WHY WE LOVE TOBACCONISTS

 

A Tobacconist, by definition, is an expert dealer in tobacco and the related accoutrements.  It sounds simple enough, but it is profoundly complex and challenging.  Partly because the products we sell are a combination of high art and science which exist to bring subjective pleasure to a vast spectrum of individuals with varying tastes, values and personalities.  If the world of cigar and pipe smokers are a "family" or "brotherhood" as many like to say, it is the world's most diverse example of these groups.  The fact that premium cigars and pipes bring people together is true, but it is the Tobacconist that stands at the center of this culture, in service to the people and products.

They come in all shapes and sizes, genders, personality types and economic backgrounds, to say the least.  By its very nature, the job rarely provides enough to thrive, so most Tobacconists work part time as a way to engage their passion and enjoy the camaraderie.  In an industry seemingly dominated by celebrity cigar makers, aspirational marketing and a culture of luxury, Tobacconists are the humble infantry, bedrock and glue that sustain and support everything.  

Tobacconists are the unsung heroes of the luxury tobacco industry, and I'll tell you why...  

They are the face of every transaction.  Tobacconists are there to source and curate delicate products and be the human fount of helpful information for customers, both learned and not.  Tobacconists communicate about the provenance, features, and backstory of products while catering to the specific tastes and needs of myriad customer types.  But this is the fun part.  They must also face the customer when things go awry.  Tobacconists are there when your cigar is plugged, when the wrappers crack, when you find a foreign object lodged in the filler, when the product 'just doesn't taste right', and when you've had a really bad day.  And they do this every day!

Tobacconists must face their customers in real life, not hiding behind a screen, phone or sexy advertisement when things go bad: leaking lighters, bad humidification, broken humidors, cracked pipes, mold and so much more!  We didn't start the fire, but we put it out when a customer's fallen embers start a fire in the couch crevice - this has happened to me more than once!  And then there is the retail theft, or quarrelling political arguments upsetting the lounge, or the guy who only smokes Cubans, a defective batch of cigars/humidors/lighters, or the malfunctioning humidifier creating a catastrophic rain forest in the humidor that must be attended to, all while being present to service customers and honor the brands we represent.  And then there is that sad day when you find the brand you have introduced your customers to is available online for less than what you pay for it.  All of these things are inevitably happening every day.  These are just some of the reasons Tobacconists are the unsung heroes of the luxury tobacco industry.

I remember back in 2008 when TU was organizing to become the exclusive academic curriculum of the RTDA, (then IPCPR and now the PCA) we were asked to consider changing our name to something that did not have the word 'tobacco' in it.  Those were darker days with snowballing taxation, increasing smoking bans and looming FDA regulation.  They suggested 'Cigarologist' or something absurd like that: we said no.  

We are Tobacconist University, always have been and always will be.  We exist to support, educate and celebrate professional Tobacconists!  We love Tobacconists and we hope you do too.

     

TU: The Unredacted Story

The PCA Interview: Looking Back At 29 Years Of Tobacconist Education

When was your organization founded/launched?

Tobacconist University (TU) was founded in 1996 as a proprietary educational program for a two-store chain of luxury, full-service retail tobacconists in ivy league and tourist towns.  It also provided educational seminars for consumer events and certifications.  In the 1990s, the release of Cigar Aficionado magazine facilitated a cigar boom which elevated consumer knowledge and sophistication, creating a need and opportunity for highly trained professionals.  By the early 2000s it was clear that the emerging internet was also providing a huge amount of information, both good and bad, so TU evolved into a publicly available educational resource.  By 2008 the professional Certified Retail Tobacconist (CRT) program was available online at www.tobacconistuniversity.org and TU became the official educational curriculum of the RTDA-IPCPR-PCA, providing free education and low-cost certification to brick and mortar retail tobacconists, as well as consumers.

Tell us about your educational program. What can people get from going through it?

The majority of our academic curriculum is available for free, online in the TU CAMPUS.  It includes Tobacco, Accoutrements, Taste and Service Colleges, as well as a Tobacconist FAQs and the largest online and multi-media/hyper-linked glossary of tobacco/tobacconist related terms anywhere in the world.   We start with the definition that a Tobacconist is an expert in tobacco and all the related accoutrements and provide all of the history, science, agricultural, manufacturing, business-specific and practical knowledge that is necessary to achieve that minimal goal. 

An equally important fundamental premise in the TU Academic Curriculum is that “Taste” is subjective, so there is no objective right or wrong with regard to human preferences, likes or dislikes.  This perspective allows us to remain brand neutral and focused on un-biased education.  Above all, we focus on teaching strong fundamentals when science and facts apply and empowering individuals to develop their own perspective and opinions when artistry and taste is required.

What makes your organization’s approach to education different from its competitors?

Firstly, TU is the first and only organization to educate and certify tobacconists.  Recent years have seen 'influencers' attempting to sell education but we don't consider that competition.  

The TU Academic Curriculum was thoroughly researched and documented for more than a decade (1996-2008) before being released as a freely available public resource.  It is not hidden behind a paywall, but rather on display for all to learn, scrutinize and contribute to.  We are committed to triple sourcing our facts rather than parroting marketing jargon, subjective or editorialized opinion and biased or inaccurate information.  We start with the premise that ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ and refuse to repeat information just because someone of repute ‘says so’.  Our RESOURCES section is available for public scrutiny on our website and it includes more than one hundred books (both current and out-of-print), scientific studies and professional interviews on every topic we cover.  In addition, all of our colleges, with a particular emphasis on Service College, have contributions from industry leading tobacconists as well as agricultural, pre-industrial and cigar making experts.    

