CI Legends – Copper Label posted on May 20th, 2012
An Afternoon with Pete Johnson (Part Four)
Part Four, the final chapter. Lots of great discussion here about tasting cigars off the bench and envisioning how they will taste as they age, too many 90 plus ratings? Joya de Nicaragua in the 1970′s, more advice for bloggers and the benefits for manufacturers. Cigar technology, dying of cigars, consumer education, sorting tobacco, seed variety, the decline of Cuban cigars, aging cigars and props to Rolando Reyes Sr. and Dion Giolito.
I hope you all have enjoyed the interview. This one is probably my favorite so far and not because of Pete Johnson but because of the expertise of George Brightman. Funny story, one day I called W.Curtis Draper-Bethesda expecting to talk to Paul Spence. George answered the phone and asked for Paul but he was away. George asked if he could help me and I said I’d just call back. I immediately sent John Anderson a text that said “who the fuck is George at Bethesda?” Little did I know of George’s background in the industry. Online retailers may have better pricing on cigars but it is the local retailers who offer something that is priceless.
Wow, what an amazing set of videos. I have never seen this much insight into Pete’s philosophy about cigars and tobacco and this has really opened my eyes up to his brand even more than they already were. It’s always nice to see a brand stand for something and articulate on it, something that doesnt happen anymore in any industry. I have always liked Pete’s cigars but this has given me a whole new affinity for what he does and how he does it. What he really needs to do is articulate some of what he has said into his marketing; it would definitely resonate with the cigar community. Great job to everybody that was part of this production.
Are you kidding?
I need more! This was the best forum/interview I have ever seen.
Of course I may need to get out more offten. I have a lot to learn.
Thank you Jerry, Pete & George.
Great set of videos with a wealth of insight into the cigar industry. I hope the little monster series is easier to get then the actual monster series. every year i have gotten shut out from getting any of the monster series. Lookin forward to the higher production number on the little monsters.
I thought to myself… This may get pretty boring after a while. Needless to say, I couldn’t stop watching it until all four parts were done. A nice variety of topics from two guys who know their shit. No BS, just information and knowledge.
Very nice job.
Here we go again…the decline of the Cuban cigar…by Americans…Shocker!
Legendary set of videos you have Jerry. Got give George credit he’s a knowledgable guy.
The only thing I think is a bit two face of Pete is all his talk about the decline of the Cuban cigar no damn straight that when the embargo ends he will want to be one of the first to start using it on the Tatuaje line in the US.
Its pretty funny to hear names like Cuba Aliados or Puro Indios and realize they are a shell of what they use to be.
I thought their comments for bloggers was pretty interesting although not very practical. I mean, cigars made in the Dominican use tobacco from all over the place so whoever blogs like that, focusing on one country, would be left reviewing nothing but puros.
Awesome videos Jerry! Great balance of forward thinking and historical views. I think its human nature to think things were better when we were younger. We “romance” our memories and I see a lot of that in this video both from Pete and George.
Regardless, lots of great information! I’ve watched each video twice now and feel like I haven’t processed it all.
Again, as a member of the audience in this particular interview was a great experience! Both Pete & George were great to talk to individually in person, but the real shine on the whole evening was listening to them dig deeper into history and ideas of and for the cigar industry.
Great job Jerry! And it was a pleasure to finally meet you and @43PrettyInPink!
Great videos Jerry. Thanks for putting the time and effort into publishing them.
Awesome interview, these two were fantastic together! One of my favorite points were about the comparisons of the cigar & wine industry. The point of becoming a specialist, bloggers focusing on specific cigar countries or regions like the wine media does is something I would love to see and read. Thanks again Stogie Review for filming and sharing!
I thought that was goin to be boring or repetitive after the first 5 minutes of part 1, but then i couldn’t stop watching until part 4 was over, 2 hours just went by and i feel like it was maybe 25 mins. Awesome video and very educational.
Also, if they’res something wrong with the la riqueza, i’ll take a couple cases of them after he’s done “fixing” it.
