Cigar World's Interview with Pedro Gomez of Drew Estate Part One

Cigar World's Interview with Pedro Gomez of Drew Estate

For those of you who live under a rock, you may not know Pedro Gomez, the friendliest face at Drew Estate. For this next edition of Cigar World's Miami Survival Guide, we had the pleasure of speaking to Pedro; who you know is always in great spirits. He has a humble attitude, loves all things tobacco, and speaks in such a way that you could chat with him for hours. We had the opportunity to sit down with Pedro and discuss everything about Drew Estate, Miami, and Pedro himself. As you can imagine, we covered a ton of material, so this is part one of three of our interview with Pedro. Sit back, light a cigar, and come on a journey with us while we chat with Pedro.

Jean: Pedro, thanks for sitting down with us today here at the Drew Estate Miami Headquarters. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do with Drew Estate. 

Pedro: First, Cigar World, thank you very much for having me. It is a pleasure to be with you guys. My name is Pedro Gomez. I'm from Estelí, Nicaragua. I was born and raised in Estelí, Nicaragua, and I have been with Drew Estate since 2006. I started with Drew Estate in the factory, and back in my early days, I was the gopher guy, so I was doing pretty much whatever the factory needed me to do. A year passed and I was given the opportunity to be the Assistant Operations Manager of the factory. Two years after that, they promoted me to run the Cigar Safari tours. By 2011, Drew Estate gave me the opportunity to run our International Sales, and in 2013, Drew Estate moved me from Estelí to work full-time here in the United States. And now, I'm working in the marketing department and travel doing cigar events. In other words, my role is in marketing and public relationships. 

Jean: And you're a face of Drew Estate! I think everybody knows you. 

Pedro: Well, God is good. 

Jean: You mentioned Cigar Safari, which I have heard of, but why don't you tell us a little bit about it?

Pedro: Absolutely; Cigar Safari was a beautiful program that Drew Estate had where we brought in consumers, retailers, and distributors from all over the world to have four days and three nights in Nicaragua, where we presented a very deep dive into the craftsmanship of premium cigars, how we select the tobacco seeds, how we grow tobacco, how we ferment it, how we cure it, how we blend those tobaccos,  and how we create the brands. It was nine yards from A to Z, so everything was included, from the stay to the transportation, the tour, the food, and the amount of cigars that people smoked. Unfortunately, since COVID-19, we haven't done it, but what Drew Estate has done instead is invest heavily in resources and energy in a program called the Barn Smokers. 

This year, we had three beautiful Barn Smokers. One of them was in Connecticut, another one was in Kentucky, and the last one was in Clermont, Florida. All these events happen at a tobacco farm. We get more than a thousand people to come to each event. It's a one-day event. It's a beautiful thing because you are going to learn everything from A to Z, and there are a lot of different activities as well. Obviously, with Cigar Safari, we were only able to bring 15 people, which is not a lot, but with the Barn Smokers, we get more exposure when it comes to what we do. Most importantly, when it comes to cigars, It's about educating people, but at the same time, we entertain them based on the stuff that they love, which is cigars.

Jean: I was fortunate enough to attend Barn Smoker two years ago in Pennsylvania, and I had a blast. I was getting t-shirts airbrushed, I met a guy who was painting sneakers, and I learned all about the process of how you make your cigars. You guys do a great job at these events.  Switching topics, we saw that you have been in Europe for the past two years doing events and promoting Drew Estate. Can you tell us a bit about that?

Pedro: Oh, absolutely. For the past 14 years, Drew Estate has traveled to Europe to attend Intertabac in Dortmund, Germany, which is the second-largest trade show in the premium cigar space. Recently, we went there to launch Liga Privada Seleccion de Mercado. This cigar is a brand-new Liga Privada that we made available specifically for the international market, so basically, Selección de Mercado is a whole different Liga Privada. Besides Germany, we did events in Romania, and Hungary, and we ended up in Bulgaria. We distribute this Liga Privada in all those countries, and since then, the brand has taken off. We are very happy and grateful for the support that people in the international market are giving to Drew Estate. 

