Warfighter Cigars – Veteran Owned

A few months ago I was in St. Augustine Fl and while visiting  Old City cigar shop in Old Town I ran across Warfighter Cigars. This is a veteran owned cigar company and I was imediately intrigued by their idea for a cigar company.

What Is A Warfighter

warfighter1

THEY ARE VETERANS, FIREFIGHTERS, POLICE, FIRST RESPONDERS AND ANYONE WHO BELIEVES IN SELFLESSLY PROTECTING OTHERS FROM THE COLD HARD WORLD.

THEY ARE THE SHEEPDOGS WHO PROTECT THE HERD FROM THE BIG BAD WOLF.

THEY ARE A FRATERNITY OF MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE WILLINNG TO LAY IT ALL DOWN FOR AND IDEA.

Their brochure goes on to say:  WARFIGHTING IS TOUGH WORK AND THROUGHOUT HISTORY, AT THE END OF A MISSION WHEN ONE OF THEIR MEMBERS GOES DOWN OR IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE VICTORY, THE WARFIGHTER HAS DONE SO WITH A CIGAR IN HAND.

IT IS IN THAT SPIRIT THAT WARFIGHTER TOBACCO WAS BORN

My Dad, My Son and I Are Vets

So how could I not appreciate a company dedicated to those who faught for this great country!

I was on Instagram the other week and I follow these guys and saw a post by Jon anouncing that they were opening a place in San Antonio, TX and I said to myself, hey, I’m in San Antonio, I wonder if I can get an interview? Cause thats what I do….I interview!

So I messaged Jon and in short order was able to set up an appointment to meet with him the following evening.

I want to interject here that, I always love when I am welcomed by members of the cigar community, because that means that Cigar Pals is being accepted in this industry and as we are, the potential grows for us to bring you new and exciting adventures

As we were driving (yes in the car, I promise I will be back on the bike soon) out there, we had traveled across a pretty big chunk of San Antonio and then were heading off into the country and I thought, do I have the right address?

I stopped and texted Jon asking if I was looking for a residence and he described what I was looking for and I was sitting right in front of the place and there is a fith wheel RV in front of the place that Jon is staying in while they are doing the work on the new shop.

I backed up and pulled in and this tatted, bearded, mountain of a man walked out the garrage door with his trusty companion Kiera, a six year old black lab.

The man was Jon Simons and behind him through the door, I could see two motorcycles under covers, My kind of people!

inside warfighter

That’s right, we caught them, while they are doing the renovations to get the place ready to open, which is always fun, because I get to hear the vision!

btw thats Kiera

btw thats Kiera

Time To Smoke And Chat

After introductions were made and a little small talk, Jon went to his personal humidor and pulled out some Warfighters for us to check out.

He asked what we prefered and I chose the .50 cal which is a maduro and Deb wanted the 7.62 which has a Dominican filler, a nicuraguan binder and a Indonesion wrapper.  He gave us each a Field and a Garrison which are the two lines they first introduced. Each line has a 5.56mm, a 7.62mm and a .50cal.

.50 cal and 7.62

.50 cal and 7.62

In military terms, the field uniform is your bdu’s and the Garrison is your dress uniform. Thus the Field line are fairly plane, kind of a working cigar and the Garrison is shiny and fancy like the dress uniform.

I chose to smoke the .50cal Field, since this is what I had first tried when in Florida. Deb also smoked her Field. we saved the two Garrisons for later and I will do a video review of one or both to attach to this post.

We smoked and we talked about the vision for the new store. They are curently home based in Nebraska, but decided to move down to Texas since it is a more cigar friendly state.

Warfighters will have a large humidor in the back corner of the building and a wharehouse area where they will package and ship their cigars from.

They do a large volume of business in many brick and morter stores throughout the country and are continuously looking for more shops to market their cigars.

They are also working on increasing their online market and have a large following on Instagram and Facebook.

The new shop should be open sometime late in January. The date is up in the air at this time due to some remaining construction work and they are awaiting some permits.

There will be a big Grand Opening probably sometime in March and it looks like its going to be a blast, I was even told that they have a cannon for the occaision!

There is a resturaunt next door that I’m told serves great food and they have a stage for a band that the guys hope to make use of for the grand opening.

So We Smoked and Talked and Smoked

True to form, when I find myself in these situations, smoking with new friends, we find all kinds of things to talk about and this would prove to be no exception.

I mentioned that their were motorcycles in the building and of course we had to talk about that.

Jon rides a 2002 (I think) Harley Ultra Clasic which was under one of the covers (until we decided to take a pic together) (couldn’t think of a better backdrop). I have to tell this story on him:

Jon and me

Kiera Jon and me

When he brought the bike down from Nebraska (where it’s too cold to ride at this time of year), he forgot to bring the key, so there it sat, waiting for him to return to Nebraska and retrieve the key, which he would be doing the next day.

