Erez Cigars - The history of a brand

The history of a brand

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fter almost two decades of existence, Erez is an emerging international brand of premium cigars with which the entrepreneur – a tobacco man – honors his family, his professions and the Dominican city where he established a factory.

Each step on this path contains an anecdote, an idea, and a purpose, materialized in countless flavors and aromas from a simple base; Irrefutable proof that less is not only more, but better, as in this case.

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The personal touch

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t’s just original. Although for some it may be controversial, Yaniv Erez is a person faithful to his ideas and his tastes, which shaped a factory, three brands of cigars and opened a horizon without limits in the conquest of the World of Tobacco.

Of Israeli origin, he served in the Army of his country – like everyone there – and at the end of his military life he dedicated himself to both accounting and finance, until he became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a major company.

However, before turning 30 he emigrated to New York City, United States, in search of a place in the field of business.

“Why New York? –he repeats, to answer–.

Anyone you ask, wherever they come from, they think they will be in that city at least once in their lives. Maybe not to settle down, but to get to know it. It’s a very special place, a different world. I went because I wanted to do something big, different... Not that Israel seemed small to me, but I wanted even more, and The Big Apple was definitely the place to do it. I took a big risk, which after some time it paid off.”

He began working on the financial issues of a Jewish company where he was something like the money man, “but I quickly realized that that was not my thing, that I needed to do

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something else.” So soon, in 1999, he ventured into the real estate market of the metropolitan area, where in addition to the purchase and sale of properties he dedicated himself to acquiring residencies for his subsequent rent.

He describes himself as “very aggressive” in the realm of real estate, and at the same time considers himself a lucky man, since in 2006 he temporarily left that activity. “If we analyze it, it was a fortunate decision, taking into account what happened in 2008,” he says, referring to the so-called US housing bubble, which caused a major recession and even affected the world economy.

It was during those years that Yaniv began his relationship with cigars as a business: “I moved to Miami Beach, Florida,” he says, “and after a couple of months of retirement I started gaining weight; He spent his days sitting outdoors, smoking and drinking, doing practically nothing. Then I said to myself, ‘I like cigars and I want to smoke whenever I want.’”

As he knew of the quality of cigars from the Dominican Republic, he traveled there and bought “a few thousand” that were initially for him and his friends, “but after a while I realized that people liked them and I bought more and more, until it became an economic activity, commercial...”.

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SMOKER

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ike other producers of this generation, Yaniv smoked his first cigar when he served in the army, which in Israel is not considered a paid job, since only an economic stimulus is received.

However, he had access to cigars that he had not tried. During the nineties there was not a great variety, but there he found the Dominican brands, accessible for their price.

During his service in the Navy, on a combat ship, he could only enjoy a cigar when he was resting, on land. “At that time, I didn’t smoke anywhere near what I consume now,” he continues, “but I loved it. Doing the math, I think that with the money they gave me maybe it would be enough to buy, a month’s supply of the cigars I am used to now. “ According to Yaniv, Israel and tobacco have a minimum relationship, even these days. The business is still in a virgin state there because there are not many stores or Cigar Lounges, which are also not very crowded. On the other hand, the cost of cigars is very high due to the fiscal issue, and between taxes and shipping costs prices rise more than 90 percent. The consumer ends up paying almost twice as much as the same is worth in the U.S. But back to the subject of the military, as a brand owner Yaniv donates cigars weekly to the U.S. Army. In fact, he recently participated in an event at West Point Academy and Base, near New York. “I brought them a couple thousand cigars; we did some commercials, and it was a really fun day. I do it often because the idea is that soldiers have access to cigars.”

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I understood that there was nothing like this in the market, and I liked this activity more and more.”

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ENTREPRENEUR

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s he said before, he decided to become a Tobacco Man after buying a first batch of 3,000 cigars.

He realized that his friends and people liked them “and that’s what I was really looking for.”

He understood that he needed to produce and when he did, he confirmed that his cigars were different, that they were “beyond the ordinary”.

Therefore, since then it has tried to maintain a manufacture of classic style, old fashioned; “No extra nicotine or chemicals, all traditional and with an aging process not only of the leaves, but of the cigar once rolled.

“I understood that there was nothing like this in the market, and I liked this activity more and more.”

He considers that this captured the attention of the attendees and was a way to advertise: “If they ask you not to give samples, then how will they know your cigars? There are different ways to do this, but I prefer to go to consumers directly and not to the seller. When I showed my cigars, people loved them, so that confirmed my entry into the business,” he says.

In September 2009 he attended InterTabac, the world’s largest trade fair for tobacco products and accessories for smokers, held in Dortmund, Germany. People go there to do business, to show themselves, but they don’t give away their cigars. “I brought cigars to give away and after a couple of hours someone came to ask me why I did it, that they were not used to it ... ‘Oh, I replied, that’s the problem? Have these 200 and give them away too.’”

