In an industry built on tradition, consumers can be forgiving. What they don’t forgive is when repetition dresses itself up as something new. That’s when the gimmicks creep in  -  humidors with a new varnish, “premiumized” old stock, another line extension  -  distractions in place of real progress.

Stop acting like nobody’s watching - because they are. The premium cigar industry doesn’t have an optics problem - it has an optics delusion.

You don’t need a contract in front of you to be in a negotiation. You’re already in one. Every email where someone dodges a deadline. Every meeting where the real decision maker “isn’t available.” Every client who asks for more without saying what they’re willing to give. Every time you hesitate before asking for what you want. That’s a negotiation.

There was a time when the word “luxury” meant something. A time when buying something came with pride, when ownership meant exclusivity and when brands understood the transaction didn’t end at the register - it began there. That time is gone.

You Love One. You Trash the Other. Same Factory. Now What?

This is your house!!! And the second you forget that - or let someone else set the tone - you lose the one thing no online discounter, social media “expert,” or self-important blowhard can ever buy: Authority.

Here’s the hard truth: If you’re not the one shaping the way your customer thinks about cigars, what makes you think they’ll keep buying them from you?

MUDA thrives where no one’s willing to say no.

In a fragmented supply chain - where state taxes distort MSRP and retailers live or die by bad inventory decisions - a poor branding move doesn’t just hurt a cigar maker’s image. It burdens the entire system.

It seems like brands forgot who their real customer is. It seems like we’ve replaced smart segmentation with blanket prestige.

Because at the end of the day, whether you’re selling, buying, blending, or lighting up… you’re not just holding a product. You’re holding a choice.

The cigar is the constant. What surrounds it - that’s what changes. And if you’re not building for that change, you’re not building anything that’s going to last.

Passion is everywhere. Discipline is not.

PCA 2025 isn’t Mardi Gras. It’s not a vacation. And it’s not Bourbon … unless you want your margins pickpocketed by the distraction parade.