Our Academic Curriculum includes hundreds of videos, photographs and graphics that are proprietary to TU, gathered through countless self-funded educational expeditions to factories and farms in Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico, Costa Rica, the USA and the Dominican Republic.  All of this effort is made to avoid bias, misinformation and to not be beholden to corporate or marketer influences.  Furthermore, it is necessary to create a substantive educational curriculum that dispels and corrects the erroneous information that is so commonly available and disseminated on the internet, in print and through marketing channels. 

How did you go about designing your educational program to be easy to navigate and consume?

Structuring an educational curriculum for an industry and products that are so diverse and profound was one of the most challenging aspects of creating and organizing TU, especially since no other organization has ever existed to educate and certify tobacconists.   In addition, our industry battles social stigmatization, extreme regulation and excessive taxation like no other.  Consequently, our educational curriculum must also serve as an ambassador of credibility and substance to the greater culture: the curriculum must be rooted in integrity.  The TU motto is Puro Integritas, a play on words and language that guides every facet of our vision and mission.

The layout and sequencing of the online curriculum must also be logical and linear.  For example, Tobacco College starts with ancient history as well as cultural, business and political context.  Then we define and study what is Nicotiana Tabacum.  Only after this foundation can we start to learn about Geography, Climate, Cigar Regions, Seeds & Plants, Growing, Nurturing, Harvesting, Curing, Fermentation, Cigar Rolling, Packaging, Aging, Shipping, Cigar Shapes & Sizes and the Marketing of Cigars.  Tobacco College rounds out the journey with Pipe Tobaccos and Cigarette education: providing a comprehensive perspective on the entire world of tobacco.  All of our Colleges are structured in a linear way, so that you hit the ”Next” button to ‘turn the page’ and continue studying:  it’s like reading a giant multi-media book, at your own pace and empowering you to come and go and revisit topics at your own discretion.

At the heart of the curriculum is substance, science and an extreme belief that words matter.  Words must be properly defined and used.  Therefore, our Glossary and curriculum webpages are hot-linked together: if you are studying inside a college and come across an important word, it will be linked to our Glossary or another curriculum webpage with expanded information.  The TU Glossary also hot-links words back into the curriculum for an enhanced learning experience.   This is an educational matrix designed for profound learning.  We believe our industry is plagued with the misuse and misunderstanding of simple terms and words that are bastardized every day by most people.  Words like “strength”, “taste”, “body”, “curing” and more, are misused by advertisers, so-called “experts” and online “educators” in print and on the internet every day.  But, if you are a Certified Tobacconist or passionate consumer who uses our Glossary and website, you should know exactly what those words mean in the proper context.  

You will find that our custom designed academic curriculum is very different from the Learning Management Systems (LMS) commonly found on the internet.  These contemporary websites/programs are used to teach things like food sanitation, boat safety  any consumer level course (e.g. Learn how to juggle, buy real estate, day trade, etc… ), and a plethora of for-profit educational enterprises for people and organizations who want to sell ‘courses’.  You can learn almost anything through today’s LMS products, but we found them restrictive to our goals and needs.  In many ways, LMS products are designed to guide you through a ‘module’ of content and quiz you at the end of that section: they are essentially teaching you how to pass the quiz.  It is important to note here that we do offer our CIGARS 101 course through an LMS and it provides an excellent, efficient and cost-effective fundamental learning experience for consumers.   

The TU Academic Curriculum is designed as a vast digital and multi-media library that is an easily accessible resource and library for lovers of luxury tobacco.  And we expect you to know everything necessary to pass our online exams.  Those who get certified by TU are expected to pass a 50 or 100 question multiple choice exam when they are ready to earn their consumer or professional certification.  And we expect you to retain and own the knowledge you seek. 

Our Vision is to build and project the credibility of the luxury tobacco industry in order to support cultural acceptance around the world – preserving luxury tobacco for generations to come.   Our Mission is to research, learn and teach in order to educate, certify and promote the most knowledgeable and honorable tobacconists and consumers.  In that process we provide resources for tobacconists to leverage for their customers and businesses - build credibility, culture and community for tobacconists and consumers - are the epicenter of cigar, pipe and tobacco education.  In short, we educate with a broad, serious and strategic purpose.

Why should people take the time to complete your educational program?

TU has developed the following certifications to meet the needs of consumers and professional tobacconists over the last 29 years - each serves a distinct need and purpose.  All current 3000+ TU Certified Tobacconists and apprentices are listed on the TU website under their company and/or individual name.  Every TU Certified Tobacconist must accept their specific Code of Ethics & Standards and pass the final exam with a 90% or better.  We encourage you to visit the GET CERTIFIED section of our website to see which certification will suit your goals and needs.  All of our programs are self-study at your own pace, include online final exams, website listings and the ability to print your diploma when you graduate.

CCT – Certified Consumer Tobacconist: a non-professional certification designed for avid consumer enthusiasts who are not employed within the luxury tobacco industry.  This is indubitably the most challenging and comprehensive curriculum for any consumer enthusiast.  The curriculum in our CAMPUS is the same that CRT and CST study for their professional certifications.  The final exam is 50 questions derived from the professional exams.  

