I recently had the opportunity to chat with Lee Marsh of Stolen Throne cigars about the brand's background, portfolio, and Lee's background in cigar making and smoking.

[Tyler Caldwell]: Just a little background for the folks at home, me and Lee have been friends for a handful of years now, and we've always been trying to get an opportunity for him to come here and film with us to do something like this and chat about Stolen Throne.

[Lee Marsh]: Yeah, I'm never in one place long enough.

[TC]: That's true, I agree with that. So let's go ahead and get into it. Let's educate the people watching this about the background of Lee Marsh and how Stolen Throne came to be.

Stolen Throne's Inception

[LM]: Yeah, man, it's just been a passion project, right? You've known me since the beginning. Stolen Throne has always been our journey through tobacco. For us, it's a brand based on quality and fair price points to be the working man or woman's cigar. All those things wrap into what Stolen Throne is. We joke that we're the outlaw brand, but really, we're just doing things the way we think it should be done. It's been five years and it's flown by. It feels like 50, but it's been five, which is awesome.

[TC]: A lot of sleepless, restless nights, but it comes with the package.

[LM]: Oh, absolutely.

[TC]: Very cool, man. So what was the initial idea for the name Stolen Throne? What's the philosophy behind the brand?

[LM]: I've told this story a bunch. I think the hardest part for me was naming the company, because everything about us is authentic and transparent. We're living the story of who we are. I didn't want something that was disingenuous, right? I just didn't want some moniker that we would have to sell every time we showed up. So it was really difficult, you know, and then it got to a point where we kind of had to do the proverbial "get off the pot" kind of thing.

At the end of the day, it's about making our way in the world and making our own place at the table. Especially being a first generation cigar-maker in an industry full of legacy brands and multiple generations.

[TC]: Absolutely. And that falls in line with being, as you said, the outlaw brand. I actually really love that. I've always respected that about you as a person and about the philosophy of the brand. Take people like Steve Saka and Robert Caldwell: these are people who hold no punches and are very transparent. I feel like that's how you and Stolen Throne are represented as well. There's no over-romanticized story or anything like that.

[LM]: No, man, the work is the work, I always say that. I don't begrudge anyone that does it differently. This is just the iteration of how I think the company should be run and how we should make cigars. That doesn't make me right and everybody else wrong, it's just our way of doing it. It's about living with what we're doing.

The outlaw thing started as a joke because we weren't paying for advertising, and we weren't starting our company with a Connecticut, Habano, and Maduro like everybody else with 15 SKUs. We launched the Crook in two sizes, and that was it. So we kind of paved the path the way we wanted to, and it's worked out. It's still so real that five years in, people are into it and are so supportive, including retailers and consumers. It's kind of become our moniker that we're the outlaw brand, but it's just a joke, you know? We're just kind of doing our thing.

Lee Marsh's Early Days

[TC]: So before you decided to say, "What the hell, I'm going to start a cigar brand," what were you doing before you got into this?

[LM]: So I kind of had a kind of weird path into cigars. I traveled a lot and I was in IT. I did some contracting work, and then, all that time I spent on the road, during my downtime I was in cigar shops all over the world. I always tell this to people, especially consumers, I don't think they grasp it: it feels like a big industry, but it's super small. We know everyone. So you meet people and then it kind of starts building and then that fire gets started.

The first factory tour and farm tour I did in La Romana years ago started this passion, and subconsciously, I didn't even know it was a passion to begin with. And then it just kept building and building and building, and I was finally like, "I'm tired of working for other people." And maybe I could do this. And I just happened to try it out and go all in. There's no such thing as being halfway pregnant. So we went all in and here we are.

[TC]: Very cool. I would imagine in those travels, since all of your stuff comes from the Rojas factory, that's where you met Noel?

[LM]: Yeah, so actually, it's a pretty funny story. The person that put us together was Island Jim. He knew us both independently and he was the first person to ever call me a cigar nerd. I was with him at the Leaf & Bean and I was talking about my aspirations and things that I wanted to do, and he was like, "Man, I know exactly who you should work with: Noel Rojas." And it was just kind of serendipitous, man. Noel and I had one conversation, and it clicked, and I was like, "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." And he's like, "What?" And I said, "Yeah, I'll be on the next flight to come see you in Dallas tomorrow." That was like seven or eight years ago.

Here we are now at the Rojas factory, another factory working its way up right now. Rojas Cigars are doing really well, us as well, so it's been a ride, man. You and I talk about this all the time. People have this notion of the overnight success of Stolen Throne Cigars, which I guess is true from the outside looking in, but really, there was a lot more work and time invested before we sold our first cigar. That's why it feels like it's been 50 years, not five.

[TC]: Sure. Yeah, I will say, talking about Noel, I met him for the first time a couple of years ago at the PCA trade show. He was a little intimidating at first, because he's so reserved. I remember coming over to the booth, because you guys were sharing the booth and everything, and we had chatted, and then we had a meeting with Noel and he had an intense stare.

