Hey, everybody. I'm Shane Ireland. Welcome to another episode of "Smoke Rings." I recently had the opportunity to talk with a very special guest, Mr. Ian Reith from Dapper Cigars. We discussed the Smokingpipes' exclusive La Madrina cigar, the first collaboration between Dapper and Smokingpipes, an exciting release that has been years in the making.

[Shane Ireland]: Great to see you.

[Ian Reith]: Good to see you, man. It's been a minute.

[SI]: This is a long project, finally coming to life, right?

[IR]: This is a super exciting project. It's always nice when you see it come to life, right?

[SI]: I do have to say the final result of this is something that I am thrilled about. We'll get back into that in a minute. But you've managed to produce an incredible smoke with this. So, let's catch everybody up. We started talking about this, just the idea of doing something together, with Dapper and Smokingpipes, and we were delighted to be able to play around in the La Madrina space, which is a favorite here. We've had different versions of La Madrina make it into our top-10 list multiple times over the years. We smoke a lot of 'em, and they're fantastic cigars, so because of our love for these cigars and smaller sizes, we wondered what we could do.

[IR]: Right. It's been three years since we started. And I think what's particularly precious about this project is that La Madrina is one of our top brands.

[SI]: It's really the flagship of Dapper.

[IR]: It really is. It's the one brand that people look at and they immediately know the band, and they immediately recognize and associate it with our company. It resonates both domestically and internationally. We sell it all over the world, and there's a lot of stuff on the internet, so we get a bunch of people asking about this brand. And so, to do a special edition with this brand, it's very cool, and I'm glad that we put so much effort into it. I'm glad we took the time to do it right because the brand does need that, I think.

[SI]: Yes, agreed. And we at Smokingpipes do also feel honored to be able to participate in this. And again, I think the result is outstanding. So, let's talk a tiny bit about La Madrina before we get into this specific blend and vitola. Was La Madrina the first brand that you guys released?

[IR]: No, Cubo was the first. La Madrina was a line that we released with El Borracho. We did the Cubo Sumatra around the same time. But La Madrina is really the brand that took off out of all of them. We sell a lot of El Borracho, too, and that's a very popular brand. And this is the original Habano variant, basically, in a special format.

[SI]: So, tell us a little bit about what makes that blend so popular. Why is it so special?

[IR]: I think it's a combination of both the blend and the imagery if you ask me.

[SI]: Yeah, sure.

[IR]: Obviously, we want to make good cigars, so for every cigar that we make, we want to really put our best foot forward. But the blend itself is pretty complex because it uses a lot of different tobacco. It's hard to find factories that have all that tobacco to use. Fortunately, with NACSA and with the Oliva tobacco family, we're able to get all of these tobaccos so that we can use them in this blend. The wrapper is Ecuadorian Habano Rosado from Oliva. The binder's a Mexican binder. And we use some Dominican fillers, Nicaraguan fillers, and U.S. fillers. It's a very complex blend.

[SI]: Interesting.

[IR]: I think that creates a really good smoking experience and a really interesting profile. The composition of the tobacco and the flavor, along with the fact that it's maybe not too strong but a little bit more on the full side, gives you something a little bit different, and it's extremely clean. I think all of those things combined with the imagery ... that's why it's really popular.

[SI]: Well, yeah. It's got to catch your eye first. And that's why you try a thing. But, the smoke itself needs to deliver.

[IR]: 100%.

[SI]: And I think the complexity factor is one of the aspects of the original La Madrina blend that really captivated us here internally. Especially for pipe smokers who put a high degree of emphasis on complexity, maybe even more so than body and strength, it delivered consistently. And that was one of the reasons we were so excited about this. And I do remember when we first started iterating on this, one of the things that you explained to me was that because the blend included so many different types of tobaccos, that is one of the challenges of producing in terms of construction, quality, and everything else in a smaller format, right?

[IR]: Yeah, what we originally blended this on was in that 50 gauge. And so as you're going for bigger, it's easier to accommodate because you start getting into these Lonsdale Corona sizes and wonder how that's going to work out in the blend. And I'm actually really surprised and shocked at how well it worked out.

[SI]: Yeah. What were your initial impressions — I can share mine as well — when we started smoking the samples of this iteration? Way back when.

[IR]: I liked it. But, to be fair, I like this a lot more because it's got a lot more time on it. When we were smoking through the samples, we didn't have a whole lot of time on those cigars.

[SI]: They were fresh, yeah.

[IR]: Very fresh. And you kind of hope you know what it will go on to taste like with some age, whether way better or sort of better. And in this situation, it got way better. And I think just by waiting that time, giving it the time to rest, and letting it get completely melded, it's just a really nice cigar.

[SI]: It is.

[IR]: I'm really happy with how it came out.

[SI]: What's a standard aging period in the aging rooms, in a factory, in South America?

[IR]: I mean, I don't know all the factories. I don't want to ruffle any feathers. But, you know, generally for our La Madrina line, because it is the best-selling line that we have, both in the Shade and in the Habano version, we're probably resting these after roll for around three months.

[SI]: I was going to say 60 to 90 days seems pretty standard. In this case, for this project, we're talking about somewhere between 12 and 18 months, though.

[IR]: Yes. We're talking a lot longer. And when we're making our normal production, we're really waiting for the internal humidity to be right. Then that's kind of our barometer for when to ship. And in this situation, it's gone beyond that, in that, not only is it about the internal humidity or the moisture in it, but also about letting the tobacco meld together over the next year, year and a half. And there's just nothing that can really replicate that. Because the cigars are not packaged, they're not cellophane; they're in a wheel, they're sitting there in a controlled environment, so that really helped the cigar, I think. And it really shows when you smoke it.

