In this episode of Smoke Rings, I sat down with the Director of Sales at Warped Cigars, Scott Lewis, as we chatted about some of the unique recent releases from the brand, including the collaborative New Day cigar, the latest core line release, Sarto, some distinctive merchandise that goes beyond the ordinary swag of cigar retailers, and even a brand-new event-exclusive cigar.

[Tyler Caldwell]: What's up everybody, Tyler Caldwell here with Smokingpipes.com, and right here is my main man, Scott Lewis. It's a pleasure to have you here with us.

[Scott Lewis]: Man, it's awesome to be here, coming to visit you guys, not only at Low Country, but also at the new Laudisi headquarters. It's just phenomenal. This facility is as cool as it gets in the cigar industry. There is not another scenario out there in the continental United States like what you guys have built here, and it's just truly impressive. I'm happy to be here.

[TC]: We definitely appreciate all the kind words. It's always a pleasure to have you here with us.

New Day

[TC]: Before we get into the deep dive conversations here, let's go over a little bit of what we're smoking today and let the folks at home watching know about it.

[SL]: We are smoking New Day. New Day was a brainchild of me and Kyle, to a certain point. We took 12 valued retail partners, Smokingpipes and Laudisi being one of them, and we let the retailers vote on the blend and the size of the cigar. It sounds like a simple concept, but it's not. Putting 12 independently thinking retailers together that all had a concept and an idea that they wanted to see facilitated by us, there was a little bit of a back and forth, but we ended up settling on a Sumatra-wrapped Cañonazo.

A Cañonazo is a traditional Cuban size, 5.875" by 52. I would call it a true medium. It's a mixture of Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers and it's made at Tabacalera La Isla. Like I said, there's only 12 retailers across the country that received this cigar, so we're happy that you guys are one of them and we're really proud of the retailer's effort as well as our own to kind of blend 12 different people's concepts into one finished product.

[TC]: It was interesting for me because I wasn't completely aware of the project right away and I had a package come in and I thought, cool, it's from Warped. What is this? And here it is, a package of cigars with no bands, no information, nothing. Being a person who loves marketing research and development projects, it really resonated with me and I was super interested in it. I'm very happy to know that Smokingpipes was a part of this project.

[SL]: Absolutely. It was also interesting for Kyle because he is someone that develops his own cigars. He is not as concerned with other people's input when he's blending. It's his way. It always has been. That's one of the driving factors that's led to our success, right? But with this, he kind of lost a little bit of control, so that was a different process for him. I think he grew a little bit as well in the process, as we all did, and we came out with a great cigar at a reasonable price point that is limited to a certain capacity. It's doing very well.

[TC]: Absolutely. I've been very pleased with it. I've smoked a handful of them so far. It has an interesting profile to me. It stands out from the normal flavoring, style, and taste of Warped tobacco. Especially with a name like New Day, it's almost like a new experience if you're already a fan of Warped.

[SL]: Yeah, that was the angle on the marketing side of things; it is a new experience for all of us. It's also outside of your norm as well to have regular input on a product that a specific manufacturer is making for you. I think it was an interesting concept.

We had to go through lots of different samples to get it right, and then also considering some of the sizes that other retailers wanted, the Lanceros, Lonsdales, 6" x 60s. We were very happy with the wrapper and filler choices as well as the size that everybody kind of landed on because it was a majority vote. Not everybody voted for Cañonazo, obviously, but this is what we ended up with. Another cool piece of it is we were very transparent with the voting. We sent out reports so you could see how everybody voted as well.

[TC]: Very cool, man. I will say, I've been very pleased with it. I'm very excited about this project. Is New Day a one-time release, or is this something that will be an every year thing?

[SL]: Well, in theory, I think it's something that we could try to do once a year. Maybe some of the retailers would change, and maybe we would spice it up with a colorway change to delineate years. I don't know how it'll play out.

[TC]: A work in progress, I love it.

Well, now that we have talked about New Day, make sure you check it out on Smokingpipes.com. Grab you a stick, grab you a box, whatever you like, and let us know what you think of it.

Sarto and Promotional Items for Events

[TC]: Let's talk about some other things we have on the table here.

[SL]: Absolutely. Our newest core line release is Sarto, which comes in three sizes: Double Corona, Toro, and Robusto. It was our first regular core line production out of NACSA; NACSA has been a gift for us. Their tobacco, their manufacturing facilities, their shipping processes, and everything is just top notch. We can't be more excited to work with them in creating the products that we have in the works.

Sarto is named after Kyle's Cane Corso that unfortunately passed away last year. Sarto was a staple at the office. He was an absolute drool monster. If you saw him, you had a string of drool on your pants or shorts or shoes or whatever he decided to touch. He was awesome. He sadly had a seizure disorder and his quality of life deteriorated very quickly.

With Sarto, some of the promotional items for in-store events are Sarto dog toys with the Warped "W." Then we also have the Sarto dog collar that comes in three sizes, medium, large and extra large. These unique items are a way to pay homage to a staple in our office.

He was around the office on a daily basis for about six years. Even for the mail and UPS people, he was the highlight of everybody's day. He was 140 pounds moving quickly at you when you came to drop stuff off at our office. It's sad for everybody. He's not around, but this is a super cool project to honor the dog in the cigar.

[TC]: The cigar industry, for lack of better terms, can be a little oversaturated with what we call swag. Consumers eventually get a little tired of the same type of swag; the same cutters, lighters, things like that. Having something that's just different, unique, and pleasant is great. And who doesn't love dogs?

[SL]: My grandpa used to tell me not to trust anybody with a cat.

