Sharon Moore Bode
Moore & Bode Cigars

Moore and Bode Cigars canopy graces the corner
of SW 16th Ave and Calle Ocho in center of Little Havana.

SM: Well, this is true. The name of the factory is "Moore and Bode." And the name Bode, although Robert is coming from Cuba, the name actually is a Dutch name in background, so it has a traditional Dutch pronunciation which is "Bo-day."

SS: Tell me a little about the history of the brand: when did it originate, what year did you become involved, and also, it's a husband and wife business - was the business formed with your marriage or before that?

SM: Well the forming of the factory for Moore and Bode Cigars, the idea for it actually goes back to 1982. At that time, I used to observe Robert and his family very concerned because the older of seven children was not allowed to come out of Cuba. He was in the military age when they came in '69. This was very frustrating to Robert, because he was a little younger then and wanted to do something to try to help the situation out. So I suggested to him that the best thing to do was to try to fight back, but fight back economically. By say, for instance, offering a product in Europe against a Cuban product and try to take some of the hard currency away. I said, "Like cigars." And Robert said, "I don't know, I don't know anything about cigars," and I said, "Well we can learn. Let's investigate who is manufacturing cigars in Miami and find out what is the best offering there and try to take it to Europe." We located a cigar that we thought was the best example at that time, which was approximately '82, '83, and ...

SS: Can you tell us what that cigar was by chance? Do you remember?

SM: No. They didn't want to work with any type of contract to protect our work, and because we felt that if we were going to introduce a product we should at least feel confident that someone wouldn't come behind us making our labor worth nothing ­ so we passed. And also, after our investigation, they didn't have clear title to their name. So we would have lost everything if we had done that. We decided that we knew what we wanted in a cigar and we felt pretty confident that we should go it ourselves. At the time, Robert thought it was crazy, and that since my field was accounting in background, he thought it was better for me to focus in business - be a stockbroker, get into finance or something, and it just wasn't what I wanted to do. So I kept pushing at the idea of putting together the cigar factory.

SS: Now, were you a smoker at that time? Did you smoke cigars?

SM: I had smoked cigars, when I was at the University of Miami, my field was not only business administration, but also, I was a voice major in classical music. I found that a little bit of cigar was useful to help, amazingly some people would say, with the voice. Actually, the reality is that when you start to smoke a cigar, originally when you first light up, there is a certain period when everything is clear. In time there may be more effect on the voice itself, so I used to use a cigar that way. I was familiar with cigars even at that time.

SM: Well, he's very practical, saying that it's something that he's not exactly an expert in the field and perhaps it would be better to work in the particular field that you're more skilled at. The only thing is I see tobaccos and cigars falling completely within my realm. The reason is their manufacture - not only do you need the business side, but for the work that we do in this factory, you need an art side. I've spent my entire life involved in music and also in art. Both of those come together in the manufacturing of an "art-level" cigar. It's pretty natural. Now the motivation, we would have to say in all honesty, that the original motivation for the factory was basically political. We wanted to do something constructive to try to help the situation of the Cuban population living in Miami, living in exile, to do something that was tangible. That's why the top of our box, which is on the Miami blend, shows two Royal Palm trees and a hedge. When you look at the box, to the casual viewer, it looks very, very mild, but there's a political meaning in it. The species are listed on either side of the palms as well as the species for the hedge. The meaning of the box is that you have the Florida Royal on the left side and the Cuban Royal on the right, and Miami lies in the middle and there's nothing but this hedge of Oleander between the two, which is an extremely toxic bush. The meaning is between Florida and Cuba lies Miami and there's nothing but a toxic sea between the two. It's really the essence of how it came to be... it was not, "Oh, I need a business," or anything like this, it's really politics. Also on our box it lists, "The Sweet Taste of Freedom," in Spanish, "El Dulce Sabor de la Libertad", which we debated the article on "de la Libertad" meaning the entire concept of freedom. That in essence is the formation.

Sharon's partner in both business
and life - Senor Robert Bode.

SM: Well I went through the process of trying to put this box together because I was not going to be allowed to market cigars without the control of ATF and excise tax.

SS: When did you start making the cigars to try to achieve this goal of helping the Cuban patriots?

SM: The factory was actually founded in 1990. At that time it was structured as Moore and Bode Cigars and in '91 we started producing our first cigars. At the time we were only in this facility which was very small, and there was one long table with five positions and one cigar maker, which was our first and certainly a true professor at his work. I made the bundles that you see today on a little card table. I was absolutely thrilled when someone would come to the door and we could introduce them to our work. At the time we offered the coronas, just to give people a chance to try them, three coronas for four dollars, and the large number 10 size at three for five dollars. And at the time, which I think back, I reflect on it, all of the tobacco was ranging from four to six years in age. It was mostly using an extremely clean, sweet Connecticut shade wrapper. People were looking at the cigars saying, "I don't know, I'll give it a try." (laugh)

Which today we're delighted to be able to come by two year-old Connecticut shade wrapper and are absolutely thrilled to have developed friends in the industry that have really been a salvation concerning, especially, the Connecticut shade wrapper.

