A Blend of Values and Tobacco
From a soccer field to tobacco farms, the friendship between Corey Sneed and Edwin Debiew was built on a mixture of cherished values and tobacco leaves produced in Mexico, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.
The blends of this brand evoke memories of aged tobacco flavors and aromas, Caribbean culture, and the efforts of factory workers and over 300 people involved in creating a product entirely handmade.
With five house blends and seven signature premium blends, Friend’s Cigars aims to establish itself in the US and global markets, aiming to create and strengthen friendships, just as they have done over time, conversation by conversation and puff by puff.
The Friends
Corey Sneed is a native Texan with 30 years of experience in the materials and scientific equipment industry, spent much of his life installing technological equipment for analyzing various types of samples in the microscopy industry.
His passion for cigars began with his grandfather, a minister and entrepreneur who used to smoke them. The scent of tobacco became a powerful childhood memory, later joined by his first Cohiba cigar, a fabulous experience filled with captivating aromas and flavors he sought to recreate when founding his own brand.
Edwin Debiew was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and now resides in DeSoto, Texas, after retiring following a career with the US government, where he turned golf into a mind and body stimulating activity and developed a taste for cigars.
Throughout the years, integrity and brotherhood have formed the foundation of their enduring relationship, which has now also become a business partnership.
The Brand
In 2021, alongside M. J. Frías Cigar Co. armed with enhanced knowledge of premium tobacco, the need for their own brand grew. From this desire came King Cake, a Toro cigar measuring 6 inches with a 54 ring gauge, flavored with chocolate, and a Robusto measuring 5 inches with a 50 ring gauge, flavored with vanilla. Both feature a Negro San Andrés México wrapper and Dominican and Nicaraguan binder and filler, adorned with a band in purple and yellow tones reminiscent of New Orleans and its local culture, featuring a lion, emblematic of the Debiew family.
These cigars were their initial products, marking their entry into the tobacco industry. Seeking to establish themselves as a quality brand, they later expanded into a premium line.
While King Cake catered more to Edwin’s family, tastes, and origins, the premium line was heavily influenced by Corey, drawing on his memories of his first Cohiba cigar and aiming for a blend more aligned with Cuban aromas and flavors.
Continental Cigars Factory took on the challenge of creating four new cigars:
▶ Actitud: Cuban wrapper, Cuban binder, and Cuban, Dominican, and Pennsylvania filler.
▶ Friends 1888: Habana wrapper, Cuban binder, and Cuban, Dominican, and Pennsylvania filler.
▶ Havana Anniversary Toro: Habano Ecuador wrapper, Olor Dominicano binder, and Cuba-Dominican and Pennsylvania filler.
These cigars are medium to full-bodied, offering a good burn, excellent ash, and a smooth draw to deliver a quality experience to the end consumer and foster networking opportunities, making friends over a cigar made by friends.
▶ Altitud: Maduro wrapper, HVA binder, and Habana, Corojo, and Criollo filler.
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The Cigars
KING CAKE CHOCOLATE
San Andrés wrapper, Dominican and Nicaraguan primer, aged 3-4 years. You will taste chocolate notes all throughout with a clean, easy draw. The ash burn is great and compares to some of the best in its class.
KING CAKE VANILLA
San Andrés wrapper, Dominican and Nicaraguan primer, aged 3-4 years. You will taste vanilla notes all throughout with a clean, easy draw. The ash burn is great and compares to some of the best in its class.
ALTITUDE
This is a great cigar full of flavor and strength. The Habanesis variety was developed in Cuba and harvested in the shade for wrappers and in the sun for binder and filler. Of course in Dominican soil resulting in one of the tobaccos with the greatest flavor, dark chocolate and coffee beans notes dominante with hints of spicy cayenne pepper. This is a cigar with a peculiar aroma and strength that will take you to the altitude in every third.
Strength: Medium to full.
Wrapper: Maduro.
Binder: HVA.
Filler: Havana, Corojo and Criollo.
52 X 5 3/4
ACTITUD
A complex cigar from the beginning to the end. Upon lighting anyone can observe an oily layer with notes of spanish cedar wood, black pepper, macadamia nuts and of course that well-aged tobacco. Upon entering the second third, the notes of wood and pepper dominate while our palates get carried away and we approach the final third with hints of floral notes, let’s call it a bit mystical or better called, a cigar with lot of Actitud!
Strength: Medium to full.
Wrapper: Cuban.
Binder: Cuban.
Filler: Cuban, Dominican and Pennsylvania. Actitud 54 X 5 1/8
HAVANA ANNIVERSARY
Once we light the cigar, we can observe an elegant and fine bluish smoke. Which give us a uniform smoke, with an unparalleled creaminess and notes of cocoa, roasted peanuts and almonds on the palate. Upon reaching the second third we perceive some smells of wood while we move on to a change from cocoa to chocolate, integrating the smoke. Until we reach the last third where creaminess dominates and we feel how the intensity decreases while the notes of nuts, chocolate and leather aged are accentuated; making this smoke something so special that it can be enjoyed.
Occasionally in the morning or at sunset, either alone with oneself or in good company.
Strength: Medium to full. Wrapper: Habano Ecuador. Binder: Olor Dominicano.
FRIEND’S 1888
This is what we call a good to go cigar to enjoy anytime, anywhere. This is a very creamy, oily and enjoyable cigar. Upon lighting the cigar anyone can perceive notes of nuts such as peanuts and almonds, few notes of chocolate and hints of pepper. When retrohale, making this smoke something so special that it can be enjoyed occasionally at any time.
Strength: Medium to full.
Wrapper: Havana.
Binder: Cuban.
Filler: Cuban, Dominican and Pennsylvania.
Standards of quality, technology and adaptations
Our tobacco leaves are carefully supervised by our master craftsman. We store the cigars in a controlled environment with a relative humidity between 65%75%. We use hygrometers, humidity extractors and air conditioners in our curing room.
Each tobacco leaf is carefully supervised and must have been aged for a minimum of 2 years.
All our tobacco leaves must meet the required organoleptic characteristics such as: smell, flavor, aroma, oil level and color, among other properties.
All of our tobacco leaves must be free of pests and diseases.
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