Fathom and Fury Cigars was born from brotherhood, service, and a shared love for the leaf. Founded by a U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard Veteran duo, the brand dives deep into creativity and meaning — just like its name suggests. “Fathom” speaks to depth of flavor and experience, while “Fury” captures the storm-like power we want every cigar to deliver. We don’t chase trends; we chase originality, crafting exotic blends that break the mold. At the heart of it all is a mission bigger than cigars — using our platform to spark real conversations about veteran mental health.
Let’s start with your story — how did your brand begin? Was there a single moment or spark that pushed you to create your own cigar line?
I have been around the cigar industry for almost 10 years, smoking cigars seriously, getting to meet the amazing brand owners both large and small, and really getting to understand the cigar process. I wasn’t looking to launch a cigar company when the opportunity was presented to me. But my business partner Scott really wanted to get into the cigar life, so I decided to jump into it with him as he is like a brother to me and it is something that I felt would be more fun to do with someone.
What’s the meaning behind your brand name or logo? Is there a deeper story behind it?
Our logo and name have honor both of our time in the US military, as a US Navy veteran and he was in the US Coast Guard, we wanted it to have imagery that we related to, so we decided on Fathom and Fury Cigars. Fathom is the depths of the ocean, and we felt that cigars should have depth when it comes to the experience and the tasting notes, and Fury is a storm, and we wanted our cigars to hit you like a storm and leave you wreaked in a good way wanting more.
Before launching your cigar brand, what was your background in the cigar world (or outside of it)?
I was a marketer for some cigar brands and lounges, but I have been talking to brands both large and small for years on various ways to market cigars the right way.
Which factory are your cigars produced in, and how did that relationship begin?
We knew we wanted to bring only exotic crazy ideas to market when it came to our cigars, so it was an easy choice to select the one factory that has the most exotic tobacco out there. So we partnered with the Rodriguez Olivan Cigar Factory (better known as BAMF Cigars), because we knew Ish could bring us what we wanted. I had gotten to know Ish over the last 5 years, and when I approached him with the idea he was excited. That started the journey of us launching our first cigar “No Quarter Given”
What drew you to that factory specifically — was it their tobacco, their craftsmanship, or maybe a shared philosophy?
Well if you know anything about Ish it is that he is willing to take your vision and bring it to life, and he is also excited and willing to push new things into the cigar industry. That is what I think is amazing about the boutique cigar industry, the ability to try new crazy ideas. This shared idea helped draw us to Ish and his factory, and I would also say that him being a veteran and his attitude was a huge plus, it helped increase the immediate trust level.
Do you personally spend time at the factory working on blends, or is your input more on the creative and branding side?
We were more focused on the creative and branding side, as I do not travel much and so I haven’t gotten to go to factory as of yet. But the plan is to get there in 2026, to walk the fields and learn more about the process in the factory.
What does that partnership look like day-to-day — how involved are you in the rolling, blending, and final approval process?
We talk to Ish all the time about our ideas, when it comes to blending we work with him and talk a bunch about different tobaccos and what they bring to the table. Then he blends them and sends us both samples, then we smoke them talk about them, and provide Ish with the feedback. Once we get everything hammered out then the cigar goes to production.
What’s your approach to blending — do you chase balance, boldness, nostalgia, or something else entirely?
It is simple, first it has to be smooth, we don’t want a harsh cigar in anyway. Secondly we focus on the draw, neither of us like a tight draw so we make sure that the draw is as smooth as the cigar. And finally is it unique and exotic, we don’t want it to ever be like anything else on the market.
Are there particular tobaccos or regions you’re drawn to when developing new cigars?
It is more like regions we tend to stay away from, we try not to use Dominican, Nicaraguan, or Honduran tobaccos. Not because we don’t like them, there are thousands of cigars that use these tobaccos, hell most of them do. It is we want to be different. We look at it this way, if you put 20 professional chefs in a kitchen and hand them the same ingredients, they will each come up with different dishes, but they will all have similar tastes because of what they started with. So our idea is different, we want to be the brand that is using crazy stuff from Ireland, Turkey, Vietnam, Greece, and hundreds of other countries. This will allow us to bring something completely different to the table.
How do you decide when a blend is finished? (Or is it never really finished in your mind?)
Finished is a funny word, with our first core cigar No Quarter Given, I don’t know what I would do to make that cigar better, maybe make it longer so it last longer, but in all seriousness this was a knockout, and that isn’t just me saying this. The feedback we have gotten has been amazing. That being said, who knows right, maybe a tobacco will come along that enhanced this blend, then we would have to think hard about what to do.
If you could describe your blending philosophy in one sentence, what would it be?
Unique
Every boutique brand has a heartbeat — what drives yours?
Our passion for out of the box exotic blends that the larger brands would have trouble doing. We know that we work with tobacco that might run out and that would kill a blend, we know that some of the stuff we are working on has tobacco that is harder to get. So our passion is in creating exotic cigars that make the person enjoying them, have a real experience like they haven’t had before from a cigar.
When a cigar lover lights one of your cigars, what do you hope they feel, taste, or think about?
We are just excited people are smoking our cigars really at this point. When you do something so out of the box like use eleven different tobaccos from around the world, you pray that other people like it as much as you did. But when someone lights one of our cigars, we just hope they enjoy it, have a great experience and slow down a bit in a crazy fast paced world.
How would you describe the emotion behind your brand — in a single word?
