Brand Spotlight: ADVentura

[KevinI]

Brand Spotlight: ADVentura

ADVentura’s Ascension to Prestige

Introduction:

One of my favorite things about working in this industry (aside from the cigars of course), is the opportunity to form relationships not only with consumers and other cigar enthusiasts, but the key players that are really the backbone of what the cigar industry is. The opportunities I have had to work with all kinds of individuals, like the master blenders of my favorite brands, to sales representatives and marketing gurus of industry staple companies, has been nothing short of a blessing.

As such, myself, and the rest of the Cigora team have been lucky enough to form a strong relationship with one of the industry’s hottest up-and-coming brands in ADVentura (not to mention some of the most talented and accommodating people I have ever worked with). Sure, I could write a 1,500 (or more) word article about the wonder that is ADVentura, but I thought it would be more appropriate to have them speak to their work – they are the experts after all.

As a lot of you already know, ADVentura is quickly becoming a fan favorite brand in the boutique space of cigars, and funny enough, they happen to be a staff favorite brand here at Cigora. Join us on an expedition with our ADVentura Brand Spotlight!

ADVentura Cigars:

How does buried treasure, battle, and sailing high seas, all in the name of unfolding the origin of tobacco, captivate us by what we know today as the art of boutique, premium cigars? Well, easy, a Swiss guy and a Dominican guy walk into a bar… Welcome to the tale of ADVentura Cigars.

ADVentura Cigars is a young-gun brand but we have created a fan base rather quickly with our cohesive stories and blends that showcase the “new school” way of Dominican blending. With a Halfwheel packaging award, and a few 90+ers under our belt, we are definitely here to stay. Today we will be covering:

1. ADVentura The Explorer
2. ADVentura The Navigator
3. ADVentura The Conqueror
4. ADVentura The Royal Return Queen’s Pearls
5. ADVentura The Royal Return King’s Gold

But before we sharpen our swords and set sail, let’s talk about how it all started.

The Story:

What is known to be a fairly young boutique brand here in the United States, was actually founded in Switzerland in 2016 by Marcel Knobel, a Swiss tobacconist, sommelier, and marketer with a cigar store that was seeking a “house blend.” Being the Swiss guy that he is (they don’t call it Swiss precision for nothing), Marcel sought out the best possible partner to help develop and bring to life the flavor the kind of smoking experience he desired.

After touring a few factories in both Nicaragua and Dominican Republic, Marcel arrived at Tabacalera William Ventura - he knew the history, but also noticed how immaculate and well organized it was (major plus for the Swiss.) He was greeted by a warm-hearted young man, Henderson Ventura, that showed sincere interest in helping create a blend for him. After a few cups of Dominican coffee, and a few back-and-forth conversations about the blend, the first cigar featured in our spotlight, The Explorer, was born.

The Cigars:

1.     ADVentura The Explorer 

• Wrapper: Mexican Habano
• Binder: Ecuador Sumatra
• Filler: Dominican, Ecuador
• Body: Medium
• Main Flavors: Leather, Black Pepper, Dark Chocolate
• Pairing Suggestion: Cask-Aged Rum

The Explorer was brought back to Switzerland and shared with a fellow cigar-loving friend - a guy who just so happened to be a Swiss cigar distributor, who asked Marcel, “Don’t you want to share this with more customers than just those of your region? It’s a great cigar!” Marcel never really thought about expanding the brand and surely didn’t have the time to go knocking on doors, but when a distributor with an accomplished sales force believes in you and your product, it was an easy “why not?” 

The Explorer has a fall spice, nutty and leathery aroma. The Habano hybrid wrapper from Mexico is pretty rare, and with its prominent dark chocolate notes, does a really good job of tying together the flavors of sweet wood, black pepper, and leather that come from the blend of filler tobaccos.

