In Cigar City, they smoke for a living

[JohnS]

In Cigar City, they smoke for a living

Law Ream and Alex Weghorn say cigars are “the great equalizer.” 

Law Ream, left, smokes a cigar with Alex Weghorn at Central Cigars, 273 Central Ave., on Dec. 8 in St. Petersburg. Ream is a brand ambassador for Camacho cigars and Weghorn is a brand ambassador for Davidoff. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]

By Nina Moske, Times staff - Published Jan. 24|Updated Jan. 25

It’s noon on a Tuesday, and Law Ream is smoking a cigar.

A limited release Camacho, he says, a swirl of smoke escaping the corner of his bearded mouth. It’s spicy, with sweet notes of chocolate, leather, cedar and espresso.

“Our job is pretty great,” he tells his colleague, Alex Weghorn, inside a hazy room at the Corona Cigar Co. in Tampa, once a global hub of the cigar industry.

This is how Ream and Weghorn spend their days — as brand ambassadors for the cigar company Davidoff of Geneva USA. The Tampa Bay-based pair travel the country promoting products that range from a few dollars to hundreds.

“Really, we just get to smoke cigars and hang out with people,” Ream said. “That’s it.”

But that’s not it. Not really.

With rates of loneliness higher than ever, and people around the country siloed along political lines, Ream and Weghorn say cigars are a vital connector. Step into a cigar lounge — no matter who or where you are — and you’ll be welcomed, they say.

“You’ll see a 25-year-old kid who just started a job smoking with the CEO of his company, sitting next to your garbage man having a cigar with a guy that owns a law firm,” Ream said. “It’s the great equalizer.” 

Ream holds a Camacho cigar at Central Cigars in St. Petersburg in December. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]

The job is part-educator, part-influencer and part-salesperson. Ream is an ambassador for Camacho Cigars, a popular brand Davidoff acquired in 2008. Weghorn promotes Davidoff’s luxury cigars.

Weghorn calls himself a storyteller. He can tell you about the seeds and soil that produced a particularly strong harvest of tobacco in the Dominican Republic; about the yearslong aging and fermentation process; about all the hands that sorted and rolled your favorite cigars.

“I would call myself a super-nerd,” Weghorn said.

Both men stumbled into the industry. After leaving a job at a health food company, Weghorn began working behind the register and helping to run social media for Central Cigars in St. Petersburg. Ream, who grew up in Miami, worked in photography and marketing before making the switch.

“This job feels quintessential to Tampa," said Ream, who lives across the bay in St. Petersburg.

A century ago, the city was home to more than 200 cigar factories that filled the brick blocks of Ybor City and West Tampa. Just 25 of the buildings remain today and house offices, apartments and a boutique hotel. One — the J.C. Newman Cigar Co. — is the last operating cigar factory in the country. 

Ream is a brand ambassador for Camacho cigars. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]

The job’s not perfect, Weghorn said. There’s the unavoidable stuff. Emails, meetings.

The smoke lingers on clothes and hair, though Ream said he doesn’t notice it anymore. “Nose-blind,” he jokes.

And there’s travel — lots of it. Ream drove a trailer across 33 states to visit more than 100 cigar lounges in the past year and a half. He spent 160 nights in hotels. Sometimes, while on the road, he’ll smoke four or five cigars a day for two weeks straight.

Weghorn’s record? Eleven cigars in one day (though nine were “short-form,” he said, which take less time to smoke).

Neither have a favorite cigar, but certain memories stand out.

Ream recalls a Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2022, smoked alone on his patio with a Miami Hurricanes game on in the background.

“I was enjoying it so much I had to turn the game off,” he said. “I sat there in silence and smoked it nonstop.”

Weghorn remembers a $600 Davidoff Oro Blanco that made him think, “This is not a cigar you taste. This is a cigar you feel.” He was on a work trip in North Carolina and hadn’t enjoyed one in days. The smoke overwhelmed his fresh palette.

“My mental Rolodex of flavors was spinning so fast, I couldn’t grab just one,” he said.

Sometimes, Ream said, it’s less about the cigar and more about the company. He’s smoked with TV producers and CEOs, construction workers and bikers. There’s often a misperception that cigars are reserved for the old, rich and powerful.

“Cigar lounges are one of the last places where you can have a decent conversation,” he said. “They’re inclusive, the political discourse is open, no one is sitting on their phones. It’s just people across spectrums — political, socioeconomic, whatever — having actual conversations.”

“And it’s not just business or politics,” Weghorn agreed. “It’s life lessons. How to be a better person.”

All it takes, he said, is a question.

“What are you smoking?”

Source: https://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa/2026/01/23/tampa-cigar-salesman-ybor-city-factory/