SAN FRANCISCO—Attention San Francisco cigar smokers – do you love the taste of ultra-premium cigars but not so much the higher prices that come with them? California cigar guru Johnny Mansour has a solution for you.
As proprietor of one of the state’s most exclusive cigar lounges, Mansour knows his way around high-quality cigars. Ever since he lit up his first cigars while in his mid-20’s, Johnny Mansour had a dream of one day launching his own cigar brand that featured blends of his own design. He followed his dream all the way to the cigar manufacturing meccas of Latin America until he finally happened upon a master blender who is a revered name in the promised land of cigars – Cuba. “Incredibly, I sampled a cigar I loved better than any Cuban cigar I had smoked. I knew I found the master blender I was looking for,” said Mansour.
And Stixx Cigars was born.
The business model Mansour had in mind was far simpler than the journey to perfect his blends. He knew that to beat the system that resulted in high prices for high quality cigars, he needed to avoid the system all together. By going direct to the cigar smoker via his website, Johnny can deliver his Stixx Cigars at unheard of prices. Cigars of the superiority and consistency of Stixx Cigars would typically average from $40 to $100 dollars at retail – but cigar lovers everywhere can savor the high quality STIXX Cigars without the high price tag. “Eliminate all the middlemen and you eliminate the high prices,” observed Mansour.
Each Stixx cigar represents the culmination of Johnny’s quest for cigar perfection. Specially cultivated seeds planted on meticulously cared for soil… harvested in cycles to assure soil time recovery and optimize nutrients…and followed by a harvesting process completely done by hand to avoid pesticides or chemicals of any kind. The result is a variety of ten cigars long filled with the finest quality aged tobacco leaves and maintained in optimal humidity for the freshest, most flavorful, coolest and smoothest smoke possible.
There’s The Blancos line that offers full flavored but medium bodied cigars and includes Ca de Bou, Alano Español – Limited Edition and Frenchie cigars; The Medianos line that features full flavored medium to full bodied cigars including Serrano, Campeiro, Cane Corso 2, Olde English, Pug and El Premario – Limited Edition cigars; The Obscuros selection presenting full flavored and full bodied cigars including Cane Corso 1 and American Bully cigars.
Mansour monitors every aspect of the manufacturing process to produce a cigar that’s bold without being overpowering, and properly blended to maximize flavor and aroma and reduce harshness. The construction of the cigar, location where the fields are harvested, how often the fields are harvested, weather conditions during harvesting, humidity level during the entire process, temperature during storage and long filler vs. short are all elements that Mansour keeps close tabs on as he created each of his Stixx cigars.
“Word is getting out – and orders are coming in,” says Mansour. Visit www.houseofstixx.com for more information.