2.     ADVentura The Navigator

• Wrapper: Mexican San Andres Maduro
• Binder: Sumatra
• Filler: Dominican, Ecuador, Nicaragua
• Body: Medium
• Main Flavors: Mocha, Roasted Cashews, Toffee
• Pairing Suggestion: Tawney Port Wine

Marcel returned to Tabacalera William Ventura the following year, but this time, with the intent to expand on the ADVentura story to breathe life into the brand and start its next adventure. But with Henderson being an avid adventurer himself, he aptly asked Marcel if he was interested in joining forces to take what was originally intended as a house blend for a small store in Switzerland to a worldwide brand as partners.

Naturally, after ‘exploring’ possibilities with positive results, the next step was to ‘navigate’ this new venture…

The Navigator is considered one of the most complex blends in the portfolio as it contains tobaccos from 5 different regions - our intention is always to create a completely different flavor profile and experience with each new blend we produce.

3.     ADVentura The Conqueror

• Wrapper: Ecuador Habano 2000
• Binder: Ecuador Sumatra
• Filler: Dominican, Nicaragua
• Strength: Medium to Full
• Main Flavors: Dark chocolate, Salted Peanuts, Caramel
• Pairing Suggestion: Peated Whiskey

At this point, ADVentura was quickly gaining momentum, and ADV (Henderson Ventura) & McKay (Marcel Knobel) added some major countries to the roster, including, the United States. A few extra team members came aboard to keep the story consistent wherever it was told, and with the hope of building a family of people who truly believed in the brand and the mission. This is when, “Dominican Passion and Swiss Precision” became a tag line for the ADVentura team, and a sentiment that is apparent with each new blend, size, and concept that we put to market. Innovation is a driving force for us here at ADVentura - the perfect example of this being The Emperor’s Limited Edition, where the box is wrapped in the burlap that held the tobacco.

This chapter of ADVentura is where Henderson and Marcel wanted a more rustic, edgy, and old school Dominican blend - you can really taste the contrast of the dark chocolate, and the salted peanuts, and The Conqueror is the farthest thing from one-sided.

4.     ADVentura The Royal Return Queen’s Pearls

• Wrapper: Ecuador Connecticut
• Binder: Ecuador Connecticut
• Filler: Dominican, Ecuador, Nicaragua
• Body: Mellow to Medium
• Main Flavors: Sweet Cedar, Cream, Hazelnut
• Pairing Suggestion: Champagne

Queen’s Pearls is a very different, but very special blend because neither Marcel nor Henderson are your biggest Connecticut shade smokers. They pushed themselves to come up with their own version of a Connecticut wrapped blend that would provide qualities that they expected to come with this kind of cigar – relatively light on the palate, but still provides enough flavor to linger after the exhale or retrohale. Funny enough, Queen’s Pearls has been the most awarded blend in our lineup so far.

5.     ADVentura The Royal Return King’s Gold

• Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
• Binder: Mexican San Andres
• Filler: Dominican, USA, Mexico
• Body: Full
• Main Flavors: Salted Chocolate, Toast, Cinnamon
• Pairing Suggestion: Stout

King’s Gold is a cigar we are really proud of – it’s a limited production blend because of the rare tobacco that it uses, but even with small quantities, it has proven to be one of the most popular blends for us here at ADVentura. Because of the relatively quick consumer engagement in the United States, King’s Gold was Henderson and Marcel’s ode to the USA with its use of Connecticut Broadleaf tobacco.

For King’s Gold, we use a special in-house fermentation process and rolling the cigars takes twice as long because of the delicate and timely process that ensures everything is as perfect it can be. As far as aging goes, well, let’s just say, the tobacco tells you when it’s ready.

King’s Gold was really one of the key blends that helped ADVentura be recognized as a major played in the boutique side of cigars.

Heading Back to Shore:

Here at ADVentura Cigars, we approach everything we do with pride and gratitude. Being a so-called boutique brand allows us to maintain strict quality control and presents us with a lot of great opportunities to access more unique and rare tobaccos that help to set our blends apart. Even with a major setback in September of 2022, where it seemed that all was lost in the factory fire, we have been able to comeback stronger than ever here at ADVentura.

If you haven’t yet smoked anything from us, this ADVentura Brand Sampler is the perfect place to start. Otherwise, you can shop the full ADVentura portfolio here at Cigora.