Hello BOTL, I love history and enjoy cigars more when I dive into the history of brands I like. I especially enjoy smaller brands because they benefit more from the publicity and will make time to talk to an enthusiast like myself.
I recently finished a brand history on Wildfire Cigar Co. and its founder, Jeremy McDonald. If you have yet to try them, you should, especially if you enjoy Joya de Nicaragua, which makes two-thirds of Wildfire's blends and has meaningfully influenced McDonald's palate.
I also created an eBook of this history, but it's too large to attach as a thread. If you enjoy it, I'll leave links to my newsletter at the end, giving you a link to download the PDF version.
Enjoy and let me know your thoughts!
------------------------------------
Early Career and the Retail Years (2001 – 2012)
Jeremy McDonald, founder of Wildfire Cigar Co., was born and raised in Orange County, California. He was a normal kid – he liked playing rock music and skating and spent summers with his family in Alabama. He got introduced to cigars at family events, where his uncles would smoke:
At this point in his life, McDonald enjoyed cigars but had no plans to work in the business. He first tried to become a musician, “going in vans and going on tour,” and then went to seminary school to work in a ministry but later left.
He then worked a series of odd jobs but kept smoking cigars. He started frequenting about four cigar shops in the area and soon found more expensive sticks. The cigar that opened his eyes to what a cigar could be was a Davidoff Aniversario No. 2, which was about $15 a stick. (Now it’s more than double that if you can find them)
Jeremy writes about Joya de Nicaragua: “For those that don’t know my story back in the mid 2000s. They were the first premium cigar factory I visited when I was a retailer.” Source: Wildfire Cigar Co Instagram
The year is 2012, and McDonald had been working in the shop for 11 years, moving up and eventually taking over the ordering for the shop. During those 11 years, McDonald learned about the retail side of the industry and made connections that will help him later in the story, as we’ll soon see.
He got the itch to move on and continue his path in the cigar business. There was nothing more senior at the shop, and he wasn’t going to own it, so he took a role as a regional sales representative with C.L.E upon its founding in 2012.
C.L.E. Years (2012 – 2014)
After Maxamar Ultimate Cigars, McDonald became a regional sales manager for C.L.E. Cigar Company on the West Coast and worked with Christian Eiroa when he started C.L.E. His time at C.L.E. could have gotten off to a better start: “About three months in, and they were going to fire me.” There was no training or account list, which was a challenge for someone who had yet to be a sales rep.
Wildfire Cigar Co’s core line, plus two special editions.
But, ever the learning machine, McDonald contacted sales reps he knew from his retail days and asked questions. He built a list of shops, what they buy, and what their customers like. And in the end, McDonald turned it around. At C.L.E., he was managed by Robert Wright. Wright worked with Eiroa at Camacho and Fabricas Unidas and started Pura Soul, a joint venture with Christian Eiroa. But in 2014, C.L.E. stopped distributing Pura Soul, speculating poor sales — however, you can still purchase it. There are twists and turns in Wright’s relationship with C.L.E., but in 2023, he became the company’s national sales manager, so he’s still going strong at C.L.E. About Wright, McDonald said:
In 2013, C.L.E., shortly after Caldwell informed them of his intent to move on, stopped producing Wynwood, though Eiroa rebranded the line to “Wynwood Hills” and brought it back to the market with fresh branding in 2018 without Caldwell’s involvement. McDonald recalls:
During the Caldwell years, McDonald wasn’t treated just as an employee but as a true partner: ownership in Caldwell Cigars, ownership in Down&Black — the distribution company for Caldwell — and a say in what role he wanted to fill at the new company.
Like his time at Maxamar, where he had never been in retail before, or at C.L.E., where he had never been a regional sales rep, McDonald had never been a national sales manager before, and it was a role he had to grow into.
McDonald ran the sales team at Caldwell Cigar Co. and helped build the brand from the ground up. Their sales approach focused on “activations and hand-offs.” They would spend time in a specific area to “activate” it by cultivating relationships with a set of shops to carry the cigars and start building a customer base. Once they activated the territory, they’d find a sales rep to take over the relationships so McDonald and Caldwell could focus on the next area to activate and grow.
