "I need the most beautiful cigar factory in the world.” Casa Favilli was born for a second life as the home of Mombacho Cigars. It's a 100 year old building that we restored and converted into a State of the Art cigar factory. Everything is original and it is a classified as a historical building in Granada, Nicaragua.
The most prominent Nicaraguan architect of the last century, Mario Favilli, built the house to be his mansion while he was working throughout Nicaragua. It has four floors in a colonial style, and is an unbelievably well restored building. Once inside, you'll be saying, "I bet that 200 years ago cigars were rolled in places like this.” Today, Casa Favilli is the most visited cigar factory in Nicaragua. We opened our doors to more than 2,000 visitors in 2017.
What does the term Master Blender mean to you, a Master in your art?
There are many blenders out there that go to a factory to try samples and give the yes or no to blends. Then there is the master blender that designs the blends, sources the tobaccos, puts the quality controls in place, sets the parameters for consistency, makes sure that the blend he's creating will be reproducible… It is an extremely complex job that it goes way beyond what we think today.
"I think we'll be the most prolific cigar company of 2018. We didn't stop before and we won't now. Today, we’re feeling so confident that we're expanding to 4 new countries."
Let’s talk about the Mombacho lineup. How would you describe each of your cigars? Any favorite pairings?
The word that describes our cigars the best is, "unique.” We have different lines and all of them are puros, using 100% tobaccos from Nicaragua. I always say, "if you want to have a true Nicaraguan experience you should smoke a Nicaraguan puro!” Personally, I think that the future of cigars is in Nicaragua.
Tierra Volcan and Liga Maestro are two of the best examples of what you can get from a unique country. It is wrong when we think that cigars from Nicaragua are only strong and spicy: Tierra Volcan will give you the best of the sweetness of Nicaragua while Liga Maestro goes more into the earthy, woodsy flavors.
Pairings? It depends of my mood of course, but coffee and rum are my favorites. Try a Liga Maestro Hermoso with a very good champagne, cold (at 8 degrees Celsius), and you'll be surprised by the deepness of that association.
Until recently, Casa Favili only produced Nicaraguan puros. Which tobaccos are you most excited about working with in the future?
I'll give you a scoop! I'm working on a third line called Casa Favilli that is again a puro, using 100% Nicaraguan tobaccos. But this time, I'll be using a very special wrapper that nobody has used in the history of cigars - because it didn't exist before!
Casa Favilli Serie has a Nicaraguan Broadleaf from Jalapa, with a binder from Condega and fillers from Condega, Jalapa, and Esteli. Get ready for the most unique blend ever made in Nicaragua. We're going to show it for the first time at the IPCPR 2018.
What’s it like to live a day in the life of Claudio?
Cigar and coffee around 7:30am before breakfast, then a tour of the factory to say hello to everyone working at Casa Favilli. Then I try some cigars off the tables, make a couple international calls, then it really depends if I'm working on something new or not. I’m stuck in the office and can’t talk to anyone when trying samples.
Lunch is with everyone together at the factory - we provide free lunch to our Nicaraguan family every day. In the afternoon we review production, numbers, pounds of tobaccos, and of course I visit Jalapa, Esteli at least one a month. I also travel internationally very often, so my day is never boring!
If you could start over and do one thing differently with Mombacho or Casa Favili, what would you do? If nothing, what do you consider your greatest success?
I'd try to avoid a couple of mistakes that I made in production at the very beginning, but in the end I'm happy with those too. We learned and we're now stronger than ever!
I think Casa Favilli is our biggest achievement. It’s a unique cigar factory that allows me to work in a perfect environment. It inspires me and gives me strength while looking forward to new challenges!
What’s next for Mombacho Cigars?
The sky is the limit! The new Casa Favilli Serie, a couple of huge collaborations, and our Cosecha 2013 will soon be available.
I think we'll be the most prolific cigar company of 2018. We didn't stop before and we won't now. Today, we’re feeling so confident that we're expanding to 4 new countries. Plus new cigars – combine those two and you have the next new brand to include in your humidor’s rotation!
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