Sautter Cigar Library – Handrolled Series

I RECKON the Newman family are quite possibly the nicest in the cigar industry.

And trust me, there are some very nice people working in cigars.

There’ll be a chapter on their incredible story in my next book; Around The World in 80 Cigars – There And Back Again, and I was lucky to spend time in remarkable Ybor City, Florida, where they are based, exploring with them the history of cigars that is the only reason the town exists in the first place.

The reason I tell you all this is that I have just watched the first of a new docuseries which – shock, horror – allows adults to talk about cigars. And even be seen smoking them! The original Handrolled film was released a few years back to much acclaim and is well worth catching up with (it’s available, free of charge, on YouTube). Now, Executive Producer Pete Johnson (yes, friend of Sautter and master behind Tatuaje cigars) has revisited the format with a new series format. And the first of the series has just been released.

I enjoyed it tremendously, even though I am already well acquainted with the incredible tale of how a Spanish cigar man first came to purchase 40 acres of Floridian swamp – and on it created the cigar capital of the world in the early 20th Century. By then, JC Newman was already well established, by the way; it is now nearing its 130th year in business, and now stands as the last working handrolled cigar factory in this vital, buzzing, slightly bonkers few square blocks of Tampa.

It is a tale of bold decisions; of a time when every man jack seemed to smoke cigars in America; when they were cheap, plentiful and made almost entirely of Cuban tobacco. How the world has changed, eh?!

Back then, dynasties were made on the back of this Golden Age of cigars and the Newmans are about the sole survivors. They have been there, done that, bought the t-shirt (scrap that, they designed their own T-shirt) and here they are today, the same family, generation after generation, making great cigars, doing good in the world (check out their charitable works) and being lovely people to boot.

The company is now run by brothers Eric and Bobby Newman and Eric’s son, Drew. Unfailingly polite, they listen more than they talk, do what they say they will do, and they are at the forefront of keeping handrolled cigars as we know and love them alive, available and commercially viable. They played a major role in the recent defeat of the Food and Drug Administration’s attempts to lump handrolled cigars in the same category as cheap, mass-produced tobacco products designed to attract and addict children.

I encourage you to watch this excellent short film, look out for others, and find out more about JC Newman and what it stands for. Pete Johnson, the crew behind the movies, Eric, Bobby, Drew and their families and colleagues all deserve our thanks and praise.