CCST – Certified Cigar Sommelier Tobacconist: our first and most important fundamental professional degree for those working with premium cigars.  The CCST degree is designed to serve cigar retailers, fine dining establishments, lounges, bars, event promoters, influencers and anyone seeking strong fundamentals and professional credentials around the world.  It is both time and cost efficient by concentrating the cigar curriculum into videos and succinct lessons that focus on Retail School, Cigar Fundamentals and Pairing School.  Our CCST Schools can be structured for individuals, stand alone or multi-location retailers, salesforces and/or any other organizational types. The final exam is 50 questions which includes specialized questions on “tasting” and “pairing”.    

CRT – Certified Retail Tobacconist: our most comprehensive and profound professional degree for full-service brick and mortar tobacconists.  This degree tests on Tobacco, Accoutrements, Taste and Service College as well as our Tobacconist FAQ and the TU Glossary.  The unparallelled education creates the world’s most prestigious and highly credentialled professional tobacconists.  Apprentices must work for an existing retail tobacconist for at least six months before taking the final exam – ensuring enough experience to earn the CRT designation.  When CRT leave a retail store/company their listing can be ‘moved’ to another retail store or they will be re-listed as a CCT if they do not return to the industry. 

CST – Certified Salesforce Tobacconist:  the counterpart to our CRT degree.  The CST degree is for employees of cigar distributors/brands/companies or other non-retail organizations. 

CCST Maestro – Certified Cigar Sommelier Tobacconist Maestro: any CRT or CST who also has a CCST degree is eligible to curate and run their own CCST School and certify others under their own brand - which makes them a CCST Maestro.  A CCST Maestro can purchase ‘wholesale’ CCST certifications and use them as they please: they can be used for employees, sold for profit, to create brand ambassadors, given away as promotions and/or any combination thereof.   CCST Maestros can also upload their own content into their schools and use the course materials if they want to teach and certify through live events.

CMT – Certified Master Tobacconist: the highest professional level one can achieve as a TU Certified Tobacconist.  Only CRT and CST are eligible for this advanced degree.  Candidates must apprentice and prove hundreds of apprenticeship hours with cigar/pipe makers and TU Certified Retailers as well as making a substantive educational contribution to the TU Academic Curriculum.

Celebrating 25+ Years

 

Time flies and it is hard to believe that 25+ years have gone by since the founding of Tobacconist University.  We are so busy managing record level certifications and developing our future infrastructure that we fail to look back and appreciate what we have accomplished.  So we had to dig deep into our archives to put this timeline together and we were pleasantly rewarded with a trip down memory lane; we hope you enjoy it!

1996 Cuban Cigar University Is Born
Less than six months after opening his first store in Princeton, NJ, TU founder Jorge Armenteros goes to Cuba and accidentally meets the director general of Cubatabaco, getting access to farms, factories and rare educational materials which become the foundation of Tobacconist University's academic curriculum.  Armenteros returns to the US and creates a curriculum to train his tobacconists and starts doing consumer seminars under the brand name Cuban Cigar University.

"I wasn't even a fully developed adult human, yet I opened my first store in 1995 at the age of 21.  I went to Cuba in 1996 to further my knowledge of premium cigars.  When I got back I realized I needed to create a program to educate my tobacconists and customers.  I did this because I wanted to be the best.  By 1997 we were doing live seminars with customers in hotel meeting rooms." - Armenteros   

2005 Tobacconist University And The Certified Seal Is Born
While opening 3 stores in 3 states, Armenteros continues to train his retail tobacconists using the Cuban Cigar University (CCU) curriculum.   Until now, CCU was a proprietary educational program to train professionals for a single company.  The challenges of employee education/product knowledge, the proliferation of bad information on the internet, and the continual threats of new taxation and smoking bans incites the desire to turn the program ‘inside out’ and make it available to all retail tobacconists.  The power of the internet allows for the creation of a website to provide free and credible information for consumers and tobacconists.  

"For a decade, our original CCU curriculum consisted of giant notebooks, transparent overhead projector sheets, and paper exams... until we put it online." - Armenteros

"The TU Certified Seal and Lapel pin is the first and only symbol of a professionally trained tobacconist." - Armenteros

2007 Tobacconist University (TU) Arrives
TU becomes the official educational curriculum of the RTDA/IPCPR, today’s Premium Cigar Association (PCA).  This begins a 10+ year period of building out the online academic programs and administering free final exams at the annual tradeshow convention.  Funding is scarce but a few companies provide enough help for TU to survive.  Padrón Cigars provides a significant endowment and others like Tatuaje Cigars, Drew Estate, and Miami Cigars support TU as well.  Our first tradeshow booth for administering TU exams was 2008. 

"We spent the next 10+ years staffing a booth at the tradeshow and certifying more than 400 Certified Retail Tobacconists (CRT); it was slow, expensive, but steady growth." - Armenteros

2009 The Tobacconist Handbook 1^st Edition
The historic release of The Tobacconist Handbook marks the first time a comprehensive book is published to educate tobacconists.  As a distillation of the TU online curriculum, The Tobacconist Handbook can provide enough education for TU students to pass their final exams and give anyone a well-rounded education on luxury tobacco.