Anyway, Kyle likes to bring things, and I do as well, that you're not going to see at your regular event. Of course we have t-shirts, hats, and other clothing items. But we enjoy coming out with things that tie into the story of the cigar a little bit better, and add a little bit of an emotional appeal to the experience. We think that there's immense value in that.

[TC]: Is there any more information on the Sarto that you'd love to tell the folks at home?

[SL]: Sarto, for us, was doing our best to provide a highly requested smoking experience. People really wished that Warped had a full-bodied experience. Warped cigars kind of tend to stay in medium plus at the heaviest. Sarto, to me, is on the lighter end of a full-bodied experience. It still has that Warped signature taste, but all of a sudden you're utilizing new NACSA or Oliva family tobaccos that we have not had access to before, yet they're still blended the Kyle way. It's a little bit beefier. That was the goal with Sarto: to expand our portfolio a bit and give that audience something they've been looking for from Warped.

Yeah. Provide something for him as well as, you know, the light cigar smoker that wants to smoke the La Colmena with coffee, right?

[TC]: What I love about your portfolio is that there is something for every type of smoker, whether it's your first cigar, you've smoked cigars for 50 years, you like mild, you like medium, you like spicy, there's something for everyone. The Sarto was a perfect fit into the portfolio.

[SL]: Yeah, it provides a new experience with some extra oomph in the nicotine content. Sarto has been very well received. The Double Corona size also is different for us. Having a 7" x 54 is not a Warped standard but certainly has been something that we've been asked to make. The blend really translated well to the Double Corona. Each of the three sizes is independently blended to give a very similar overall flavor profile.

[TC]: Very cool, man. We've got some really cool swag to give away at events in the future with Warped. We're looking forward to it.

New Event-Exclusive Cigar: R/Waste

[TC]: We've also got a really interesting box here.

[SL]: Yes, we have a new event-only cigar. We used to have one called Celestial for many years, which did very well for us. It was sought after and drew people to our events. This cigar is better than that, in my opinion. This is the R/Waste, which is a Barber Pole stick.

The first wrapper that we are synonymous with using is Ecuadorian Deflorada. Desflorada has a light-shaded Connecticut wrapper that we're known to utilize. Half of the Barber Pole in that box is that wrapper, and the other leaf is the newest wrapper that we have utilized: real-deal Connecticut Valley Connecticut Broadleaf.

These are manufactured at NACSA. They luckily have both varietals of tobacco in spades. I believe this Barber Pole does a very good job of blending the tobaccos together. The fillers are a mixture of Nicaraguan tobacco from three different regions and the cigar performs well. Sometimes Barber Poles can be a little bit mix-matched, in my opinion, and don't offer a balanced profile, or one of the wrapper tobaccos is wildly stronger than the other one.

However, these two wrappers happen to have a bit of harmony and then are paired with some of the Viso and the other fillers that we utilized in this. The result is a very well-performing, balanced cigar that I enjoy smoking. This cigar is an event-only offering, so you'll have to stay tuned for our latest events and be sure to come to the next one to get your hands on the R/Waste.

Scott Lewis' Journey To Warped & Recommendations

[TC]: For people who don't know Warped, and specifically don't know who Scott Lewis is, why don't we give them a little breakdown of how you got introduced to Warped?

[SL]: It's an interesting story. It's not super detailed or complex but before I started working for Warped as an Account Manager, I sold corporate website development packages. Essentially I was selling search engine marketing and optimization for a regional company in Florida and I did quite well, but I kind of stumbled in oddly to Kyle's mother at a networking event. She is an accountant and we were at the same networking event, so we got to talking to Kathy and a couple weeks later I had an interview and the rest is history. It's one of those right place, right time deals. I'm very happy it went down like it did.

[TC]: How many years have you been with Warped so far?

[SL]: Nine.

[TC]: That's awesome. Let me ask you, with nine years of experience as a Warped cigar smoker, for those who are maybe not so familiar with Warped or if they've been wanting to dip their toes into the Warped water there, What would you recommend for people to get into and what are some of your favorites?

[SL]: If you have never smoked any cigars manufactured by Warped, I would personally start with the Cocodrilo Toro. It's a newer release, released midway through 2024. I think that it gives a new cigar smoker, or someone new to our brand, an opportunity to enjoy the cigar without being overpowered.

Secondly, it has a profile that is detailed yet non-invasive, right? Again, it's not going to be something that knocks anyone out, but at the same time, there's still enough cigar there to make that first-time consumer happy.

I think the sleeper cigar, if you have smoked a couple of Warped cigars and you haven't smoked them all, is any variant of the El Oso. I think that blend, for me, is right up at the top of what we do.

[TC]: Absolutely. I remember trying El Oso when it first came out. Ever since, I have loved it and have thought that it is a blend that just knocks it out of the park. The Primo, the Smokingpipes exclusive vitola, is equivalently as good as the rest of the line.

[SL]: I used to love smoking a cigar that we discontinued called El Oso Cub. El Oso Primo is as close to El Oso Cub as you're going to get without having El Oso Cub. I think that cigar and that project turned out phenomenally. I know they're still available at Smokingpipes. I hope that the folks that have bought them have enjoyed them as much as I have because it's just a great blend with great branding. It is one of my favorite blends to smoke on a day in, day out basis by Warped.

[TC]: Awesome, man. Warped has a wide portfolio with something for everyone, all the way from cost-efficient cigars like the Cloud Hopper, up to the more premium end, like the Piece Unique, which is also a newer release that has come out. Check out Warped on Smokingpipes and let us know which ones are your favorite.