Fortuitous FDA Mass Email Leads to a Distribution Deal

Carolina Blue Cigars, LLC has reached a distribution deal with Illusione Cigars. Illusione Cigars casts a wide net of retailer relationships across the US (800 stores) and internationally which will expose Carolina Blue Cigars to more customers. In addition to exposure, the other benefit of this distribution deal is having dedicated brokers to directly market and sell the brand.

According to Christopher Moore, owner of Carolina Blue Cigars, “I found myself in the middle of mass back and forth email when the respondents should have been replying to the FDA. I sent an email asking everyone to direct their responses to the sender instead the recipients and that’s when a representative from Illusione thanked me for speaking up. That little interaction led to a conversation about my brand and if I had distribution.”

Christopher Moore is a 30-year Veteran of the US Army and launched Carolina Blue Cigars in 2016 in the Dominican Republic. The company’s foundation is deeply rooted in his families’ legacy within the tobacco farming community of Harlowe, NC.

Produced at Tabacalera El Puente (known locally as The Cigar Bakery) in the Villa Gonzalez region, Carolina Blue Cigars are blended to the specifications of Master Blender Victor Infante. Although only being in operation for only for 10 years, Tabacalera El Puente’s expertise in tobacco dates back over four generations. The factory is under the leadership of a dynamic trio; Eladio Santiago Diaz, Victor Infante and Cesar Alvarez. All of whom began their careers as cigar rollers in the industry.

Carolina Blue currently has ten different blends on the market: five Dominican blends (Signature Series) and five Nicaraguan blends (Highway 101 Series).