So you have someone who has been a regional sales manager for two years and is becoming a national sales manager, but these are your opportunities when you start a new company. There’s more risk assumed vs. working for a company like C.L.E. that already had a few established brands, owned factories, and tobacco fields. He had a chance to do something new and ambitious with someone he respected professionally and personally in Caldwell. McDonald says this about Caldwell:
The year is 2020, COVID hit, and lockdowns were in full swing. He got the itch again and decided to do something new. Caldwell was the first person he talked to and gave him full support, saying, “I wouldn’t be doing Wildfire if it wasn’t for Rob.” Caldwell mentored McDonald, and on the next leg of his journey, as we will see, Caldwell will continue to guide McDonald. Everything McDonald says indicates that Robert Caldwell is, in fact, a genuinely decent human, a rare mentor, and a great person to do business with. It makes me want to have Caldwell as a friend.
Wildfire Cigar Co (2021 – 2023)
In May 2021, McDonald launched Wildfire Cigar Co., releasing two cigars: a limited edition called “The Single” and the first cigar of the core line called “The Revivalist.” Joya de Nicaragua produces both.
The Revivalist
The Revivalist
His first core line cigar, “The Revivalist,” led McDonald to work with Joya de Nicaragua. He wanted something classic and could easily fit into a consumer’s regular smoking rotation:
Founded in 1968, Joya de Nicaragua is the oldest factory in Nicaragua and is a vast operation — they also make cigars for Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust, Fratello, Villager, and others. McDonald says his experience making cigars with Joya was “guided” or “working off of a template.” He’d start with a type of tobacco, and Joya would say, “If you want to work with this type of tobacco, here are the other tobaccos that go well with that.” So, there are only a limited number of ways the cigar’s profile can emerge.
In many of these older companies, there’s a specific profile in their cigars. It’s common — for example, a particular binder pairs well with a specific wrapper — you stick to it and default to it. So “The Revivalist” gets released along with a limited edition called “The Single,” with the idea being the limited edition is to show what Wildfire Cigar Co can do in terms of complexities and nuances, and “The Revivalist” can be in anyone’s rotation and foundational to the core line.
The years 2021 – 2022 were difficult for Wildfire Cigar Co. regarding brand expansion for two reasons: long lead times to develop a new cigar with Joya meant no new cigars came from Wildfire in 2022, and Wildfire is essentially a one-person operation, so McDonald can’t scale growth quickly. McDonald doesn’t use sales reps or brokers. Because of this, he looks to build a network of more proactive retailers that will partner with his brand. Other companies that hire sales managers can do more with cigar stores, but Wildfire is looking not just for scale or selling more but for Tobacconists who are excited to carry and promote the brand. He looks for stores that have curated humidors and that carry exciting brands.
The long lead times from Joya meant that, while he was planning a new release with them, he also had to cultivate a relationship with another factory to provide greater flexibility to his business.
New Brands Released (2023)
We’re in 2023, a significant year of growth for Wildfire’s portfolio and McDonald’s skills as a blender. Wildfire added two regular productions to their core line: “Wanderer” in February 2023 and “Aratois” (pronounced AR-TAY-OH-ISS) in July 2023. In February, they also released the second cigar of their three limited edition cigar plans, “The Intro.”
Due to long lead times with Joya, McDonald searched for other producers to work with. “Wanderer” led McDonald to Honduras to work with Fábrica Centroamericana de Tabaco S.A. in Danlí, or F.C.T., owned by Cavalier Genève.
In order: The Single, The Revivalist, The Intro, Wanderer, Artaois.Wanderer
McDonald started with an idea: using an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. Historically, McDonald had mixed emotions regarding Sumatra-wrapped cigars, and he challenged himself to make something he loved with a Sumatra wrapper.
He did 52 different blends to find the one he was happy with. He wanted to make a rich cigar with baking spices, complex and full of flavor but medium to medium plus in body. “Wanderer” was originally going to be the next limited edition, but the more he smoked it, the more he wanted it to be his following core line release.
