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Paul Bush of Flatbed Cigar Company

Today we interview Paul Bush of Flatbed Cigar Company, known for their line of Panacea cigars. We’ve chatted back and forth with Paul over the last few months and he was kind enough to send us some review samples of the Panacea line and to take the time to answer a few questions for our readers. Paul’s story is interesting and truly is a nose to the ground kind of journey.

So, light up a Panacea and kick it with Paul and Toasted Foot. You can also get to know Paul online and on Twitter.

Questions About You:

How did you get involved in the cigar industry?
I had an e-commerce consulting business.  I would set up companies so they could sell online.  The client I had prior to starting Flatbed Cigar Company was in the premium cigar business.  I built and managed the business for them over an 18 month period.  During that time, I was in the Dominican Republic quite a bit and simply fell in love with the cigar culture.  I tend to lean more to the farming side of the business, as that is how I grew up.  We did not grow tobacco, but we grew other crops and ran a farm in New England.

What is it you enjoy most about the cigar industry?
I love that it is an agricultural product.  Again, I grew up on a farm and have always been drawn to growing, cultivating, harvesting, etc.  I also love the fact that it is hand made, it is a true craft.  Being farmers, with limited resources, when we needed something…we made it. Or, we fixed what we had broken.  I guess I am predisposed to making a tangible product.  Something you can touch, taste, and smell.

What are some of your favorite smokes?
I like many cigars.  It depends on the time of day, what I am doing, what I am eating or drinking.  I like a 52-54 ring…somewhere around there.  When I am not smoking one of my blends, I enjoy CAO MX2.  I also like Rocky Patel’s Sun Grown.  I like Ashton Classics.  There are many, many great cigars out there.  I try to find a new cigar every week. I like to find small cigar companies like mine, and try their blends.

How many cigars do you smoke a day?
I do not smoke that many, only 1-2 per day.  Some days I will not smoke any.  Other days I may smoke 3-4.  It depends on where I am and what I am doing.  I like to smoke with my clients, so I will generally reserve the smokes for that time…when I am visiting accounts.

Questions About the Company:

How did Flatbed Cigar Company get its start?
I started the company in 2006, but we did not get any product to market until 2007.  Once I had a blend I thought we could lean into, I loaded up my trunk with samples and drove south from Philadelphia to Washington, DC.  I drove back home to Bucks County (outside Philadelphia), re-loaded, and this time drove north to Boston.  I hit about 200 smoke shops between Boston and DC.  The success rate was pretty low…opening about 15 accounts.  However, it WAS A BLAST.  I was having more fun than I had had in 17 years of corporate America.

My partner in Flatbed Cigar Company is from the DR.  He worked for Davidoff for twenty plus years.  I met Victor through his son, who was working at the Santiago airport.  We quickly became friends and decided to start a business.  Our ideology with regard to the cigar industry is identical, allowing us to work very well together. “It’s all about the cigar…period.”  If we make great cigars, everything else will take care of itself.

What was it like selling cigars out of your trunk? What kept you motivated during the process?
I was building the company on a shoestring budget.  That meant I was eating off the dollar menu at McDonald’s, sleeping in the cheapest motels I could find, or in the car.  I printed up some sell sheets, and filled zip lock bags with cigars.  I walked tobacco shops, introduced myself, gave them a baggie of samples, and was off to the next shop.  That was about it.  Nothing fancy.  I’d call the shops back the following week and ask for an order.  It was very out of character for me, but I knew without sales, there was no company. I knew if I could get the folks to smoke my cigar they would like it.  I also knew I was going to have to be very persistent.  I would visit a shop 3, 4, 5, even 6-7 times before I would get an order.  Phone calls do not work.  You must be in the shops.  After a few months of it, I loved it.  To this day I prefer to be in the shops BS’ing with customers rather than being in the office doing administrative BS.

How did you decide on the name for the company and for your first blend, Panacea?
To me a cigar is a Panacea, “a cure all.”  Example…you come home after a hard day at work, Boss chewed you out, kids are all sugared up and flying around the house, your wife is asking why you never take her anyplace nice, even your dog is giving you attitude etc., etc! You slink out on the back porch, light up your favorite cigar…and it just all melts away (for an hour anyway).

