Cigar Press – What influence did the original Unusual Suspects have for you and what did it mean to the cigar industry?

Matt Booth – In my opinion the Unusual Suspects issue of Cigar Press will forever be one of the most memorable and impactful covers of any industry publication ever committed to print. This issue comes up in conversation with consumers and peers in the trade to this day.  Frozen in time were the much younger versions of a very unique cast of characters – Individuals that collectively played critical roles in the development and cementing of the boutique/craft segment of this industry. Those type of stripes never wear off. I’m just grateful to have been a part of it all at that moment and still grateful to be here swingin’ for the fences today.

CP – In the original 2012 interview we asked where you’d like to see Room101 in the future.  You said you’d like to be running your brand from a beach somewhere.  However, you definitely haven’t slowed down when it comes to traveling and being out there, you’re always on the move.  Is Room101 cigars where you thought it would be today and will you ever slow down?

MB – You know, that’s a funny question – we have definitely covered a great deal of ground since we last touched base. It is true – I am always on the move, but I continue to try to make my moves more methodical and more impactful as time goes on. I try to get more bang for my buck so to speak. From inception my vision was to build Room101 Cigars to a point of health and establishment that I could either pilot from afar – or that someone larger than us would see the value in what we had built and acquire. It would seem that I am in some blended variation of both of the aforementioned realities – and although I didn’t see things taking shape exactly the way that they did it has gone better than expected so far with all of the ups and downs accounted for along the way.

CP – What is your process when creating a new blend? Has that changed over the years?

MB – I make sure my astrological sign is in alignment with my blending partner at the factory level. This ensures that we can wax and wane to each other’s gibbous appropriately throughout the creative process. In all fairness I have always referred to my system as painting by the numbers. I seek character traits in the mixtures that my tobacco translator at the factory level helps me find. I know what I want – and I know how to get it. It is a crazy fun and a bonding experience to participate in, should everyone be vested in it honestly and authentically.

CP – How has the Room101 Jewelry business side been since our original interview? 

MB – Just like everything else on our commercial rollercoaster ride – up and down. But so far beyond a start on my coffee table at my apartment by Fairfax high over 20 years ago. From that coffee table to major department stores and pop-up shops in the Hankyu in Ginza and on and on.  Most people don’t actually start at zero. They like to portray that they did because it is the stuff of dreams and romance – but in the end far fewer actually do it.  I did it all from less than zero and I’m grateful for all if it. None of this journey is lost on me for a second and yet it would seem some of our greatest success stories are just up ahead of us. I’m looking forward to filling you in on all of it this time next year….

CP – Room101 now has a Gin.  What else is in store for the Room101 brand that you have not yet accomplished?

MB – Man – one thing at a time! Although we’ve come this far we still have more miles to put on this machine before we are done. One of our categories now rests in its forever home through acquisition – we’ll see what we can’t do with the other two and then move on to the next episode(s).

CP – Can you pick out a go-to room101 cigar above the rest or does it depend?

MB – It would totally depend on the mood – just like your appetite for a specific type of food in the moment. I definitely have a special place in my heart for each of our blends and all for different reasons. How fun they were to create, each is effectively another milestone in my cigar journey. I will tell you that Johnny Tobacconaut is the truth. If you haven’t applied combustion to our moon man rod I highly recommend.

Click on the picture here to read the original Unusual Suspects Interviews from 2012

“On March 12^th 2012, six unlikely characters were brought together in Miami Florida for what became the greatest day in history for a new era of cigars.  For one brief moment in time, in the back of a Little Havana cigar factory, history was made.  They dared to be themselves.  They dared to be unique.  They dared to be great.  They are, The Unusual Suspects.”

Originally featured in Volume 5 Issue 4 of Cigar Press thirteen years ago, we knew that history was being made.   Each one of the guys in the original feature were the first wave, the tip of the spear in what has become a major segment in the cigar industry – one that was thought to be a phase, one that was doubted from the skeptics, one that ruffled feathers causing disruption and panic in a traditional, centuries old industry.  However, time pushed on and boutique cigars have become a flourishing mainstay in the premium cigar space.

Forever known as the Unusual Suspects, they graced the cover of Cigar Press Magazine for what has become one of the most well-known covers in cigar magazine history.  They represented a movement the industry had never seen.  Today, each one of them continues to represent the ideals of what boutique brands are, regardless of the size they have become.  Each one has forged their place in history making brands that are unique and expressive of their original vision.