Again, fortune was on his side, as he formally started his company before the new legislation in the United States (the tightening of antismoking regulations) came into force.

From there, it took two years for him to install his own factory in Tamboril, Dominican Republic: Tabacalera Erez. Now he is an entrepreneur who combines again the business of real estate with cigars, “which is my passion, what I love and like to do.”

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THE BEGINNINGS

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rom 2006 Yaniv produced in De Los Reyes Cigars, with Augusto Fufi Reyes, in the Dominican Republic, where he came to have a space for a group of rollers who made their line of cigars. In those days, he first decided on a Lonsdale vitola (6 inches, ring gauge 46) with a Bahia wrapper, from Brazil.

It was what he liked to smoke, a thin trap to consume about 3 or 4 a day and have time to enjoy the flavor, which he has always sought above strength. On the other hand, Bahia tobacco was the most expensive. In addition to being aged it enjoyed popularity and due to its price not many producers used it.

His first cigar was a small vitola that responded to his idea that a cigar had to fill the whole room with its smoke, but they were loose: “You know, when you crush them by pressing them with your fingers.” A problem I solved in mine by adding more tobacco, which resulted in more flavor.

“It wasn’t the cigar I would have dreamed of,” says Yaniv, “because I had certain notes or thought it would be special... just liked it.”

The basis was the tobacco that Fufi used in his factory, produced in Navarrete by his brother, Leo Reyes. So, when people started asking for other sizes, he added Robusto and Churchill, and started his variations with other wrappers.

Parallel to the shortage of Bahia, in 2010 the Negro San Andrés tobacco began to arrive

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into the Dominican Republic. “It did not have exactly the same quality, but they were very similar, and the advantage of Mexican tobacco is in its presentation, because the color of the Brazilian varies and must be painted. Since it involves using chemicals, I don’t like that.

I look for the raw material I use to be as natural as possible. That’s how we arrived to the Maduro.”

The blend of all its brands is practically the same since its inception, except for a small variation that it made together with the current Master Blender in 2012, as it participated in its creation with contributions and suggestions. To reach it, they carried out about 200 tests, because it was about solving another problem: It turns out that when they reached more people and stores in the United States, in some places they did not have a good handle or humidor and the cigars were sold dry.

“As we offer a guarantee of total satisfaction, when people started calling me we decided to make the cigars with more tobacco in the filler and we added to the blend a little of the San Vicente variety, which gave it sweetness and moisture, to reduce the loss on the shelf and prevent a fall below 70 percent. A cigar that normally weighs 20 or 22 grams, we do it with 25 or 26 grams.”

It wasn’t the cigar I would have dreamed of, because I had certain notes or thought it would be special... just liked it.”

In addition, Yaniv realized that by wrapping the blend with other tobacco varieties, it generated a different cigar, and therefore the Erez brand carries the slogan One Blend, Three Wrappers. “You can smoke an Habano, Connecticut or Maduro and each one has its qualities, because the wrapper gives each cigar 65 percent of its flavor.”

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THE BRAND  Robusto (5 inches, ring gauge 50).

 Lonsdale (6 inches, ring gauge 46).

 Toro (6 inches, ring gauge 50).

 Gordo (6 inches, ring gauge 58).

 Gordo Box Pressed, (6 inches, ring gauge 60).

 Doble Corona (6¼ inches, ring gauge 54).

 Belicoso (6½ inches, ring gauge 54).

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nce on his own, he decided to leave everything behind, offer classic vitolas and launch the Erez brand, which is his surname, a family name. It took him six months to create the vertical ring that the cigars carry, with an oval supported by two strips and golden edges, on which the black letters stand out. At the foot, a second equally wide ring specifies the type of tobacco in the wrapper.

They started with three sizes, like most of the new tobacco companies, and the Connecticut and Habano wrappers were joined by the Maduro. A Double Corona came, which is basically a double Lonsdale, and from 2012 –in response to market demands– they also produce thick cigars, with 60 and up to 62 ring gauges, with about 28 grams of tobacco.

Currently 30 vitolas are offered, ten for each type of tobacco: Robusto (5 inches, ring gauge 50); Toro (6 inches, ring gauge 50); Lonsdale (6-inch, ring gauge 46); Double Corona (61/4 inches, ring gauge 54); Belicoso (61/2 inches, ring gauge 54); Gordo (6-inch, ring gauge 58); Gordo G (7 inches, ring gauge 60); Churchill (71/2 inches, ring gauge 50), and a Gordo Box Pressed, the Unsmokable (6 inches, ring gauge 60 with a 58 tip, to facilitate smoking).