Now that I’ve watched all four parts I have to say…WOW! WOW! Great interview! Great job by Pete and George! I’ve learned so much and can point to these videos as more ammunition as to why I love Tatuaje Cigars so much.
Jerry – great job capturing this! A couple things 1) I agree, a microphone for the audience would be good. I can hear the questions but have to listen very closely. 2) Can you get Draper’s to disable the door chime next time? 3) Is there an ad free version of Stogie Review…I know the ad clips are only like 30 seconds but I’d pay a premium to not have to watch the blip.tv ads.
Man! I thought the interviews with Benji and Ernesto were great! This is even better! Jerry can we look forward to this for the next three anniversary cigars for Draper’s this year? Fuente, Padron and La Aurora? I love the format and George Brightman knows his stuff so its great having a knowledgable guy asking the questions and pushing buttons to make people feel a little squirmy. I don’t mean this as a slight on you in anyway. You have your own style that you let the people tell their story whereas George presses them for that little bit more.
Anyway, great stuff and I’m glad to see Draper’s recognize you as the best by choosing you to capture history.
Hello again! I enjoyed these series of videos you posted this week. I finally got my iPad setup and am able to watch the videos on it. In one of the videos you had music playing. Please remove the music. I couldn’t make any sense of it. It was just noise to me and I had to turn down my hearing aide which can be cumbersome.
I agree with what Mr. Johnson and Mr. Brightman said. Cuban cigars today are no where as good as they were in the 70′s. The decline started in the mid-80′s and slowly went down hill in the 90′s and are basically garbage today. Mr. Johnson makes a wonderful and educational point that aging Cubans of today will do absolutely nothing for them.
To the producer, it was impossible to hear all the questions from the audience. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Brightman were crystal clear. Maybe you can use the Chevy advertising money to hire a sound person.
All in all I very much enjoyed this series and am looking forward to more of your work.
Smoking a Havana VI Hermosos and just finished part 4. I loved this interview. I know I’ll be watching these videos many more times. Thanks to all.
just got done watching the entire set for the second time. I have to say that this was one of the most informative interviews about cigars that I have ever seen. I have been a huge Pete Johnson fan for a long time but this was my first introduction to Mr. Brightman. I would love to be able to sit down and pick his brain. What a wonderful interview. Thanks to Pete and George and to all who had a hand in putting this together. Bravo.
Just like going to school, but learning about something you enjoy. I was sorry it ended. Great interviews.
Great job Jerry, This is why i keep coming back to your site.
Here is a suggestion for the Stogie Review Guys. Jerry does Nicaraguan Cigars, Walt does Honduran Cigars, Brian does Dominican Cigars, Mike does USA Cigars and Tom does others countries Cigars. This what ya’ll should started to review.
Grea interview… it ‘s similar to the James Lipton interview series with Hollywood celebrities. It provided great insight on the industry, views of social media and opinions of cigars.
I wished Pete and George discussed further on what spefic cigars they thought were box worthy to age. The difference in this video was that George had the knowledge and experience to conduct an excellent interview with a industry personality. I look forward to more videos with George in the future.
Please do not take that as any disrespect to you. I like all the Stogie Review staff, but were all just fanboys compared to George.
Thanks.
To describe current Cuban cigar production as in “decline” is laughable to me. The quality of the leaf and overall quality of current production Cubans is as good as it has been in years. Of course, an business owner like Pete Johnson would be politically incorrect to say that Habanos are better cigars than his own. He is in business to sell his cigars, not cigars for Habanos. But as long as many brainwashed Americans believe that Cubans are crap, that leaves more of them for aficionados like me
Thank you so much for such an informative video. I learned a bunch of new things about the industry and cigar manufacturing, and can’t wait to light up a great quality cigar and really contemplate how much goes into it. Also these videos affirm my conviction, that I would rather smoke a really fine cigar on occasion, than mediocre or “bundle” cigars everyday. I’m stoked about the art of cigars right now.