I really have no room to talk, since mine is in the back of a toy hauler in South Carolina!

So we talked about bikes and his dog and a host of other things, but as usual the conversation returned to cigars. Their is always more to say on the subject

We talked about the five owners: Vince, Chris, Scott, Bryan and of course Jon. you can read about them all at www.warfightertobacco.com, government regs which there is plenty to read about all over the net and the future of Warfighters Cigarshttp://www.warfightertobacco.com

These guys have only been in business for three years and are off to a great start and I look forward to seeing where they go with this.

Warfighters also promotes other veteran owned businesses, including Black Rifle Coffee Company and will have their coffee available at the new store.

Black Rifle

Thanks To All Who Served

Being a vet and knowing many who served, I am proud to be posting about a company who not only is veteran owned, but also works to recognize others who have. These guys strive to bring awareness to the fact that when the guys come home, they need to be welcomed back into society and remembered for their sacrifice for their country.

Their new address is: 23210 FM3009, San Antonio, TX 78266, ph:(402) 802-0737 or: info@warfightertobacco.com

I recommend giving their cigars a try and encourage everyone to comment or ask questions about this post in the section below.

10 Comments

  1. Kira Price

    I love this concept so much. It reminds of my own diabolical brain of being a vigilante and saving the world! The cigar is just the added bad ass feel you need to succeed. Have a cigar and chat? Don’t mind if I do. I love sitting and talking about ideas and I love to smoke a nice cigar so looks like a win win to me!

    • admin

      Thanks for the comment Kira: These guys at Warfighters are the real deal! Most of us who smoke premium cigars, just sit around talking about saving the world. 

      I didn’t really expect to get these comments on this post right away and I have pics that I will add and a video review of two of their sticks. Hope you will check back in a few days to check em out?

  2. Paul

    Inspiring story! I love the fact that you go out and meet, talk, and smoke with real-world people to tell your stories. I can envision you having your own TV show at some point. Can’t wait to see the video review of the two Garrisons. Were you able to take any pictures of your adventure? You did explain it really well but would be awesome to see some pictures. Keep up the good work.

    Thank you and your family for your service.

    • admin

      Hi Paul: Thanks for the comment. I use the site content tool to write my stories and post them, but usually don’t notify anyone until I have gone back and put pics and videos in and my editor reviews them. There will be pics shortly and I will post the two Garrison video review in the post.

      You can check out some of my other posts to see how I do them. I just returned from the Dominican Republic, where we were doing research and developed five posts.

      Thanks again!

  3. Margarette

    Sounds intriguing.  Though I am not a Vet, I am a big supporter of anyone brave enough to fight for their country.  

    And although I am not a cigar smoker, I can see how  lighting one up with old and new friends can lead to some very interesting conversations.

    Sounds like you had a great time.

    • admin

      Thanks Margarette for your comment. Yes we did have a grand time.  All of my posts talk about the camaraderie among cigar enthusiast . This post is not actually finished and will have pics and a video review of at least one and maybe two Warfighter cigars. Feel free to check out other posts on the site to get an idea of what Cigar Pals is all about.

  4. Kenny

    Hi this is rather thought provoking. On the one hand smokings not great for your health but on the other it’s your bodies and lives and you can do what the heck you want with them. And it’s kinda cool that you guys can relate to a brand dedicated to the brave. I hope that Luther cigar lovers won’t be put off buying them if the have not been so brave in their life. I wish you well, and hope you have many more cigar chomping adventures ahead. 

    • admin

      Hi Kenny: Thanks for the comment. In this day and age their is mass hysteria about the so called effects of tobacco, however their is and has been for several hundred years reason to believe that their are medicinal properties in leaf tobacco. You can read about some of them on one of my pages https://cigarpals.com/fun-fact

      I have several posts from cigar adventures that I have had since starting this blog and most don’t directly involve veterans, this brand just happens to be about a cigar dedicated to those who are.

      One more thing Kenny, We don’t chomp long leaf hand rolled premium cigars, thats usually the guys who do machine rolled short (chopped up) leaf cigars.

      Thanks again for your comments!

  5. Deb VerSteeg

    I also have a vet in the family, and I’m very proud of him and have great respect and appreciation for all veterans for their service. This interview you did just proves, once again, how important they are to us, and to each other.

    Thanks for the great review, and can you give us any more information about the “grand opening”

    Also, really learned alot about the “how to” part 🙂

    • Thanks for the comment Deb: Yes we should be proud of our vets and I love to hear about them supporting each other. Unfortunately I have not talked to Jon lately, but I will reach out to him and see if I can find out more about their Grand Opening. I am very happy that this post was enlightening for you.

      Smoke em if ya got em!

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