The distinct logo of Moore and Bode is
both a political statement and a work of art.

SM: Thank you.

SS: It's absolutely top notch... it's silky, it's vein free, it's blemish free, the roll is seamless...it's a gorgeous cigar. Oddly enough, though, I can understand why you might have a hard time selling these to the locals. This would not be the type of cigar they would normally reach for, would it?

SM: Our following locally is mainly in the business community. One week after the factory opened, there was an article in the local paper's "Neighbors" section and as a result had a visit from the local Canadian Consul. That gentleman introduced our cigar to many of his friends because his wife had read the article and said, "Dear why don't you go and check out these cigars?" Another one that read the article after the first week, was a gentleman who was one of the editors with the Los Angeles Times. And again, as I remember, he told me his wife had suggested while he was in Miami that he go by and check it out. Now, what happens is that from such a tiny little start, these people who try the cigar initially, they tell someone else. Then we were invited to celebrate Canada's Independence Day at the home of the Canadian Consul. There we met other people who really enjoyed cigars and they became our customers and mentioned them to someone else. And it's absolutely word of mouth, one by one, person by person.

SM: Absolutely.

SS: You don't do any advertising that I'm aware of.

SM: No.

SS: And it's basically word of mouth.

SM: Yes. We believe that our strongest ambassador is our cigar. It's the one that we feel if people just try the cigar - it speaks for itself. 

SS: You have how many blends currently?

SM: Two blends.

SS: What are their names and how do they differ?

SM: We currently manufacture "Miami" and "Flamboyan."

SM: The original was "Miami." We introduced the factory and our work with "Miami." We produced only "Miami" from '91 to the latter part of '95. At that point, although we had attempted to secure all of the tobacco that we needed for the "Miami" blend, in spite of paying in advance, working very diligently to keep the supply, we lost the supply. We were out producing no cigars for eight weeks. During that time everybody destemmed leaf. We paid them anyway normally, between paying the labor and not receiving anything, we lost about one hundred thousand dollars... and the reason why we did that is because we don't substitute tobacco leaves and that is crucial. Substitution is something that in today's market and in today's manufacturing is very, very common. Factories, if they're missing a particular leaf will substitute another leaf that is similar...

SS: As close as they can match...

SM: Correct. As close as they can match. And then they continue to work.

SS: So you're saying because you couldn't get the proper tobacco, you just shut completely down, you just didn't make any cigars?

SM: That's right. That's right.

Tobacco leaves selected from their
aging barrels for the day's torcedors.

A view of the main rolling gallery.

SM: No. Not at all, what we were doing while we were waiting was destemming leaf... I believe I read once that Mark Twain had said... hmm maybe it was Thomas Edison who changed the phraseology of Mark Twain, and said, "Good things come to he who works while he waits." And that's what we had to do. We were trying to put together the final leaf, it wound up being one leaf, the final leaf for the "Flamboyán" blend. Which we had started working on that blend in '92. In '92 we received our first indication that we could be held captive on tobacco. Our leaf supplier could interrupt our production. In '92 our production was affected by a leaf supplier intentionally because the cigar was introduced in Boston at David P. Ehrlich Co.  Paul and Claire MacDonald, who own the shop, are to us like a second set of parents. They have been with us, supporting us as our first retailer, and through their introduction let some people in the industry know that our cigar was actually a contender. After the scare with the tobacco in '92 we decided that we needed to make sure that we had another blend to work with. And that blend was "Flamboyán." We started working on it in '92, and completed it in '95, in absolutely the last hour, to finish it.

SS: But you're now, once again making the "Miami" blend...

SM: Exactly.

SS: So you're now producing both blends, in the near future, do you feel secure in the amount of leaf you have?

SM: Pretty much. We keep working on it.

SM: Well, "Miami," which was the original, is very floral in its aroma, the flavor is a little dry, more like say a French champagne, more floral, a little more dry, very, very smooth. In contrast, "Flamboyán" is sweeter in taste, more like a coffee in aroma. It was designed that way. "Flamboyán" was designed to give that choice in flavor.

SS: Which do you find to be your most popular? I know when you stopped making the "Miami" I was somewhat disappointed; I waited a long time for them to come back. Where does it stand now, after they've had the "Flamboyán" for essentially a year and a half in the absence of the "Miami," was it about that long?

SM: From '95 to about spring of '97, so yes it was about that time. It's amazing, but I would say they're just about split down the middle. "Miami" has an extremely loyal following. I do not believe that it is currently the norm for manufacturers to produce wholly different blends as premiums, in other words, we do not produce a first and a second, we just produce firsts. Those firsts are just a difference in tobacco, the composition is different. Leaf-wise "Flamboyán" is extremely sophisticated. "Flamboyán" has an incredible passport, it's a very exotic blend, and we're extremely proud of "Flamboyán." "Miami" is just a jewel. "Miami" is a beautiful tasting cigar and it's everything that we wanted to bring to it. It's just that as you learn more and more about tobacco, your blending becomes a little keener, which is how "Flamboyán" becomes so sophisticated. And it truly is.

Sharon carefully inspecting the
contents of an aging barrel.