The Wanderer
F.C.T. is more of a mom-and-pop style factory. Compared to the structured approach presented by Joya de Nicaragua, F.C.T. put McDonald into a room with tobacco and told him to come back when he came up with something he liked — “baptism by fire,” as McDonald put it.
This approach allowed McDonald to learn how to create a blend from the ground up. It’s unlikely to create a lousy cigar at Joya de Nicaragua, but at F.C.T., the hands-on approach allowed him to put tobacco that tastes bad together and learn about novel combinations. He grew by submerging himself in the tobacco.
Jeremy McDonald in front of a tobacco field during a trip to Honduras. Credit: Wildfire Cigar Co Instagram
Cigar production is an inexact science, and a cigar maker aims to create as much clarity as possible in a process with many changing variables. McDonald keeps a detailed journal. On every trip to Honduras, he’ll write down tasting notes and whether he had that tobacco last time. How has it changed? You can have the same priming from the same tobacco from two fields and get different characteristics, so which fields did this tobacco come from? Time and location are essential to keep track of.
Age is another variable blenders use. If the width of this wrapper is too thick, and you have a thin binder, the ratio in which they burn will be uneven. But, if you play with the age of the tobacco on the binder, you can even out that burn.
He plays in a band called “Louder the Roar” and compares blending to writing music. He starts with a line or hook and builds off of it. He finds a specific tobacco he likes as his “hook” when he blends and then goes from there. Do I want to accentuate the characteristics of that tobacco, or do I want to shape that with other tobacco? Then, he toys with it until it “feels” right.
Artaois
In July of 2023, Wildfire released “Aratois” (pronounced AR-TAY-OH-ISS), produced again by Joya de Nicaragua. McDonald started working with Joya on “Artaois” a year and a half before its release in 2021. The inspiration for the profile of “Artaois” is the Antaño Dark Corojo from Joya. “Artaois” aims to be full-bodied, bold, rich, and decadent — the go-to when a hardy cigar is needed.
Source: Wildfire Cigar Co Instagram, where McDonald writes: “So you wanna see what going to school looks like? Here’s a peek into my time at Joya de Nicaragua. In this photo I’m getting to know the flavor profile and strengths of different tobacco leaves that will soon be joined together into a cohesive blend. Im learning more everyday. This is how I develop new blends.”
Every cigar McDonald produces teaches him a new lesson. If “The Revivalist” taught him about avoiding the need for perfection, and “Wanderer” taught him about embracing the twists and turns of blending a cigar, “Artaois” is a lesson about the unpredictability of age during the production process.
The process of blending a cigar creates a “fresh rolled” cigar. When the blender likes what they’ve made, the cigars are aged for 30-45 days, then tried again. If the blender still likes it, then it’s put into production. Different things will change — the cigar may get more balanced, or the body may change. After that aging period, “Artaois” became a strong medium-plus — not as strong as he had expected from the fresh roll. It still met the profile he wanted, but it’s a great example of how cigar production throws curve balls that may not align with the blender’s original vision.
Conclusion
Now, we’re here in 2023. McDonald is a journeyman — always exploring and learning. He regularly mentions he’s figuring out how to blend cigars and is always learning. That’s why I’m excited about following Wildfire Cigar Co. – every new cigar will reflect where McDonald is on his journey. You’re not getting a “master blender.” You are getting a journeyman – someone who loves cigars, loves to learn and is coming into his own. The blends Wildfire Cigar Company will release next will reflect that, and there’s suspense and excitement in seeing where he’ll go next.
For 2024, McDonald and Wildfire Cigar Co. are planning two releases: the third and final limited edition, produced by F.C.T., and his fourth regular production to the core line, assembled by Joya de Nicaragua. He also plans to do a road trip and run promotional events.
If you want to keep in touch with more information regarding Wildfire Cigar Company, you can view their website here, or their instagram.
------------------------------------
Get the PDF: https://wildfire.quickdrawcigars.com/
Originally posted: https://quickdrawcigars.com/wildfire-cigar-co-brand-history/
I recently finished a brand history on Wildfire Cigar Co. and its founder, Jeremy McDonald. If you have yet to try them, you should, especially if you enjoy Joya de Nicaragua, which makes two-thirds of Wildfire's blends and has meaningfully influenced McDonald's palate.