Finally, there is the Lancero (71/2 inches, ring gauge 38) in a pig tail, which is interesting because when moistening the knob, the cap can be removed with the teeth without cutting.

And although the Corona (6-inch, ring gauge 42) is manufactured onlyfor special orders, during 2023 other sizes will be added to the vitolario.

Smokers appreciate consistency, and Yaniv knows it: a certain cigar should always taste the same, without variations from the previous one you tried, and from the beginning to the end. “In our cigars nothing changes; It will bethe same today, as in 20 years. This differentiates us from those who throw blends,

lines, or limited units, get them out of stock and move on to something else. They even change their name.”

In Erez, the fundamental process is aging.

“It’s not that we buy the best tobacco in the world or the most expensive. We distinguish ourselves by putting our cigars to sleep for a minimum of five years in natural boxes, without paint or other elements that could affect them; everything is natural.”

He also warns that not just any cigar can be aged, because there are those who make beautiful cigars, but because of the way they were rolled it is not feasible to age them. The manufacture must start from this intention and be done in a special way, because during the process it varies up to the size.

He gives as an example a lot of 90 thousand Double Corona and Lonsdale San Andrés wrapper that he produced in 2012. “We liked them so much that we took 15,000 and locked them in a humidor. As during the last years, we have had great demand, I put them in 500 boxes for sale. The packaging says: ‘Tobacco with 15 years of aging’. Those cigars have a better color, and they shrank so much that the ring comes out.”

Another important aspect is to carry out this aging in separate humidors, according to the wrapper of the cigar, so that the different oils do not alter their flavor or color.

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GUARANTEE

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nother distinctive feature of Erez is that it gives a guarantee of total satisfaction. That is, if someone tries one of their cigars and did not like it, they can return it and wait for the full refund of their money ... “That’s the confidence I have in my brand,” Yaniv says.

Their packaging is also striking. The boxes are white, simple, because he sought to differentiate himself from the rest in the humidors of the stores, where dark tones and woods prevail. In addition, when placed on a display, cigars appear horizontally, and the lid is not fully open vertically but folded in half to highlight the brand logo.

Thus, when the cigar is taken, they go down to the space visible to the client. Also, in this there is variety: boxes of 20, 12 and 10 units; The latter are rigid, small, for those looking for a gift or take them as a traveling humidor to the golf course. They are accompanied by a moisture control envelope of above 70 percent. “A lot of humidity? Yes, but that’s how we like it; It’s our way of keeping them, no matter where they are.”

So, what is the philosophy of your business?

Without hesitation, he responds that there are those who tell him that they have never heard of his cigars, even though he has been on the market for many years. “Yes, but I don’t advertise, I don’t sell on the Internet. We have a very bad website. But if you call me from anywhere and want to buy, I’ll tell you where the closest store to you is, or maybe I’ll send you some personally.”

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A lot of humidity? Yes, but that’s how we like it; It’s our way of keeping them, no matter where they are.”

He is not affected by the competition or even interested in what the rest of the companies do. He knows that in stores you find products with different qualities, high and low, and hence the interest in interacting with their clients and talking to people about cigars, in addition to making gifts to stores, such as humidors, which at the same time are advertising.

Gordo G (7 inches, ring gauge 60).

Churchill (7½ inches, ring gauge 50).

Lancero (7½ inches, ring gauge 38).

He says U.S. tobacco companies offer expensive cigars, “but if they sold Erez they would make more money.” For example, instead of spending on marketing, your company distributes through Brand Ambassadors, who go to stores, give away samples and present promotions: “Just as others invest in advertising, I use it to give away cigars, and if I get 10 percent of attracted customers, I’m already doing business.”

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THE CHARACTER

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n 2021 the entrepreneur tried something new and to evaluate the reaction of the market presented The Landlord, a brand with a unique 4-inch cigar, ring gauge 64. “It was very well received and as during the events I try to educate and inform my clients, I explain that it has a closed foot. This cigar does not light like any other, because the idea is that the wrapper ignites the rest of the cigar to give more flavor.

The image is a character. Think of a New York landowner who owns an apartment building that is collapsing, but far from caring about the dilapidated state of the building, every end of the month he comes to collect rent. It is egocentric and is always accompanied by a short and thick cigar. It’s like a kind of Humphrey Bogart in the fifties or an Al Pacino in his tough guys roll.

Yaniv knew that the name could be interpreted negatively but being related to investments and real estate seemed distant, and no one in the industry had used it. So he created a vintage ring, simulating a wax seal with golden edges, a self-portrait, to which he added the year of his birth, 1972.

