In a culture where today’s traditions can quickly become yesterday’s traditions, America’s longtime fondness for the cigar continues unabated. For some, it’s simply a pleasurable indulgence or a catalyst for nostalgia. For others, it signifies stature, class, even a sign of fraternity. And the demand for high-quality, exclusive brands persists.
Those who appreciate a good cigar will often gather in smoking lounges, but a newer alternative is gaining traction: the CigarVilla, a brainchild of Lakhinder Jit Singh Vohra, founder of Hamptons Cigar Manufactory & Museum. His business has an international reach, but he maintains his Florida headquarters in Jacksonville.
There are dozens of CigarVillas in the United States, each one owned by a franchisee but each one wholly unique. One of those proving itself very successful is located in Jacksonville Beach, Just Breathe Cigars, owned by James Gillis.
Gillis has had a rich and diverse career. He worked for years as a software developer in the health care industry and brewed craft beers professionally. While working in the latter field, he found value in “paying it forward” and raised money through his business for good causes.
Today, he applies that principle to his cigar business, Just Breathe Cigars. The beneficiaries change with different runs of his product; the current charity is an organization that performs lung cancer research.
Working with Vohra, Gillis has developed four cigar brands unique to Just Breathe Cigars. His flagship brand is the Duuuval, a dark maduro that smokes medium to heavy. It’s prized by many for its flavor.
“People really enjoy that cigar,” said Gillis.
Another brand is a collaboration with Vohra: One Breath, created after Gillis tried The Mayor, a Hamptons product. From Cuban seed, it is a tobacco from the Dominican Republic, like all of the cigar brands he owns, and has a Cameroon wrapper.
A third is called The Saint, a dark leaf brand with a pointed end to concentrate the experience. It is thick and smokes in about two hours.
Finally, Gillis has cigarillos, which are popular with lighter smokers or those who don’t have time to sit back and savor the experience.
Purchasing a cigar is, as Gillis, described it, more than just purchasing a cigar.
“You’re buying a story,” he said. “Where it was made, who made it, what they made it for.”
Cigars can be paired with different drinks or foods, and, perhaps surprisingly, some people purchase cigars not to smoke but simply to store in clothing because they like the aroma. Others use them as incense.
Gillis ages his cigars in various types of wood, from which they pick up a desired aroma. Spanish cedar is traditionally used in humidors because it is subtle, unlike other cedar woods.
The tobacco is grown on 100 acres co-owned by Vohra in Tamboril, in the Dominican Republic, and manufactured at a facility there. Because 44% of the world’s most traded cigars are produced in the Dominican Republic and Tamboril has more cigar factories and rollers than anywhere else, it is considered the “World Capital of Cigars.”
Those interested in trying one of Gillis’ cigars will find his products every Thursday night at Bedlam on Mayport Road in Atlantic Beach, at farmer’s markets and festivals and select smoke shops. Gillis said he will also be participating in an upcoming wine-tasting event in Atlantic Beach.
Gillis added that he is planning some events for late summer or fall, including a Cigarfest. Dates have not yet been finalized.
To learn more about Just Breathe Cigars, go to its Facebook or Instagram pages, which are currently under construction. To learn more about Hamptons Cigars, go to hamptonscigars.co.
