如果你們公司出品的雪茄被評為年度最佳雪茄，你會(huì)怎么樣？為了找到答案，《雪茄愛好者》總編輯格雷戈里·莫托拉（ Gregory Mottola）特地采訪了三位私交不錯(cuò)的雪茄制造商：多米尼加之花的力圖·戈麥斯（Litto Gomez ）、陳化屋的拉斐爾·諾達(dá)爾（Rafael Nodal）、奧利瓦雪茄的科里·巴伯特（Cory Bappert）。

在回顧曾經(jīng)獲獎(jiǎng)的事跡前，力圖·戈麥斯表達(dá)了對大煙熏活動(dòng)再次舉辦的喜悅之情。他點(diǎn)了一支辣味的雪茄，在臺上笑著說，再次見到雪茄愛好者們，和他們交談，聽取他們的意見，十分令人振奮。他對臺下的聽眾說，整個(gè)活動(dòng)里，在座各位才是最重要的那個(gè)部分。

研討會(huì)開始的時(shí)候格雷戈里·莫托拉詢問三位嘉賓，當(dāng)他們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己出品的雪茄被評為年度第一名的經(jīng)歷，因?yàn)樵谛侣劰记?#xff0c;雪茄制造商不會(huì)被告知得獎(jiǎng)信息的。

當(dāng)時(shí)戈麥斯在多米尼加的雪茄廠里，他的妻子艾格尼絲（Ines）給他打電話告訴這個(gè)好消息，多米尼加的安德烈斯公牛被評為2016年度的第一名雪茄。戈麥斯馬上去了卷制車間和大家分享這個(gè)好消息。他們開始?xì)g呼慶祝，敲響了查韋塔。隨后戈麥斯和質(zhì)量控制團(tuán)隊(duì)坐下來開會(huì)，戈麥斯要求他們生產(chǎn)不要出現(xiàn)變化。需求會(huì)增長起來的。如果沒有合適的煙葉，我們就不生產(chǎn)，一定要保證品質(zhì)。

然后他回到自己的辦公室，關(guān)上門，開始哭泣，這是為取得的成就感到高興的眼淚。那是我一生中永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)忘記的時(shí)刻。他說。

拉斐爾·諾達(dá)爾也沒有想到會(huì)被評為年度第一，他一度認(rèn)為他們公司的雪茄被淘汰了。那天早上，他關(guān)掉了電話去看醫(yī)生，這個(gè)醫(yī)生恰巧是普拉森西亞家族的，這個(gè)家族是中美洲大名鼎鼎的雪茄世家。上午十點(diǎn)，當(dāng)《雪茄愛好者》雜志在網(wǎng)站發(fā)布陳化屋的夸特羅尼加拉瓜大師獲得年度第一名雪茄新聞時(shí)，諾達(dá)爾當(dāng)時(shí)正在檢查身體，無法接聽電話。這時(shí)候醫(yī)生的電話響了，醫(yī)生將這個(gè)好消息告訴諾達(dá)爾，并讓他穿上褲子，結(jié)束檢查。諾達(dá)爾的這個(gè)看病經(jīng)歷讓現(xiàn)場觀眾開懷大笑。

當(dāng)奧利瓦公司的V系列米拉尼奧魚雷被評為2014年度第一名雪茄時(shí)，奧利瓦雪茄公司的科里·巴伯特正在牙科診所洗牙，這時(shí)他的電話響起來了。牙醫(yī)停下來讓他去接電話。當(dāng)他看到新聞時(shí)，開心的連牙齒的治療都還沒有處理完就著急走了，他的手機(jī)收到很多短信，有祝賀他獲獎(jiǎng)的，也有雪茄訂單的業(yè)務(wù)。巴伯特說，獲得年度第一名幾乎就像在大師賽上贏得綠夾克一樣，意義非凡。

被《雪茄愛好者》雜志評為年度第一名是雪茄行業(yè)的最高榮譽(yù)，也會(huì)導(dǎo)致對獲獎(jiǎng)雪茄的訂單激增。對于戈麥斯來說，訂單激增會(huì)很艱難，當(dāng)時(shí)工廠里只有一個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)在卷制安德烈斯公牛，他不得不購買更多的雪茄模具和雪茄包裝盒。戈麥斯說，我當(dāng)時(shí)給包裝盒制造商打電話，說我需要2萬個(gè)包裝盒，對方很驚訝，問“你說什么”，半年后，我又訂了2萬個(gè)包裝盒。那段時(shí)間，雪茄訂單的電話一直在響。