I also created an eBook of this history, but it's too large to attach as a thread. If you enjoy it, I'll leave links to my newsletter at the end, giving you a link to download the PDF version.
Enjoy and let me know your thoughts!
------------------------------------
Early Career and the Retail Years (2001 – 2012)
Jeremy McDonald, founder of Wildfire Cigar Co., was born and raised in Orange County, California. He was a normal kid – he liked playing rock music and skating and spent summers with his family in Alabama. He got introduced to cigars at family events, where his uncles would smoke:
At this point in his life, McDonald enjoyed cigars but had no plans to work in the business. He first tried to become a musician, “going in vans and going on tour,” and then went to seminary school to work in a ministry but later left.
He then worked a series of odd jobs but kept smoking cigars. He started frequenting about four cigar shops in the area and soon found more expensive sticks. The cigar that opened his eyes to what a cigar could be was a Davidoff Aniversario No. 2, which was about $15 a stick. (Now it’s more than double that if you can find them)
The year is 2012, and McDonald had been working in the shop for 11 years, moving up and eventually taking over the ordering for the shop. During those 11 years, McDonald learned about the retail side of the industry and made connections that will help him later in the story, as we’ll soon see.
He got the itch to move on and continue his path in the cigar business. There was nothing more senior at the shop, and he wasn’t going to own it, so he took a role as a regional sales representative with C.L.E upon its founding in 2012.
C.L.E. Years (2012 – 2014)
After Maxamar Ultimate Cigars, McDonald became a regional sales manager for C.L.E. Cigar Company on the West Coast and worked with Christian Eiroa when he started C.L.E. His time at C.L.E. could have gotten off to a better start: “About three months in, and they were going to fire me.” There was no training or account list, which was a challenge for someone who had yet to be a sales rep.
Wildfire Cigar Co’s core line, plus two special editions.
But, ever the learning machine, McDonald contacted sales reps he knew from his retail days and asked questions. He built a list of shops, what they buy, and what their customers like. And in the end, McDonald turned it around. At C.L.E., he was managed by Robert Wright. Wright worked with Eiroa at Camacho and Fabricas Unidas and started Pura Soul, a joint venture with Christian Eiroa. But in 2014, C.L.E. stopped distributing Pura Soul, speculating poor sales — however, you can still purchase it. There are twists and turns in Wright’s relationship with C.L.E., but in 2023, he became the company’s national sales manager, so he’s still going strong at C.L.E. About Wright, McDonald said:
In 2012, C.L.E. launched a cigar brand in partnership with Robert Caldwell called Wynwood Cigars. McDonald starts smoking them and selling Wynwood, working closely with Robert Caldwell. A closer personal and professional relationship forms between them. They kept in touch, and whenever Caldwell would travel to California, they’d see each other, smoke cigars, and talk about the business. On one of these trips, Caldwell told McDonald he was starting Caldwell Cigar Co.
In 2013, C.L.E., shortly after Caldwell informed them of his intent to move on, stopped producing Wynwood, though Eiroa rebranded the line to “Wynwood Hills” and brought it back to the market with fresh branding in 2018 without Caldwell’s involvement. McDonald recalls:
Caldwell Years (2014 – 2020)
During the Caldwell years, McDonald wasn’t treated just as an employee but as a true partner: ownership in Caldwell Cigars, ownership in Down&Black — the distribution company for Caldwell — and a say in what role he wanted to fill at the new company.
Like his time at Maxamar, where he had never been in retail before, or at C.L.E., where he had never been a regional sales rep, McDonald had never been a national sales manager before, and it was a role he had to grow into.
McDonald ran the sales team at Caldwell Cigar Co. and helped build the brand from the ground up. Their sales approach focused on “activations and hand-offs.” They would spend time in a specific area to “activate” it by cultivating relationships with a set of shops to carry the cigars and start building a customer base. Once they activated the territory, they’d find a sales rep to take over the relationships so McDonald and Caldwell could focus on the next area to activate and grow.