"Writing this book nearly killed me; it was like having a tiger by the tail and I couldn't let go.  While it is a distillation of the online curriculum, it still took a year to compile/write, working typically from 10pm to 3am, after normal hours of running my shops and TU.  While I am normally an avid reader, I didn't read a book for two years after this project!  It took a lot out of me." - Armenteros

2012 - 2015 R&D Cigars
Our revolutionary program to create educational cigars where we research and develop cigars along with their component puros and educational content.  This program created the R&D Brazilian Corojo and PA/CT Broadleaf cigars which were sold exclusively to Certified Retail Tobacconists (CRT).  Unfortunately, onerous regulatory threats from the FDA made the next Mexican San Andres and Organic Nicaraguan projects impossible to release.  Once again, over regulation kills another dream in the luxury tobacco industry.  Click here to learn more about R&D Cigars.

   

"R&D Cigars was my pride and joy, a grand educational cigar adventure that created cigars that only Certified Tobacconists could sell; a bona fide competitive and educational advantage.  Alas, it was extremely costly to execute and killed by the FDA." - Armenteros

2018 Online Final Exams for Everyone!
After a decade of administering final exams at the PCA tradeshow and through the USPS with Certified Tobacconists administering paper tests, we deploy online exams for everyone; making our certification programs (CCT, CRT, CST) 100% online and fueling unprecedented growth. 

"It was actually terrifying to put our final exams online; mostly due to fear of people cheating or releasing the questions to the public.  Fortunately, our community of luxury tobacco lovers has integrity and a deep commitment to the value of education and certification." - Armenteros

2019 The Cigar Sommelier Is Born
The Certified Cigar Sommelier Tobacconist (CCST) degree is released.  Capitalizing on the demand for education and certification for those in the ‘business’ who are not full-service tobacconists, this degree serves lounges, mobile/event businesses, media, restaurants and golf clubs and everyone in between.  Our CCST School is the first program we placed behind a paywall and allows custom branding and configuration for individuals or companies with many employees and locations.  It is a streamlined distillation of our broader curriculum and it focuses on creating knowledgeable and competent premium cigar service professionals.  Click here to learn more about the CCST program.

"The success of the CCST program took us by surprise.  We were always so focused on full-service tobacconists that we didn't realize the massive growth and demand in the cigar-centric space.  The need for credibility and education was real and the CCST has become our fastest growing certification." - Armenteros

2020 Certified Cigar Reviews Is Born & The Tobacconist Handbook Is Updated
After 'perfecting' the online educational and certification programs for professionals and consumers, the TU focus turns to creating post-graduation value for certified tobacconists.  The Certified Cigar Reviews (CCR) platform allows users to create comprehensive reviews for online sharing and printable options like shelf-talkers.  Most importantly, CCR educates and empowers users and viewers by defining terms and creating a professional structure for an admittedly subjective process. 

"By the mid-2010s, the internet is proliferating with cigar reviewers providing their own opinions.  We believe tobacconists are the ultimate reviewers since they do it all day long, face-to-face with customers.  This leads us to create (over the course of 4 years) the CCR platform.  In the process, we realize the need to create post-graduation value and leverage for our certified professionals and consumers.  How can we help certified tobacconists? becomes our new focus." - Armenteros

The Tobacconist Handbook: An Essential Guide To Cigars & Pipes is upgraded, updated, enhanced, improved and re-released by Skyhorse Publishing.  Sales continue to surpass all expectations and reach consumers and professionals around the world.  Take a look here...

   

2020 CIGARS 101 Introduced
Our CIGARS 101 program was released outside of the TU website on a modern learning platform; this experiment is part of our long term plan to potentially move part or all of our certifications onto more technologically advanced and responsive platforms.  CIGARS 101 is also intended to create a strong educational/knowledge foundation for all levels of consumers.  Click here to learn more.

2021 CCST Maestro Released
Compelled by the growth and success of the Certified Cigar Sommelier Tobacconist (CCST) program, the CCST Maestro program is introduced.  This historic program empowers CCST Maestro to certify others for profit while administering their own CCST School.

"While still in its infancy, this program will change everything!  The CCST Maestro gives certified tobacconists the plug and play ability to educate and certify their own customers while profiting from the process.  Helping tobacconists profit through education is an unbelievable dream come true! " - Armenteros

2022 Benchmark Cigars Database Is Born
The dream of Certified Cigar Reviews (CCR) was stunted by a worldwide pandemic and a garbage-in/garbage-out problem:  reviewers were overburdened by having to input too much cigar data.  This led us to create the Benchmark Cigars Database, which allows manufacturers/distributors to upload their cigars into the CCR platform for free: then users can create reviews in just seconds!  Populating the Benchmark Cigars Database in the Certified Cigar Reviews website started in the Summer of 2022 and will continue into the foreseeable future.

"This project has nearly killed me physically and financially, but the hardest part is now behind us.  The technology and database we have created are the foundation for projects we will be releasing in the near future: projects which benefit all professionals and consumers but especially help Certified Retail Tobacconists compete.  So stay tuned as we roll out exciting new developments in 2023 and beyond." - Armenteros

2023 And Beyond
TUECOM, Online Career Center, educational content improvement, deeper discounts for retail tobacconists and many more things are in development…  Stay tuned….

"It is difficult to put an exact date on the birth of Tobacconist University, so I have chosen, partly for sentimental reasons, September, 8 of 1997; by then we were certifying professional tobacconists and consumers.  Looking back, it has been a wild ride and I feel like we have accomplished the impossible.  Despite the blood, sweat, dollars and tears, it has been worth every sacrifice.  As I look back, I am proud to say that we have accomplished everything we set out to do and layed a strong foundation for an extraordinary future... It feels strange to say, but I definitely feel like we are just getting started!" - Armenteros

The Tobacco Business Tobacconist Article

Check out the new Tobacconist article in Tobacco Business Magazine about Certified Cigar Reviews.

