Potter Ranch Tabac: My Journey

I lit my first cigar at fourteen — an Onyx Black robusto. I loved it instantly. My grandfather, a man who wore many hats — scholar, soldier, businessman — was larger than life. He was as quick to share his failures as his triumphs, teaching me that setbacks weren’t endings, they were springboards. He smoked a pipe, I smoked cigars. Though we never shared a bowl or a stick together, the sentiment was there. The love of the leaf was in our bloodline.

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In late 2014, a good friend of mine launched his own cigar. He made it look effortless — box-pressed powder kegs and a new shop in Harrison, NY. Watching him lit a fuse in me, one that would go off a year later.

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By 2015, I was in Nicaragua, rolling for the first time. Badly, but rolling. The more you do, the more you learn. I studied every leaf, every country of origin, every nuance. By the end of the year, I had a couple dozen prototypes, some packaged and released the following year.

 

In 2016, I dropped my first national release: the Double Claro Habano under the “Muestra de Tabac” line. It was my single, before the record. The name was long, so for FDA it became MDT-DCH. It was cutting-edge, a little obscure, and it set me apart. That year I was on fire. Ideas pouring out faster than I could roll them.

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2017 brought me to Guillermo Peña at La Perla Tabacalera (now Las Villas Cigars S.A.) in Estelí. Born in Cuba’s legendary Las Villas region, Gui carried generations of craft in his hands. He became both collaborator and friend. A seasoned cigar maker once told me, “Never leave anything to chance. Once a box is printed, it can’t be reprinted.” Since then, I’ve visited the factory three to five times a year — because nothing important should be left to email.

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That same year, I launched the Southwest Cigar Road Show — Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada. Then the New York tri-state area. Forty accounts by year’s end, plus steady trips back to Nicaragua, working on future blends.

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By 2018, I was spending more time on the farms. I wanted to understand tobacco at its roots. In Condega, I worked with a farmer growing a corojo seed I had tracked down. It yielded two full pilons. I created my own version of patoon, a fermentation liquid that later defined blends like Saciar and Hoy Vivo. Ten thousand pounds of tobacco lasts a long time for a boutique brand, and I saved plenty for the future. That year, I took 500 pounds of that special leaf to Ernesto Pérez-Carrillo, and together we produced the first liga of Hoy Vivo in a 56x6 cabinet box of 50. Saciar, blend #18, was born the same year.

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2020 — a global mess, but my best sales year. Virtual cigar events? Terrible. But I opened my first cigar shop and released my most popular line to date: Milk & Honey.

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2021 was a game-changer. Milk & Honey caught fire, and I took the leap into trade shows, securing a booth at TPE in Las Vegas. The logistics, costs, and chaos nearly broke me, but it paid off in visibility. Boston Jimmy of Stogie Press even documented the madness.

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2022 was rough. Two big trade shows, two big suite parties — but the numbers didn’t add up. The exposure wasn’t worth the cost. The so-called “ratings” game felt rigged, and I wasn’t going to play it. But I wasn’t about to quit either. I did what I do best: hit the road. Drove 6,600 miles across the U.S., shook hands, rolled cigars in lounges, opened new accounts. By year’s end, I broke even. No loss. That was a win.

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In 2023, I stepped back from the trade show circuit and put more miles on the road. I returned to Nicaragua after an 18-month hiatus, curating new blends and ideas. I launched a belt buckle + cigar combo for Tulsa King fans, auctioning off a signed box and buckle. I met with Raul Disla — a legend in our industry — and we talked about growing seed together at his brother’s farm. A possible collaboration looms. Meanwhile, I’m focused on two new iterations of Milk & Honey, the line that put me firmly on the map.

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Ten years later, the fire still burns. I started as a kid with an Onyx robusto, and today Potter Ranch Tabac stands as a boutique brand built on grit, risk, and relentless love of the leaf.