The Other Shoe

September 23, 2014

Last week, we told you about General Cigar buying Toraño Family Cigars.  It was announced on September 11th and took effect immediately that day.  At the time, we wondered about Sam Leccia, whose blends have caught more attention of late than Toraño –although the new Captiva from Toraño is a good cigar.  Sam is known for last year’s White and Black labels and this year’s Luchador.  Sam said a deal was in the works for distribution… It now seems it was more than simply a distribution deal.  On the 17th, General announced that the company has hired Sam as a “cigar and blend specialist”.  In addition, General bought Leccia Tobacco Company meaning it owns the lines effective now.  Sam is coming into General’s Foundry Tobacco Company – which Foundry head Michael Giannini calls the skunkworks of the company.   (Skunkworks was an official alias for Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development programs and is used widely in business to mean a group within a company with lots of autonomy and little bureaucracy.)

According to the release:

In his new role at General Cigar, Sam will continue to develop his brands while leveraging the company’s vast tobacco resources, premium cigar blending expertise and creative talent. He will also bring new, innovative products to the premium cigar market.  As an ambassador for his brands, Sam will continue on his quest to share his passion for premium cigars with retailers and consumers across the country.

In other words Sam will still be on the road humping his lines except now he will have a regular paycheck.  It also means that Sam will get to play with all the tobacco in General’s famed library just like Michael Giannini has been doing with his Elements series.

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