The Tobacco Business Magazine Article

We appreciate this excellent article in Tobacco Business Magazine by Antoine Reid.  This link will take you to the full article.  There is a lot of insight, history, and new news!  This is a great way to wrap up 2018 and we can promise you 2019 will be our greatest yet!

The Certified Cigar Sommelier

Few words evoke as much prestige and emotion in the luxury business as "sommelier".  The wine industry has done a great job of projecting their professionalism through trained professionals who are experts in serving their customers.  While there are many sommelier organizations, anybody can pretend to be one, so credentials matter greatly when people throw around titles!  There are even people around the world calling themselves "cigar sommeliers", but until now that has been a self-given title with no substantiation other than ego.  Just because you call yourself an expert, doesn't mean you are one!  To a large extent, that need for substantive credibility is where Tobacconist University started in 1996, aiming to give credibility and substance to luxury tobacconists.  To that end, we are now enhancing our certification programs to include bonafide cigar sommeliers.  

After years of development, we are proud to introduce the Certified Cigar Sommelier Tobacconist (CCST) degree: ushering in a new era of professionalism, customer service, and credibility.

Our Cigar Sommelier degree is designed to serve the hospitality industry, including cocktail lounges, restaurants, golf/country clubs, and liquor stores.  Our specially tailored curriculum includes Retail School, Cigar Fundamentals, and a Pairing School.  Click here to see a demo.  The Tobacconist University Cigar Sommelier school is a password protected, customized curriculum for participating companies with an online final exam, so students can sign up, study, and take the final exam all inside of the TU website.  The degree itself focuses on cigars, retail processes, and service.  The curriculum is not as extensive as the Certified Retail Tobacconist (CRT) degree, but it does include specialized content for those people who are not full-service tobacconists.

It is ultimately our goal to make sure that great service and knowledge is present wherever premium cigars are sold:  this focus is good for our businesses and customers.  

Cigar Geek vs. Tobacconist

As we live in the 'golden age of cigar making' there are more educated consumers than ever before.  While both cigar geeks and tobacconists should be extremely knowledgeable, that does not mean they are one in the same.  Some tobacconists are cigar geeks, but not all.  In fact, there are probably exponentially more cigar geeks than there are tobacconists.  

Cigar geeks are characterized by their epic knowledge of cigar components, varietals, processing, brand info, and history.  Cigar geeks can devour all the information available on the internet, advertising, in forums, magazines, books, social media, and from fan-clubs for their favorite cigar brands and/or cigar makers.  Cigar geeks also travel to cigar farms and factories (e.g. Drew Estate Cigar Safari) and educational events like ProCigar in The Dominican Republic.  Many of these cigar geeks also communicate directly with cigar makers they have met over the years, and they will not hesitate to drop a name or two when it suits them.  If you would like to interact or observe this rare breed, you can find a high concentration of cigar geeks on social media (e.g. facebook, twitter, instagram) and at in-store cigar maker events.  Social media sites and in-store events provide the perfect outlet for cigar geeks to commiserate, share knowledge, pontificate, name drop, and chat directly with cigar makers and each other.    

A tobacconist is an expert in tobacco and all of the related accoutrements.  Tobacconists must have working knowledge of pipes, pipe tobaccos, lighters, humidors, humidifiers, air cleaners, cigar cutters, and of course, cigars.  As professionals, tobacconists must have a strong familiarity of our products and the ability to communicate their traits, features, and tailor that to a wide array of customers.  While many of the products we sell have subjective characteristics, we must be able to explain them to customers with varying degrees of experience and comprehension.  Tobacconists are in the business of hospitality and product knowledge, so they must balance facts and opinions.  In addition, tobacconists are 'experts' in dusting, cleaning, facing cigars, humidifier maintenance, taking inventory, more dusting, managing boisterous regulars, listening, asking questions, sweeping, mopping, problem solving, retail multi-tasking, and customer service.  A good tobacconist will have substantive knowledge about all of the products they sell, but it is impossible to be an expert on all of the brands in the marketplace.  

As tobacconists, we see cigar geeks almost every day but they represent a small, single digit percentage of our customers: they are a vocal minority.  Most of our customers don't read the magazines or industry websites.  They don't know all of the components of their favorite cigar or care who made them.  Most of our customers are in and out in a few minutes with a handful of cigars they will enjoy without over thinking or in-depth analysis.  Retail tobacconist customers, for the most part, enjoy a few cigars a month and the only thing they care about is whether or not they liked the cigar: true story.  

On the other hand, cigar geeks love to talk about the products with tobacconists and share their knowledge with other customers as well.  Cigar geeks often know more about new products and upcoming products than retail tobacconists.  In this regard, they can be helpful to tobacconists by providing insight and feedback about products and brands.  Every store can benefit from having a few cigar geek customers or tobacconists.  Their knowledge and passion brings a lot of value to stores and the cigar smoking community.  On the other hand, cigar geeks can have a very subjective and narrow perspective of the industry and marketplace; they tend to buy the hype, believe all the marketing, and have strong brand biases.  They have their own personal reasons for being cigar geeks and that influences what they are interested in, where they get their information, and what they believe.  