Raw
What’s the mission behind your brand — beyond just selling cigars?
Our mission behind our cigar is to use the cigar to talk about what matters to use, Veteran Mental Health, both of us are suicide survivors and we know how fragile life is. So we use our cigars to tell our story, and hopefully help just one person who is struggling, not go through what we have. Our cigars are a way to open doors for podcasts and media to talk about the much bigger issue of Veteran Mental Health and like I said hopefully someone will hear our story and get help before it’s to late.
Where do you see your brand five or ten years from now?
We are just going to keep having a good time, creating exotic cigars and building a strong reputation in the industry. Our hope is to build lasting relationships with the cigar smoker as well as lounges. From day one we have said as long as this is fun and we are having a good time, we are not going to worry about the rest of it.
How do you hope to impact the cigar community — both at the lounge level and globally?
We hope that others will see that you can do out of the box cigar ideas, and others start pushing the limit.
What does being part of the cigar industry mean to you personally?
Personally it is all about the community, all aspects of this community, that we love. So being part of the history of cigars is amazing, because we are doing something others are not doing at this point, or if they are not really on this level. Our hope is that we start a new craze of cigars by using stuff that brings different tasting notes to the table.
How do you see the relationship between boutique and legacy brands — competition, collaboration, or both?
It is one hundred percent a collaboration, no competition really. Boutique brands are rolled by the big guys, using the same rollers, the same tobacco and the same processes that the huge brands have used and mastered for decades. Even when it comes to the exotic tobacco we look for, everything we are using was still aged for at least eight years, that was the advantage of going with Ish, he saw something years ago and started procuring tobacco from around the world. So it is very much a collaboration, if we do well, he does well.
What’s one misconception people often have about boutique cigars that you’d love to correct?
The one that ticks me off the most is that boutique means lacking quality, that is just not true. If the boutique brand picked a reputable large brand they are getting the same quality of rollers, tobacco, the processing of tobacco and everything you can expect from the large factory. That being said it is important to pick the right factory.
Are there any legacy or boutique makers who’ve influenced or inspired your journey?
My biggest inspiration in the cigar world has been Cynn the owner of Dissident cigars, she doesn’t know how much she has influenced me just through her cigar journey and how she has done everything. Her story is amazing and her love of the leaf cannot be surpassed. The amount of passion she has for cigars and the work she puts in, is something that I strive for.
In your opinion, how has the cigar culture evolved in the last decade — and where is it heading?
I think the culture has started getting younger people into it, you know the late twenty and early thirty year old people are starting to find cigars and are loving them. The other thing that I think is great is the number of women in the cigar communities. Where is this heading who knows but it is going to be some place that I want to be.
What kind of feedback or moment from a cigar smoker has meant the most to you?
When someone I didn’t know got one of our No Quarter Given and sent me a message on how great it was and how much they loved it. You know your friends and community will always support you, and these guys loved it. But to have someone who I had no connection with reach out just to tell me how great the cigar was, that was amazing to me.
What’s one thing you wish more people understood about what it takes to bring a cigar to market?
When doing exotic small batch cigars, it takes time, there are lots of things out of our control when we are trying to get more cigars. And I mean out of our control for both us as a brand and the factory, some times customs has issues, some times there is weather that doesn’t allow orders to ship, and the list goes on. But if you want something special you have to roll with the good and the bad.
Have you ever had a blend or idea that just didn’t work — and what did you learn from that?
Not yet, but it will happen. I have been lucky that Ish is very honest and open, so when we first started coming up with No Quarter Given, we had some crazy ideas. And lucky for us Ish could guide us in the right direction and stay away from things that wouldn’t work as well together. That is the importance of having a great relationship with the factory that manufactures your cigar.
What advice would you give to someone dreaming of starting their own cigar brand?
Smoke a lot of boutique cigars, learn what you like, talk to all the brand owners you can (most would love to talk to you), ask questions (there are no dumb questions when it comes to trying to figure out cigars), understand that it is a life long learning process, and be an asshole when it comes to your cigar. What I mean by this is if you are not willing to fight for your cigar and your brand then you need to keep asking questions. But once you are ready, you will know and I will tell you thinks, do it. And let me know, I will gladly help you tell your story.
What’s your personal daily smoke — the cigar you light when you’re not working, just relaxing?
This changes a lot for me, it isn’t as much a single cigar but a few different brands. This might sound funny but it isn’t always my own brand, mostly because I want to make sure everyone else can smoke them so I am usually out of my own cigar. But I focus on Cigar Clowns, HDA, Patriot Cigars, and BLK WRKS currently, this changes often though with me because I love so many amazing boutique brands, it is always a rotation. If you haven’t yet click on the link above “Trusted Brands” you will learn about all the cigars that are in my rotation.
Describe your perfect cigar moment — where are you, what are you smoking, and who’s with you?
For me the perfect cigar moment is my friends, a campfire, great conversation and smoking cigars.
What’s one thing outside of cigars that fuels your creativity or passion?
Listening to the imagination of my kids, cooking amazing meals with my wife and photography.
Who do you look up to in the cigar industry?
All the amazing people who have come before us that built this industry, I love the history of cigars.
Ready to experience depth and power in every draw? Visit www.fathomandfurycigars.com to explore our blends, our story, and our mission. Then join the community on Instagram @fathomandfurycigars for behind-the-scenes looks, new releases, and raw conversations about cigars, brotherhood, and veteran mental health.
