[062] Rob Blumenthal Joins Us to Talk Tradecraft Cigars

Rob Blumenthal joined us in the garage this week to talk about Tradecraft Cigars, the brand he launched on his own outside the family business. He walked us through the Gladius, the Azorian, and the Vitruvian, and by the end of the night the Gladius had the whole table talking. We got into how Rob built three completely different blends instead of one house line with different wrappers, why he lowered his prices while most of the industry is raising theirs, and the story behind naming a cigar after a Cold War CIA mission. Rob also broke down his family's history in the cigar business going back five generations, his partnership with blender Wiber Ventura, and what's coming next for the brand, including a fourth line called Shinobi. We picked these cigars up ourselves at Chartwell Cigar Club and smoked them live on the show. Check out the full blog post on Stogie Review: https://stogiereview.com/2026/08/19/smoke-and-steel-podcast-062/ 👉 If you enjoy this video, please like, comment, and subscribe for more cigar talk every week. 🔗 Connect With Us:🌐 Website: https://stogiereview.com/📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StogieReview/📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stogiereview/💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/8h5tuYaqJV☕ Support us on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/stogiereview 📧 Email: Walt@StogieReview.com CHAPTERS0:00 Before We Officially Start0:19 Meet Rob Blumenthal2:38 How Tradecraft Came Together6:14 Building Three Distinct Blends14:02 Cutting Prices While Everyone Raises Theirs18:46 Box Press Launch and Chartwell Shoutout23:01 Blending for a Split Room29:08 The Half Wheel Review Story35:13 Five Generations of Cigar History41:01 Running a Brand vs a Shop44:53 Naming Gladius, Azorian, and Vitruvian52:20 Shinobi and Finding Wiber Ventura1:00:23 The Gladius Wins the Table1:03:08 Digging Into the Vitruvian1:07:46 Tobacco Supply and Industry Relationships1:16:47 What's Next and Smaller Boxes