[LM]: He takes a lot of things in, man. The guy's brilliant.

[TC]: He is, yes.

[LM]: He's a self-taught English speaker, so he's bilingual. He really thinks about what he says before he says it. We used to tease him about that all the time. Ask him, the next time you see him, about Ferrari Jim and his pause. Jim's like, "You ever notice how you pause before you speak?" But, he's awesome. He has a passion for cigars, tobacco, and for the consumer. I'm very lucky that he is a close friend, my mentor, and my brother. We've done so much together and we've been through a lot together, and we're just getting started.

Stolen Throne's Portfolio

[TC]: That's awesome, man. So knowing that all the product comes from the Rojas facility and everything, let's get a little bit into the product. So we said that the Crook of the Crown was the first release, which came out in a Robusto and Toro.

[LM]: Correct. The blend has always been the same. It's a Mexican San Andrés Maduro, Indonesian binder, and all Nicaraguan fillers. That was our baby, and the catalyst behind that cigar was being the "Cigar geek." I like to smoke everything, and still now, I smoke a lot of other brands and whatnot. I had the mindset that you don't want to smoke the same cigar over and over again, but what if you could make a cigar where it never got boring. The Crook is that. I can smoke that at four in the morning and I can smoke it as the last cigar of the night.

We built from there with the Call to Arms afterwards. And then the 3 Kingdoms. What a lot of people don't realize is that I wanted 3 Kingdoms to be our second cigar, but it took me three years to get that ready to go. We just launched the Yorktown Fleet last year, and now we're doing the Corona here, the Crook five-year anniversary to celebrate five years. And then, Tyler, you're smoking something new. That'll come out at PCA 2025.

[TC]: Any details from the secret files you want to talk about?

[LM]: We're working on a Habano Claro right now, using Ecuadorian tobacco and a Habano wrapper. What do you think?

[TC]: I will say, for the folks who don't know, you did have your first limited release with the Phantom Queen. My first notion was the size comparison. But clearly, it's not Connecticut, it doesn't have that profile, but there are some similarities to it. It's got that rich creaminess, but there's a little tangy zestiness going along with it, especially on the retrohale.

[LM]: Yeah, the big thing for me on that blend is there's a nice lingering spice, and then just a little bit of tang, like a citrus sourness on it too, which is really addicting.

[TC]: Almost like a sourdough bread.

[LM]: Yeah. It's a cool cigar, I think people are going to dig it. I do love that size, the 5" x 54 Belicoso. So yeah, you'll see that in the Robusto and the Belicoso vitolas.

[TC]: Very cool, man. That is awesome. So, you brought up that Call to Arms was your second release. Is there any significance behind the name or the history of it?

[LM]: Not really. Once we came up with the Crook, it kind of just fell into place. It's been really easy to stay on brand. I never know the names. They just come to me. Some have more meaning than others.

[TC]: I can say, from personal experience, that to this day the Call to Arms Corona is my favorite of the line. A local shop in town originally started carrying the Crook of the Crown and I was very close with the owner and he sent me a message one day, saying, "I got the new one in, you got to come try this." And I would put the Call to Arms in my top 10 favorite cigars of all time.

[LM]: I appreciate that, man. That's a really cool cigar.

[TC]: It's so different.

[LM]: It is, and that was kind of like a big pain point. If you want the backstory, because the Crook blew up, I figured that no matter what I did after that, people were going to compare it to that cigar. With that in mind, I knew it had to be so different, and the Call to Arms to me is our most elegant. It's the blend that's refined, exquisite, complex, and deep, but it's not overwhelming. It kind of fits everyone.

The people that love Crooks and 3 Kingdoms, the heavier stuff, they love it too, so it's kind of everything to everybody. It's just so meaningful and it's massive in Europe. A lot of people wanting some new-world cigars who were used to smoking Cubans love the Call. So yeah, I agree with you, that's a great cigar, especially in the Corona.

[TC]: Oh, absolutely. Knowing a little bit of your history now, do you recall your first experience with a cigar? What was the cigar that got you into the hobby?

[LM]: I do remember my first cigar, but it wasn't the same cigar that made me want to delve deeper into this journey and make cigars. My first cigar was a Farm Rolled that my uncle brought back from the military with him. He was a Marine. But the cigar that really drew me in was the old Camachos.

The old Camacho Corojos by the Eiroa family was the cigar that I thought, hmm, this isn't like your typical cigar. There's more going on here. That started the journey and the buildup, and then of course I went through the boutique path of smoking new. But those old Camachos kind of started the journey, if you will, that ended up becoming Stolen Throne Cigars.

[TC]: That's awesome, man. So listen, Lee, I really appreciate you coming through and doing this interview with us.

[LM]: My pleasure, man.

[TC]: Everybody at home, make sure you check out Smokingpipes.com, and check out Stolen Throne. It's a short portfolio, but it has some of the best selections on the website and on the market, so definitely check them out. We'll look forward to the new release coming out soon.