Jean: Fantastic. So, where was your favorite place you visited between those different countries? 

Pedro: Wow. Well, I will tell you like this, everywhere you go is very different. Traveling for pleasure is one thing while traveling for work is another. You can barely take in the sites, but we must eat! The food was good; the people were very kind and very friendly, so overall I had a very nice experience. On top of that, you know, meeting people who are friends of Drew Estate was priceless. For me, coming from Esteli and somebody saying to me, “Pedro,I love this. It is my favorite cigar brand. Undercrown Maduro. Oh my god, I love this one so much.” To me I don't take it for granted because you know that person acknowledged something that he likes in his own personal time or even when he likes to share that cigar with a particular cigar smoker. It's a beautiful experience to hear from people. So, for me, it is beautiful to see the love that people have for cigars. When we have people coming to Nicaragua, especially when we are doing the Nicaragua Cigar Festival, we have people from all different countries. People get the opportunity to see all the factories and all the tobacco fields. It's not just about Nicaragua. It’s not just about Drew Estate. It’s about all the cigar companies involved in the cigar industry. 

So, for an end consumer to have an experience like that, you really give them the opportunity to have a whole different appreciation because life is about appreciating things. The more that you know, the better experience that you're going to have. So, to answer your question, yes, it was beautiful in Europe, and I had a great time. I never imagined I would ever be in those countries, but cigars bring people together. If you are in the cigar industry, cigars are going to take you places that you would never know you're going to be able to be, so I was very happy. I'm looking forward this year to traveling to other countries and promoting the brand.

Jean: You mentioned that you moved from Esteli to the United States. Congratulations on recently becoming a citizen. Now that you live in Miami tell us when you're hanging out; where do you like to spend your time? 

Pedro: Absolutely. Well, if you were new to Miami, I would tell you that Miami is a very vibrant city with many things happening every day. Besides the beautiful weather, there is a huge Latin cultural influence in the city, and Miami is probably the only city in the US where wherever you go, they throw Spanish in your face, assuming that you are from somewhere in Latin America. There are also a lot of great places to eat in Miami. I'm a big fan of not just Nicaraguan food, which is good but, there are a lot of different types of food nationalities available here. My number one is Peruvian food. You should try Peruvian food. Peruvian food is not a joke. It's amazing and super-rich when it comes to the flavors. The last restaurant that I went to was Ceviche 105, which is an amazing place to get great food.

If you are looking for places to go to smoke, I like The Cigar Shop on Bird Road. It is owned by George and is a family-run business. Another very nice cigar bar right here in Doral that I like to go to is called Tabacon Cigar and Spirits. There is another one in Doral close to Tabacon, Sabor Havana Cigars that is owned by a good friend of ours. There are so many different places to smoke cigars. 

There is always a festival to attend, and there are parties everywhere. I mean people that come to Miami for the first time assume that we don't work. But we work a lot. But I mean, it's fun. When you get the chance to explore and see new places and be open-minded to new food, that's when you'll get the real taste of life. 

And speaking about cigars, forget it. When you head out in Miami to smoke a cigar, you'll be able to meet great people who come from different walks of life; you're going to learn a thing or two while enjoying something that you truly love. You're going to be able to expand your knowledge about things in life because the more you know people, the more things you're going to learn. This applies to everywhere, though, not just in Miami.

Jean: Absolutely, and I've always found that when you are in a cigar lounge, it doesn't matter what walk of life you're from; everybody bonds and talks about their experiences. I have always felt welcome.

Pedro: It's very friendly. Yeah, I would say the cigar world is one of those cultures that keep it real and keep it traditional as it was hundreds of years ago because cigars have been around for hundreds of years. It's something we have yet to start to do because we want to look cool on social media. Cigars, besides being a getaway experience that people do for relaxation, are also celebratory moments when you are having a good time. Those are the moments when you're going to see how beautiful and good life has been for you. 

Stay tuned for the next portion of our interview with Pedro Gomez, and make sure to follow him on his socials!