巴伯特現(xiàn)在是奧利瓦雪茄公司的首席執(zhí)行官，獲獎(jiǎng)那年還是公司的分管銷售的副總裁，他說，你在分配雪茄的時(shí)候必須很小心，有一些零售商會(huì)覺得心里不踏實(shí)，你每個(gè)零售商都要分配一些貨。奧利瓦那年獲獎(jiǎng)的雪茄是每盒10支包裝，而不是行業(yè)傳統(tǒng)的25支一盒的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，所以奧利瓦公司能提供更多的盒數(shù)給零售商。盡管如此，奧利瓦公司還是花了三年時(shí)間加大生產(chǎn)才滿足客戶的訂單需求。

將這三個(gè)曾經(jīng)獲得過年度第一名雪茄榮譽(yù)的制造商聚集同臺的一個(gè)因素是他們一直致力于保持獲獎(jiǎng)雪茄的質(zhì)量。

最后，諾達(dá)爾總結(jié)說，你應(yīng)該向消費(fèi)者提供他們所期待的東西。研討會(huì)結(jié)束時(shí)，主席臺上的四個(gè)人一起站起來，和大廳里將近600名的熱情聽眾合影。

附參考原文：

What happens when your cigar is named Cigar of the Year? To find out, managing editor Gregory Mottola interviewed three people who know personally: Litto Gomez of La Flor Dominicana, Rafael Nodal of Aging Room and Cory Bappert of Oliva Cigar Co.

Before he talked about winning, Gomez, the maker of La Flor Dominicana cigars, spoke about how happy he was to be back at a Big Smoke. “It is so energizing to see cigar smokers again, talk to them and hear their opinions,” he said with a smile from the stage, puffing away on one of his spicy cigars. “Thank you for being here,” he told the capacity crowd. “You are the most important part of this whole thing.”

Mottola began the seminar by asking each panelist about their experience when they found out they were named No. 1, as cigarmakers are not alerted to the news before it’s made public. Gomez was at his factory in the Dominican Republic when his wife Ines called him to let him know their La Flor Dominicana Andalusian Bull had been named Cigar Aficionado’s Cigar of the Year for 2016. He went to the rolling room to share the news with everyone. “They started banging the chavettas in celebration,” said Gomez. He then sat down with his quality control team, telling them not to change. “Demand is going to grow,” he told them. “Nothing changes in this company. If we don’t have the right tobaccos we don’t make [the cigars.] That was my message that day.”

Then he went into his office, shut the door and began crying, overcome with the joy of the achievement. “It was just a time I will never forget in my life,” he said.

Rafael Nodal was also not expecting to be named No. 1. “I thought I am out of the game,” he said. That morning, he shut off his phone and went to the doctor, who happens to be a Plasencia, the well-known tobacco and cigarmaking family of Central America. Nodal was in a compromising position around 10 am, when Cigar Aficionado launched its top cigars on its website. He was in no position to touch his phone, but the doctor’s mobile starting lighting up. “He started getting calls,” Nodal said of his doctor, who got Nodal to put his pants back on and learn the happy news that his Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro had taken the top spot on the countdown for 2019. Nodal’s story of his compromising position had the audience laughing heartily.

Oliva’s Cory Bappert was also indisposed when news broke that the Oliva Serie V Melanio Figurado had been named Cigar of the Year for 2014. He was in the middle of a dental cleaning when his phone blew up with messages, causing the dentist to pause and tell him to check to see what was going on. When he saw the news, he left, even though the work on his mouth was incomplete. “I have to go,” he said. His phone was overwhelmed with congratulatory texts and requests for the cigars.

Said Bappert: “It’s almost like winning the green jacket at The Masters.”

Being named Cigar of the Year by Cigar Aficionado is the industry’s highest accolade, and causes unprecedented demand for a smoke. For Gomez, it was particularly tough as only one team made the Bull at the time. He had to order more cigar molds, train more rollers, even get more boxes. “I called the box manufacturer and said I need 20,000 boxes. He said ‘what?’” Six months later, he ordered another 20,000. “And meanwhile,” Gomez said, “the telephone is ringing off the hook.”

Bappert, now Oliva’s chief executive officer, but then the company’s vice president of sales, said “You have to be careful with allocation. Some retailers get upset. You have to give some to everyone.” He noted that the fact that his cigars came in boxes of 10, rather than the more common industry standard of 25, meant Oliva could better spread things around.?

Still, the cigar was hard to get for years. “It took us a good three years to meet customer demand,” he said.?

The one thing that unified the three men on stage, along with winning No. 1, was their dedication to maintaining the quality of their award-winning cigars.

“You owe it to the consumers to give them what they expect,” said Nodal. When the seminar ended, he stood up with Gomez, Bappert and Mottola, and took a selfie of the four of them with the enthusiastic crowd—nearly 600 strong in the room—behind them.