Tobacconists do not have the luxury of running their businesses from a highly subjective or opinionated perspective because that won't pay the bills.  Tobacconists must cast a broader net, understand the spectrum of clients they service, and provide compelling value to them.  In the end,  tobacconist success will be determined by the marketplace while cigar geeks only need to satisfy themselves.

Ultimately, this topic is important to TU because we certify tobacconists, not geeks.  We teach fundamentals and professionalism.  TU can help make you a professional tobacconist, but the path to becoming a cigar geek is a different personal journey.  Fortunately, tobacconists and cigar geeks have a lot to learn and benefit from each other.

Humidor Shopping Trays

If you are a retail tobacconist, do yourself and your customers a favor and provide shopping trays in your humidor.  Here are a few good reasons why:

1. Shopping trays encourage UPSELLING!  Because an empty tray yearns to be filled!

2.  Customers are limited by the amount of cigars they can carry in their hands: shopping trays increase the potential sale!

3.  Make it your custom to grab a tray when you go in the humidor to help a customer.  This practice shows panache, professionalism, and increases sales (see reasons 1 & 2).

While there are not many astute manufacturers providing branded shopping trays, you can create your own from large cigar box lids (see picture).  

Drive Your Business

Drive your business, don't ride it.  It's too easy to let your business coast.  It's too easy to react, play defense, and follow trends.  But great business people know they must be proactive, play offense, stay ahead of the curve, lead rather than follow, and drive your business forward rather than ride it out...  Being a great tobacconist means you need to think ahead, forecast trends, and educate your customers.

If you are selling what's hot on the interwebs or social media, then you are just reacting and following.  This strategy means you will be selling the same stuff all of your competitors are selling and you will fade into the sunset of mediocrity.  Constant improvement, bucking the trends, and innovation are the only way to stay ahead of your competition.  If the brands you carry are showing up on discount mail order sites, then you are behind the curve.  If you are buying what seems hot in social media, then you are reacting defensively.  If you are chasing ratings to fill your humidor, then you are becoming a generic retailer and the discount mail order industry will bury you.

Edit your inventory, vet your products, educate and enlighten your customers and you may succeed.  But don't play defense today.  It's 2015 and consumers are more educated than ever, so any great tobacconist must stay ahead of the curve... But a proactive business creates their own curve.  Don't react to the market.  Make your market.  Be about something (#beaboutsomething): educate!  Let your customers know you edit your products and don't carry the flavor of the month just to be trendy.

But all of this is not enough.  A business is only as good as their employees.  Employees who maintain standards are fine and sometimes we are lucky to have a few of those.  But great employees innovate, improve, and bring vitality to the business.  Ask your tobacconists to elevate merchandising, improve cleanliness/organization, find new products, and teach you something.  Retail tobacconists need to be innovative, proactive, and forward thinking.  If you are spending time trying to maintain standards then you are riding your business and reacting.  Challenge your tobacconists to DRIVE THE BUSINESS: take ownership and pride by improving your professionalism, service, and products!  Again, a business is only as good as its employees, so teach them to drive!

Georgetown Homecoming

Dear Friends,

It may be a little known fact that if it wasn't for Georgetown Tobacco, Tobacconist University (TU) would not exist!  Long before I opened my first retail store, I was an international business major at American University in the early 1990s.  It was almost 25 years ago that I stumbled into Georgetown Tobacco and it changed my life, and the lives of hundreds of tobacconists, forever.  I vividly remember the moment I opened the door and smelled that well marinated tobacconist.  I remember taking my first step inside and feeling the wooden floor boards creak beneath my feet.  As soon as I looked up I was taken back by the beauty of that magnificent store.  There are so few moments in life where you know that your future has been irrevocably altered, but that was definitely one of them.  I knew the instant I stepped into Georgetown Tobacco that I wanted to be a part of something that special.

I spent the next few years picking the brains of the tobacconists that worked there and getting an old school tobacco education.  They had already been in business 25 years so the tobacconists were as well marinated in knowledge as the store was in aroma.  While I had grown up around cigars in Miami, and I was familiar with Padron and La Aurora, I had never experienced a full-service retail tobacconist like Georgetown.  It was inspirational and overwhelming.

By the time I opened my first retail store in 1995, I realized how little I knew in comparison to the great tobacconists I had known... so I set about creating the Tobacconist University curriculum to educate myself and my tobacconists.  A decade later, after opening three stores in three states, fighting countless smoking bans and taxation battles, I realized that the industry needed more credibility and professionalism.  My passion for the industry and the people in it kept me from selling out and moving on, so I decided to double down.

By 2005 I began the process of turning the TU curriculum and certification standards into something the entire industry could use and benefit from, instead of just my little stores.  I spent years trying to convince other retailers and manufacturers to support us and most of them listened politely, patted me on the back, but did nothing to help.  Ultimately, I don't blame them... I must have seemed like a lunatic running around telling people we were going to certify tobacconists, promote them, and build credibility and heighten standards for our profession.  I have personally heard and seen so many crazy and cockamamie  ideas in this industry, but I refused to become one of them.   For better or worse, I have a profound mental problem that keeps me from quitting on the people and values I hold dear.  So, I continued to work on TU, every night and every day, never knowing how we would roll it out, fund it, or promote it... I just refused to quit.