What do you have planned for the future? New blends, events, a store?
We started with just one blend: Black Label, Connecticut Natural.  Now we have Black Label, Brazilian Maduro, and Red Label, Habano.  We are also working on a White Label, Pennsylvania Broadleaf, and a Green Label, Corojo.

We also split the existing blends into two separate lines; Classic (our original sizes and shapes), and Grande, our 560s, 660s, and 760s series.

The classic line has our original band design, and the Grande has its own band…all under the PANACEA brand.  We are not thinking about opening any stores at the moment, but I suspect I will eventually.  I like the idea of constantly talking to the end consumer.  It’s the best market research you can do.  We participate in several events a year, but do not have our own signature event at this time.

What states or regions are currently selling Panacea?
We are still mostly concentrated in those original states sold from the trunk of my car.  However, recently we have opened up accounts in TX, IL, CA, TN, and WI.  I would like to open some more warm weather accounts to help maintain sales through Jan, Feb, and March.  We tend to slow down in those months.

Describe the perfect day at Flatbed Cigar Company.
All retail orders ship out on time.  Phone rings with fill in orders.  Customs has not held up any Flatbed freight, and my daughter had a great day at school.

Questions About the Cigars:

Describe briefly your blends and varieties.
The first blend we did was the Connecticut.  A smooth, rich, creamy, full bodied smoke with hints of vanilla and straw.  It is a great smoke.  Have it with your morning (or evening) coffee and you will never have another cup without a PANACEA.  This cigar is all Dominican…and fantastic.

Our Brazilian Maduro has a Dominican binder.  The filler is mainly Dominican, but does have a bit of Nicaraguan leaf too. You still get the molasses and pepper off the wrapper and binder, but the body of the smoke is lifted a notch.  With the Nicaraguan/Dominican  filler blend you get a stronger cigar, but maintain the creaminess.

Our Red label Maduro is our strongest blend.  It has a Brazilian wrapper, Habano binder, and Nicaraguan/Dominican filler.  There is more Nicaraguan leaf in this cigars filler than our Black Label.

Who blends and rolls your cigars?
We blend and roll our own cigars.

Of the 3, what is your bestselling blend? Why do you think people like it so much?
The Red Label is our best seller.  Our blends have gotten progressively stronger.  Red is the strongest.  The market spoke, we listened.  It is that simple.  However, our Connecticut Natural is starting to sell very well again.  There seems to be a resurrection of the “Natural” happening.  I think we might have been a little ahead of our time in that respect.  We launched with a Natural because I thought the market already had enough “hard hitting” maduro wrapper cigars…and we saw the Natural as the classic cigar blend.  Now…many of the “hard hitting” manufacturers are coming back to that classic…the Natural.  I don’t know really, it’s hard to figure out.  We tend to just do what we want, not follow any trends, and have fun.  It has been working well for us so far.  If I wanted to worry about everything, I’d go back Madison Avenue.

You mention that you do not manipulate the tobacco at all. Can you explain what you mean by this? How do you compete with others that do manipulate and will have cleaner wrappers?
We do not color or flavor our tobacco. We do not manipulate the PH in any way…other than traditional fermenting.  We make cigars the old-school way.  Nothing fancy in our production.  As a result, you may find color (wrapper) variations within the same box.  Nothing extreme, but noticeable.  You will also see the occasional sun spot, or pigment discoloration on the wrapper as well.  Again, nothing crazy, but we don’t cover it up.  It’s just a part of this craft.  When we can, we’ll roll the cigar with the imperfection in mind…so it gets cut off.  But if we can’t, you get a reminder that cigar making is a craft.  Folks sitting at a bench rolling this beautiful cigar by hand…that was planted, cultivated, and picked by hand.

Anything else you’d like to share?
I want to thank those first 12 to 15 stores that thought enough of me and our blends to give us a try.  I want to thank you, the consumer, for thinking enough of us to purchase and smoke a PANACEA.  We know you have tens of thousands of cigars to choose from.  The fact that you gave us a try, and continue to buy our cigars makes everything we do even that much more fun.  I really enjoy sharing this great ride with all of you.  It is just the beginning too!