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These cigars, made with the special Landlord blend, carry a little Jalapa tobacco, from Nicaragua, which has more nicotine and oils.

Unlike Erez, they are not aged so they are fullstrength. Now they exist in four vitolas: The aforementioned is called Short Sale, Gordito 4 inches, ring guage 64, which in the real estate business means buying from the bank – in judicial auction – a house at a price lower than its value.

As the result of a successful launch, the next was Eviction, a 7-inch Belicoso, ring gauge 54, which refers to the act of eviction when rent is not paid. Then came a 6-inch Perfecto, ring gauge 63 called Hold Over, in reference to recovering a house from the hands of a tenant, even if he has not breached the contract.

Finally, there was a 7-inch Salomon, ring gauge 58 named Slumlord, by the owner of the property who only cares about his money. The presentations of all of them includes the three wrappers of Erez, but they are a punch that shows you that you are smoking a real cigar and “not just for pleasure, when you need something strong”.

Yaniv says that the managers of different stores where The Landlord is sold have asked him how soon a cigar called Tenant will come out, and he thinks it could be a thin stock line. Although at this time the most important thing is to increase the inventory and then will see if it is possible to manufacture it during 2023.

It was very well received and as during the events I try to educate and inform my clients, I explain that it has a closed foot. This cigar does not light like any other, because the idea is that the wrapper ignites the rest of the cigar to give more flavor.

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THE IDEAS

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e does not have a team for the development of the company or its brands. “I do it alone. I sit in a cigar lounge and think things... At the end of the day, I am a businessman who always looks for how to make them. What did I come up with? A wooden box, the only one that always looks full on the sideboard, because I noticed that the ones that look new always sell better. These are strategies that takes me months to design and specify.”

When someone wants to do business with me, I’ll be here. Because we have such a variety of cigars that any store will find something to make money with us... I’m a phone call away,”

The production in its factory of Tamboril is more than 300 thousand cigars per year, but sells them five years later, now those from 2019 are on the market. The previous inventory was out of stock before the end of 2022.

Among its future plans it will gain greater presence in the international market.

Although Erez is now sold in Europe, New Zealand, the Middle East, Lebanon and Africa, the idea is to reach more countries.

“We signed a contract with Italian distributors to be in eight stores throughout that country.”

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This purpose of internationalization responds for two reasons: to try to lower taxes for consumers, and that if someone wants to buy cigars in small quantities do so through a shipping company of worldwide scope from the Dominican Republic, which is their point of distribution.

“When someone wants to do business with me, I’ll be here. Because we have such a variety of cigars that any store will find something to make money with us... I’m a phone call away,” he says, convinced that Erez is all about premium cigars with a personal touch.

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GRAN TAMBORIL

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During the Covid-19 pandemic the demand for cigars increased, thinking that all the cuts or surpluses of their production are no longer premium – because they lose some quality, color, and the veins are not the same – but finally it is good tobacco. So, remembering that when someone visits a factory and smokes just to try, it doesn’t always end up with a whole cigar, he had the idea of making some 4-inch cigars under the Gran Tamboril brand.

He brought this line to the Tobacco Plus Expo (TPE) in January 2022: Robusto, Toro, Belicoso and Gordo, and some of them sold out. They come in a box with 28 cigars with closed foot, for a smoke of 15 to 20 minutes.

“The success is that when someone goes to a store spends between 12 and 13 dollars for a large cigar and needs about 90 minutes to finish it, but with these he pays 6 dollars and has a quick smoke, enjoying the same experience.”

He brought this line to the Tobacco Plus Expo (TPE) in January 2022: Robusto, Toro, Belicoso and Gordo, and some of them sold out. They come in a box with 28 cigars with closed foot, for a smoke of 15 to 20 minutes".

The name is a tribute to the city where its products are made and the ring – in gold with red for the Habano wrapper; white for Connecticut, and green for Maduro, includes some element of the flag of the municipality, inspired by agriculture. Their boxes look the colors mentioned, in the triangle that results from a diagonal between their corners.

Yaniv reiterates that the closed foot makes you taste the wrapper from the first moment and ignites the rest of the tobacco, without giving the mouth the taste of the flame. In addition, he recommends that for these cigars, instead of a cutter, a puncher must be used.

In relation to the heraldry of the ring, reminiscent of the coats of arms, the Robusto of 4 inches, ring gauge 50 bears the nickname El Príncipe; the 41/2-inches Belicose, ring gauge 52, El Caballero; the 4-inch Gordo, ring gauge 60, La Torre, and a 7-inch Lonsdale, ring gauge 44, El Bufón. “The latter is not as popular as the others, but here it is.”

Currently their cigars are sold throughout the U.S., in some places more than others.

The important thing is that their products are diverse.

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