Fortunately for all of us, David Berkebile, the founder and owner of Georgetown Tobacco, had taken over as president of the IPCPR (then the RTDA) and he embraced TU and brought us in as the official curriculum for our industry's oldest and most prestigious trade organization.   David has helped countless individuals start their careers in this industry, and in this case he has been instrumental twice!  I don't know where we would be today without his help, but I don't think we would have over 1,200 Certified Tobacconists and Apprentices, nor would we be going to Georgetown Tobacco on Friday, May 15, between 4 and 8pm for an  R&D Cigars Event.  The following morning we will do what TU does best, and administer the certification exam to five Georgetown Tobacco apprentices.


I hope you will join us for this special event.  As I write this I feel a little sentimental, grateful and emotional as I realize what a unique journey this has been.  In some ways, this will be the most exciting and fulfilling event of my career: it is a homecoming of sorts.  More importantly, we will honor and celebrate our history... where it all started.  In some ways, I feel like this event will close the first chapter of the history of TU, but there are many more to be written!  I promise you our best days are ahead of us and I will personally do my best to ensure that, or die trying.  #beaboutsomething




Jorge L. Armenteros, CMT
President & Founder
Tobacconist University

What Sells Cigars?

With the threat of FDA regulation looming over the premium cigar industry, smoking bans, and excessive taxation, it might seem a little surprising to see the current proliferation of cigar brands in the marketplace.  If you use social media you might be shocked to see what seems like a handful of new brands popping up every day. There are "boutique" brands, "craft" brands, "artisanal" brands, line extensions, limited editions, micro-batches, line extensions of line extensions, and even major companies partnering with smaller cigar makers to make co-branded brands!  Most interesting is the drama and hyperbole surrounding many of these new brands: many use sensational names, ridiculous back stories, flamboyant characters, and pop culture tie-ins to get the consumers attention.  As always, strong, romantic adjectives are employed to create the perception of quality, history, and authenticity.  Words like vintage, aged, hand-crafted, curated, blessed, rare, special, artistry, brotherhood, legend, and maestro all evoke pleasant thoughts in consumers minds, compelling you to want to try that new (or old) brand.  And lets not forget that "sex" sells too, as does lifestyle marketing.  So many boobs, high end cars and watches that it's hard to make sense of it all.  None of this is new of course, it's just MORE: more in your face, more extreme, more magazines, more info, more internet, more, more, more... 

Of course, our focus at TU is retail tobacconists and educated consumers, so we must try to make sense of it all.  Ultimately, retailers must filter through all of the products and messages to build inventories that are compelling to their customers.   Retailers must build inventories that are well-rounded, both in price and flavor spectrum.  We must avoid the overly hyped products which sit on the shelves after their five minutes of fame because they will ultimately end up deeply discounted on the internet and make us look bad to our customers.   

Every retailer has made the mistake of buying the 'flavor of the month' cigar only to have customers come in and tell them it is discounted 90% on some website: ouch, that hurts!  

Great retail tobacconists must vet their products and be able to educate their customers about them.  We also need to edit our inventories and make sure products turn (sell).  To that end, we have polled many of our Certified Retail Tobacconists (CRT) to try to understand what drives cigar sales in the retail humidor.  It turns out the answers are not that surprising and probably timeless.

Tobacconist's Preference
Probably the most powerful factor driving sales in the retail environment is what tobacconists like:  when a retail tobacconist gets behind a brand, it sells in that store!  Tobacconists naturally push what they smoke and that can be influenced by personal relationships and taste.  Ultimately, a good tobacconist knows good recommendations bring customers back, so we must honor that trust the customer puts in us.  


Marketing & Hype  
Advertising, advertising, advertising!  Sure, that helps, but it's expensive and must be persistent.  The biggest brands are constantly advertising in print media and on the internet to make sure you remember their names.  There is nothing new about this strategy, except that there are many more players fighting for your attention.  Hype, exclusivity, rarity, and perceived 'specialness' are the newest tactics helping to create consumer demand.  In addition, branded lounges, signature events (cruises, wrestling matches, pairing with other luxury goods), over-the-top personalities, and social media are all being used to create awareness and drive demand.  Great tobacconists know to be wary of these techniques, but we must also give our customers what they want... most of the time. 

Romance & A Story
Romance and a story, the holy grail of salesmanship!  If you want to sell cigars, a story helps!  Every brand has a story, some better than others.  The truth is most cigar brand stories today are empty, shallow, and/or contrived.   Sure, you can name a cigar after a famous song and sell a few to fans of that music, but how long can you survive on that trick?  Romance and a story may get the consumer's attention for a minute, but the substance of the product had better be there for long term success.     

Ultimately, great tobacconists have to balance all of these factors, remember that taste is subjective, and build trust with their customers in order to thrive in this market.  You can always sell what you like, but be careful what you read and repeat, and if your going to tell a story and romance the product, make sure you're being honest and not just another fan boy or dilettante regurgitating marketing hype!  Be about something, or you will fail!  

#beaboutsomething 

       

TU: Past, Present, & Future

After nearly 19 years in existence, Tobacconist University President & Founder Jorge Armenteros sits down to discuss the beginnings of TU, the importance of educating, supporting, promoting, and providing competitive advantages for retail tobacconists.  Jorge also discusses the exclusive relationship between TU and the IPCPR as well as the current and future focus of TU.

"Above and beyond ... we need to create real competitive advantages, leveraging points for these Certified Retail Tobacconists.  We need to empower them and give them more opportunities to be more profitable and more successful than they've ever had before.  That's our ambition.  That's what's next." 