So you have someone who has been a regional sales manager for two years and is becoming a national sales manager, but these are your opportunities when you start a new company. There’s more risk assumed vs. working for a company like C.L.E. that already had a few established brands, owned factories, and tobacco fields. He had a chance to do something new and ambitious with someone he respected professionally and personally in Caldwell. McDonald says this about Caldwell:
Caldwell Cigar Co. became hugely popular, winning several awards and publicity early on, like Halfwheel’s New Company of the Year award 2014. Due to the incredible rise of Caldwell Cigar Co, other companies tried to poach McDonald, but it didn’t interest him. He saw no point in doing all this over again and that much of the success came from the team and unique people, not just him alone. Yanking an individual from a culture and putting them in your culture doesn’t mean you get that culture.
The year is 2020, COVID hit, and lockdowns were in full swing. He got the itch again and decided to do something new. Caldwell was the first person he talked to and gave him full support, saying, “I wouldn’t be doing Wildfire if it wasn’t for Rob.” Caldwell mentored McDonald, and on the next leg of his journey, as we will see, Caldwell will continue to guide McDonald. Everything McDonald says indicates that Robert Caldwell is, in fact, a genuinely decent human, a rare mentor, and a great person to do business with. It makes me want to have Caldwell as a friend.
Wildfire Cigar Co (2021 – 2023)
In May 2021, McDonald launched Wildfire Cigar Co., releasing two cigars: a limited edition called “The Single” and the first cigar of the core line called “The Revivalist.” Joya de Nicaragua produces both.
The Revivalist
The Revivalist
His first core line cigar, “The Revivalist,” led McDonald to work with Joya de Nicaragua. He wanted something classic and could easily fit into a consumer’s regular smoking rotation:
He toyed with different blends and struggled to determine when the cigar was “done.” He relied on Caldwell, who advised him: “You’re never going to make the perfect cigar. Do you like it? Then put it out.“
Founded in 1968, Joya de Nicaragua is the oldest factory in Nicaragua and is a vast operation — they also make cigars for Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust, Fratello, Villager, and others. McDonald says his experience making cigars with Joya was “guided” or “working off of a template.” He’d start with a type of tobacco, and Joya would say, “If you want to work with this type of tobacco, here are the other tobaccos that go well with that.” So, there are only a limited number of ways the cigar’s profile can emerge.
In many of these older companies, there’s a specific profile in their cigars. It’s common — for example, a particular binder pairs well with a specific wrapper — you stick to it and default to it. So “The Revivalist” gets released along with a limited edition called “The Single,” with the idea being the limited edition is to show what Wildfire Cigar Co can do in terms of complexities and nuances, and “The Revivalist” can be in anyone’s rotation and foundational to the core line.
The years 2021 – 2022 were difficult for Wildfire Cigar Co. regarding brand expansion for two reasons: long lead times to develop a new cigar with Joya meant no new cigars came from Wildfire in 2022, and Wildfire is essentially a one-person operation, so McDonald can’t scale growth quickly. McDonald doesn’t use sales reps or brokers. Because of this, he looks to build a network of more proactive retailers that will partner with his brand. Other companies that hire sales managers can do more with cigar stores, but Wildfire is looking not just for scale or selling more but for Tobacconists who are excited to carry and promote the brand. He looks for stores that have curated humidors and that carry exciting brands.
The long lead times from Joya meant that, while he was planning a new release with them, he also had to cultivate a relationship with another factory to provide greater flexibility to his business.
New Brands Released (2023)
We’re in 2023, a significant year of growth for Wildfire’s portfolio and McDonald’s skills as a blender. Wildfire added two regular productions to their core line: “Wanderer” in February 2023 and “Aratois” (pronounced AR-TAY-OH-ISS) in July 2023. In February, they also released the second cigar of their three limited edition cigar plans, “The Intro.”
Due to long lead times with Joya, McDonald searched for other producers to work with. “Wanderer” led McDonald to Honduras to work with Fábrica Centroamericana de Tabaco S.A. in Danlí, or F.C.T., owned by Cavalier Genève.
In order: The Single, The Revivalist, The Intro, Wanderer, Artaois.