[SI]: Absolutely,

[IR]: It burns phenomenally. It has a really great, soft, and subtle touch to it. It's not overly aggressive. It doesn't feel too sharp.

[SI]: But at the same time, it's extremely rich.

[IR]: It's extremely rich and complex, and very clean through the nose.

[SI]: The retrohale is maybe my favorite part. And it does remind me of aged pipe-tobacco blends that have Perique in them that have that fruitiness and also some of those earthy characteristics. It is an extremely complex cigar. And as many of them as I've smoked, I've been able to find something new every time I smoke it.

[IR]: The cigar is great, but I also think the packaging is great. We shouldn't be about the packaging, but, you know, we'll throw a little vanity element into it.

[SI]: I feel like that's the flex, right? You know what mean? You make a great cigar, and people are going to smoke it and say, "That's a great cigar." And the packaging is a little bit of a flex. That's the thing: the La Madrina branding is so iconic at this point. It was really fun to collaborate on what we could do to set this apart, but have it still very much feel in line with the rest of the brand. And yeah, I think this limited-edition colorway is gorgeous. It might be kind of hard to pick it up this far away, but close up, basically, the differences here are that graphite, charcoal tone.

[IR]: This is a first for us. We try to spend a lot of effort and time to package things beautifully. At least what we think is beautiful. And that requires a lot of time and prep, because the level of effort it takes to print these kinds of bands; we have to get these from Vrijdag in Holland. Most people who do a limited edition don't want to go through the time and hassle of doing that. It's just easier to slap on a secondary band that's a little simpler. And that's fine too. But for this project, it was really great that we could actually do a special colorway and create a unique secondary band. I just love the Smokingpipes logo in the center, which was your idea. It came out great and it matches the band 100%. It's really gorgeous. I mean, I think it's unique, it's gorgeous, and it pops.

[SI]: We obviously all saw the proofs and we were excited about it. But man, when they landed, I was like, "Oh man." That was worth the time and effort.

[IR]: Yeah, and that says a lot too because most people don't want to wait the amount of time it takes to print these things. It's not a very quick turnaround.

[SI]: Of course.

[IR]: I think it took us maybe eight to nine months just to send it to the printers and then finally receive the actual products in the mail. Yeah, that's a long time to wait for anything. And I'm really happy we did it because it's phenomenal. And I'm glad that we also did the box the way that it looks. To have 10-counts with the individual trays in them and stuff — it makes the whole thing pop.

[SI]: Yeah, and that's the thing, I remember having that conversation a number of times where, from our perspective, we would've waited two more years, it didn't matter. As long as the cigar was exactly where we wanted it, and as long as the packaging was something that we were both proud to put our brands on, we didn't care how long it took. And again, I'm glad we took that approach because what we ended up with is something extremely special. Now, I also want to get your opinion on this, and again, this might be coming more from the pipe and pipe-tobacco side, but whenever I find something that I enjoy smoking, one of the first thoughts that goes through my head is, how long are the legs on this thing? What is the aging potential of something like this? And I'm smoking this now after all of that extra time that we talked about, beyond the 60-to-90-day industry standard that these rested, and man, there is so much flavor and there's a perfect amount of body and strength. I think these will age well for a very long time.

[IR]: I hope so.

[SI]: Yeah, I hope so too. I'm pretty sure about it, though. If it's something that is maybe overly spicy or rustic, to begin with, you end up with a little bit of a decline in the power and the oomph over time. But I think that this has the sort of elegance, approachability, and the kind of flavor profile that a lot of that richness is going to get amplified over time. And I think this cigar will continue to develop in pretty special ways.

[IR]: I think it's got enough strength to last some time in the aging room. Because sometimes when you have cigars that are a little bit too mild or too strong, they don't tend to age really well. I can't wait to see what these taste like one year, two years, three years down the road, and so on.

[SI]: We had a little bit of a release party scheduled here at Low Country Pipe & Cigar, locally in South Carolina, on Friday, March 1st, for the Smokingpipes exclusive cigar, Dapper: La Madrina Lonsdale, which will be available on Smokingpipes beginning on March 9th. We made 250 10-count boxes. So it's a very limited run of these well-aged cigars. It's 6.5" by 46 with a little fantail.

[IR]: I like the fantail because you can just pop that thing off and you don't have to have a cutter on you. I like that.

[SI]: As a consumer, I was shocked by how many cigar blenders, producers, and manufacturers just don't have a cutter or a torch on them and it's all fingernails and Bic lighters.

[IR]: Yeah, that would be me.

[SI]: I feel like I'm over-equipped whenever I'm around some cigar smokers.

[IR]: It's best enjoyed by pulling off the cap and lighting with a Bic lighter, the old-school way.

[SI]: Ian, thank you again for this.

[IR]: Absolutely.

[SI]: I'm so excited about this project. We should have made an extra 50 boxes just for my own stash.

[IR]: Or my own.

[SI]: That was maybe an oversight, but it's all good. But seriously, give this one a try. Especially if you're a fan of Ian's other cigars and La Madrina in general. But I think anybody who's smoking pipes or cigars and likes complexity, richness, and medium-plus body and strength is going to find this to be amazing. I feel weird giving such high praise to something that we worked on together. But seriously, it's a great smoke.

[IR]: It's really great. I appreciate you guys. I couldn't have asked for a better launch. I mean, when you talk about going full out and doing everything 100% correct, it's good to have a partner on board that we can do that with, and I think it really reflects on this product.

[SI]: Well, if you want to go arguably more full out than you need to, we're always here, we're always game. And that's the kind of stuff we love to do.

[IR]: Love it.

[SI]: Thanks so much, everybody.

[IR]: Thanks, guys.