- Jorge Armenteros, CMT

On Government Regulation & Legislating Taste

How do you feel about Government regulation of cigars?  The challenges are staggering for the premium tobacco industry, and retail tobacconists are on the front lines of this battle for taste and freedom: FDA, S-CHIP, Smoking Bans, smoking restrictions, OTP taxes, import duties, small cigar taxes, snuff/snus taxes, cigarette taxes, local/city/state regulations, and many many more...

In a rare, unprecedented, and exclusive interview, Jorge Armenteros, CMT, founder and president of Tobacconist University, sits down to discuss TU, R&D Cigars, the IPCPR, and everything in between. The full interview will be released over the coming weeks and months... stay tuned!

Response to the FDA

Submit Your Comments to the FDA

 

Background & Info @ Halfwheel

Dear FDA,

I am writing with regard to premium cigars being regulated by the FDA and treated the same as cigarettes and other nicotine delivery systems.  Premium cigars are different.  They are handcrafted as organoleptic delicacies: no different than fine wines or gourmet foods.  As a consumer, retail tobacconist, and president of the organization that certifies professional and luxury tobacconists (Tobacconist University) I can attest that premium cigar consumers are adults who enjoy the relaxing, social and meditative value that the products are meant to convey.  In addition, fine premium cigars are delicious and not used out of habit.  The majority of our customers smoke approx. one cigar per week, to unwind and savor their time. 

Furthermore, premium cigars cannot be defined by their retail price (ie. $10) because there are many inexpensive varieties, and while I prefer the flavor profiles of more expensive cigars, taste is subjective.  Some consumers even prefer premium cigars that have infused or hints of other flavors: the same applies to fine wines and gourmet foods.

Ultimately, premium cigars are made from whole leaf dark tobaccos (not homogenized or processed).  They are bunched by hand (often with the assistance of a Lieberman machine - which is a simple strip of canvas which helps compress the tobaccos evenly), and wrapped with a leaf of wrapper tobacco.  Wrapper tobacco in particular is an exquisite leaf which is cultivated like rare orchids and applied by extraordinary crafts-men and women.  The transformation of rustic leaves into a beautiful premium cigar takes years to unfold and it must be seen to be appreciated.  I would welcome the opportunity to share these processes with the FDA.  Hand crafted premium cigars are a special artisanal product and their cultivation and manufacture is an amazing and beautiful process.

I hope that you will take these facts into consideration and keep the regulation of premium cigars (and pipe tobaccos) separate from cigarettes and smokeless tobaccos.  We currently have many creative boutique products in the marketplace and it would be a shame to find the premium cigar industry consolidated into a few massive multi-national corporations.  Similarly, it would be a travesty to see retail tobacconists decimated by over regulation.  Currently, retail tobacconists represent the best of America and the premium cigar industry.  As the president of Tobacconist University, I represent hundreds of small retailers who work hard to service their customers and help them savor their time.  We take great pride in our walk-in humidors and giving customers an immersive aromatic experience while they shop.  We're an old-fashioned business selling hand crafted products which take years to create.  And we love our products, customers, and our old-fashioned shops. 


I would welcome the opportunity to help share with you any of my information, educational tools, connections, or access to this special industry.  At the very least, please visit a certified tobacconist and experience the passion and professionalism that we provide.  In our modern world where information travels at the speed of light, and change is increasingly unsettling, retail tobacconists and our consumers appreciate simple values like relaxation and hand crafted luxury products which help us savor our time.

Sincerely,

Jorge L. Armenteros, CMT
President & Founder
Tobacconist University

Free CRT Certifications!

 

 

 

 

The annual IPCPR convention is quickly approaching (July 19-23), and we're looking forward to certifying many of our Retail Tobacconist Apprentices for FREE, typically a $1,000 tuition fee for non-IPCPR members! TU will be fully staffed  and prepared to administer exams throughout the show. You must already be an Apprentice to take the exam, so SIGN UP NOW using our new, quick and easy application process! This is the final step in the certification process, we will be able to grade your exam at the show and upon passing, present you with your Certified Lapel Pin! Come by our booth (near the front entrance) any time to take the exam, keeping in mind the earlier you get there the less likely you will be to wait.

 

If you haven't heard, TU has been developing numerous promotional and profitable opportunities which will be exclusive to Certified Tobacconists, making now a great time to invest in your Certification.

Feel free to contact our Certified Director- Juice Ford if you have any questions!

Safety First - Training Tobacconists

In sixteen years of running retail tobacconists in three states I have never experienced a fire.  That winning streak came to an end in 2011 with two couch fires in one store!  Both fires started the same way, with a lit cigar ember falling between the couch cushions and starting a smoldering fire.  Both fires smoldered for a long while before people realized there was even a problem.  After about twenty minutes, smoke started emanating from the couch and the customers and tobacconist realized there was something wrong.  After squirting the smoldering couch folds with water, a fire extinguisher was necessary to completely extinguish the fire.  The second fire was serious enough that the customers dragged the couch outside of the store where the fire department had to soak it with their extinguishers.  On both occasions we were lucky to have well trained tobacconists and customers who were willing to help.  The worst case scenario was avoided… but barely.   Imagine if the smoldering fire was not noticed till after we closed and the last employee left the store… that would have been tragic!  Thank God there was no significant property damage or injury to any persons on these occasions.  But these fires should be a strong reminder to all tobacconists to have plenty of fire extinguishers on hand and tobacconists who know where they are and how to use them.    And make it a point to constantly remind your tobacconists where the extinguishers are and how to act in an emergency situation: it’s amazing how quickly people can forget what to do in a crisis!