McDonald started with an idea: using an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. Historically, McDonald had mixed emotions regarding Sumatra-wrapped cigars, and he challenged himself to make something he loved with a Sumatra wrapper.
He did 52 different blends to find the one he was happy with. He wanted to make a rich cigar with baking spices, complex and full of flavor but medium to medium plus in body. “Wanderer” was originally going to be the next limited edition, but the more he smoked it, the more he wanted it to be his following core line release.
The Wanderer
This approach allowed McDonald to learn how to create a blend from the ground up. It’s unlikely to create a lousy cigar at Joya de Nicaragua, but at F.C.T., the hands-on approach allowed him to put tobacco that tastes bad together and learn about novel combinations. He grew by submerging himself in the tobacco.
Jeremy McDonald in front of a tobacco field during a trip to Honduras. Credit: Wildfire Cigar Co Instagram
Cigar production is an inexact science, and a cigar maker aims to create as much clarity as possible in a process with many changing variables. McDonald keeps a detailed journal. On every trip to Honduras, he’ll write down tasting notes and whether he had that tobacco last time. How has it changed? You can have the same priming from the same tobacco from two fields and get different characteristics, so which fields did this tobacco come from? Time and location are essential to keep track of.
Age is another variable blenders use. If the width of this wrapper is too thick, and you have a thin binder, the ratio in which they burn will be uneven. But, if you play with the age of the tobacco on the binder, you can even out that burn.
He plays in a band called “Louder the Roar” and compares blending to writing music. He starts with a line or hook and builds off of it. He finds a specific tobacco he likes as his “hook” when he blends and then goes from there. Do I want to accentuate the characteristics of that tobacco, or do I want to shape that with other tobacco? Then, he toys with it until it “feels” right.
Artaois
In July of 2023, Wildfire released “Aratois” (pronounced AR-TAY-OH-ISS), produced again by Joya de Nicaragua. McDonald started working with Joya on “Artaois” a year and a half before its release in 2021. The inspiration for the profile of “Artaois” is the Antaño Dark Corojo from Joya. “Artaois” aims to be full-bodied, bold, rich, and decadent — the go-to when a hardy cigar is needed.
Source: Wildfire Cigar Co Instagram, where McDonald writes: “So you wanna see what going to school looks like? Here’s a peek into my time at Joya de Nicaragua. In this photo I’m getting to know the flavor profile and strengths of different tobacco leaves that will soon be joined together into a cohesive blend. Im learning more everyday. This is how I develop new blends.”
Every cigar McDonald produces teaches him a new lesson. If “The Revivalist” taught him about avoiding the need for perfection, and “Wanderer” taught him about embracing the twists and turns of blending a cigar, “Artaois” is a lesson about the unpredictability of age during the production process.
The process of blending a cigar creates a “fresh rolled” cigar. When the blender likes what they’ve made, the cigars are aged for 30-45 days, then tried again. If the blender still likes it, then it’s put into production. Different things will change — the cigar may get more balanced, or the body may change. After that aging period, “Artaois” became a strong medium-plus — not as strong as he had expected from the fresh roll. It still met the profile he wanted, but it’s a great example of how cigar production throws curve balls that may not align with the blender’s original vision.
Conclusion
Now, we’re here in 2023. McDonald is a journeyman — always exploring and learning. He regularly mentions he’s figuring out how to blend cigars and is always learning. That’s why I’m excited about following Wildfire Cigar Co. – every new cigar will reflect where McDonald is on his journey. You’re not getting a “master blender.” You are getting a journeyman – someone who loves cigars, loves to learn and is coming into his own. The blends Wildfire Cigar Company will release next will reflect that, and there’s suspense and excitement in seeing where he’ll go next.
For 2024, McDonald and Wildfire Cigar Co. are planning two releases: the third and final limited edition, produced by F.C.T., and his fourth regular production to the core line, assembled by Joya de Nicaragua. He also plans to do a road trip and run promotional events.
If you want to keep in touch with more information regarding Wildfire Cigar Company, you can view their website here, or their instagram.
------------------------------------
Get the PDF: https://wildfire.quickdrawcigars.com/
Originally posted: https://quickdrawcigars.com/wildfire-cigar-co-brand-history/
