From five-star resorts to military bases, David D. Haddad has elevated the cigar from indulgence to art form.. By Peter White
David D. Haddad is a man of many parts. In addition to being founder and president of Fumar Cigars, he is the founder of the Friends of Freedom. He’s also a cigar historian and humanitarian. Haddad met recently with Casino Life Publisher Peter White. Their conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
You’ve been called a “showman with a flair for renaissance,” someone who brings art, history, and hospitality together through cigars and stories. How do you define yourself today, collector, entrepreneur, historian – or something else entirely?
I am a bard, a storyteller, a historian, a builder of companies, a patriot and a luxury-lifestyle advocate. Through the history of Fumar Cigars, it was always apparent to me that there was an opening for the cigar business within the luxury-hospitality experience. In 1995, when I began – after 18 years of being in luxury hospitality – developing concepts, learning management and scaling skills, I was looking for a more entrepreneurial start, a fresh beginning where I could make my mark within these two historic industries.
It was the start of a cigar boom in the early Nineties. There was an exuberance of desire. A new feeling of luxury emerged, and the hospitality industry was ripe for elevation and innovations in small corners. At that time, there was no service for the cigar world integrated with the demands/opportunities within the luxury experience. Knowing the world in which I was seeing this gaping hole – as a longtime hospitality industry student – I saw there was a window to act.
Previous to my entering this adventure, a hotelier or premium-golf-club leader, had to send someone to a local cigar merchant and ask what was good, or to buy what was requested by a guest. The hotel/golf club had no experience or institutional knowledge about the proper maintenance and proper presentation or salesmanship, so as to not lose money on each purchase. If they could break even, they thought they were doing the guest a favor and considered this their standard approach.
I turned this into a profit center. I offered a simple solution. Knowing who was important in these venues or the person in charge of the guest experience – usually the F&B director – I presented a program to provide a great on premise service, usually on consignment. This included a custom-built, world-class humidor, designed and created by Fumar, matching their decor in their most high-traffic lounges and patios.
We would come weekly or monthly depending on their usage. We would manage and maintain our equipment, teach, train and educate their staff on how to sell their products. This included how to cut, light, and present their guests with an elegant and old-school, traditional cigar service. This made each guest feel great and special about this small but essential piece of their luxury experience.
What first drew you into the world of cigars and fine spirits over three decades ago?
I had a bit of experience with cigars at one of the fine-dining groups I was consulting on in the early Nineties. I had very little real exposure to the current world of cigars and spirits when I began. That was not the passion. Building and creating, changing the dynamics of both industries became my mantra. I learned, trained and educated myself.
I read everything I could find about the story of Americana through the lens of the tobacco industry. I was always fascinated by the story. I knew that most people of means loved to learn. Most folks crave knowledge and the best way to share information is through storytelling.
I read books written 100 years ago about the history of smoking, learning the legends, the lies and the lore of the world of cigars, their origins, the background. I also learned about agronomy, the passionate makers of the greatest cigars in history, and any other sources. This included traveling and experiencing the industry from its roots.
Starting in 1999 and through 2007, I spent two weeks a year in Cuba. My mentor in the growing of legendary tobacco was the one and only Don Alejandro Robania. He was an eighth-generation farmer in the growing area of San Luis y Martinez, in the Pinar del Rio region of Cuba. His insights to the land, the feel, the look, the smell and the nurturing of the tobacco became a base load for my education.
Image: David D. Haddad, founder and president, Fumar Cigars Credit: @Michael Jordan – MIRRORXPIX.COM
You often use the phrase “experience the moment.” How does that philosophy guide your approach to cigars, hospitality and life?
During my first years in the business, I acquired hundreds of boxes of pre-embargo Cuban cigars and Prohibition-era spirits, adding these unicorns to our most-exclusive menus. When asked why we would put a $2,000 cigar on a menu – an outrageous amount for a cigar – it was to allow the most exclusive guests in the world a chance to experience the moment. Why? People go to world-class resorts and destinations to do things they don’t do at home. The chance to go back in time, maybe 50 to 80 years, gave the guest an opportunity to do something they never could anywhere else. This became the legend for the resort, benefitting it by becoming a permanent memory for the guest.
It all started when I asked thousands of people during cigar events and cigar-rolling shows to share with me the greatest cigar they ever had. After thousands of guests shared their individual stories, I came to the conclusion they all gave me the same answer. Few knew the cigar they smoked. That is because it wasn't about the cigar: It was about the moment. This led to the first parable of cigars: The love of a cigar comes from the time you keep with it.
You introduced a completely new business model to the cigar industry, merging luxury hospitality and event production. How did this innovation come about and how has it reshaped the way the industry operates today?
1995, it was early 1997 and I found myself in a wheelchair. I had been diagnosed with a very rare circulatory disease called avascular necrosis, killing the femur bones in my legs. The doctors told me I would never walk again. With few options given to me by the Mayo Clinic, I went to Duke University for experimental surgery. An extremely painful option was presented to me. Over the next two years, I had to build Fumar from my hospital bed, my couch and a wheelchair. I was broke. I met the girl of my dreams prior to being diagnosed. After five surgeries and so so much pain, she was still there. I married that girl, Judy. We had a family. We built the company together. I came to several conclusions after this experience: Nothing happens until it’s time; a true entrepreneur has no Plan B; desperation is the best motivator.
The new business model was the result of all of this, using my natural skills to create an experience for the guest no one had ever done. The cigar-event side, using cigar-rolling skills matched with the storytelling education and the gift of gab, made for a secret sauce. No one had ever done that. Who knew? I didn’t. It just made sense. Now we do over 500 cigar events per year. The industries, both cigar and hospitality, had never seen what we were presenting, either in our on-premise service nor our event-production capacity. Currently, we do over 1,000 custom-labeled cigar programs per year, using over 600,000 cigars we make. In our on-premise service with the major manufacturers’ cigars and our rare collectibles, we sell almost another 500,000 cigars per year.
Image: Palms Resort Casino Las Vegas
Luxury resorts across the country including some of the most renowned casino destinations. How did your partnership with casinos begin and what do you think makes cigars such a natural fit in that world?
Our journey started in Arizona with the Native American tribes. Wild Horse Pass, Fort McDowell and Talking Stick Resort were our clients. They were modest successes. As we grew, I avoided the Las Vegas casino world. The word on the street was they were hard to work with, paid slowly and were demanding. They also were all about price. As a revenue stream, the amount of money we could generate at a casino was merely incidental to them. They were less interested in the ‘wow’ factor. For their whales, they tended to have under-the-counter Cubans (mostly fakes). Most of the Vegas properties also had malls attached like the Forum Shops, where other providers had built cigar stores, like Davidoff. There was little appetite for my programs.
In the last handful of years, we have become consultants to hundreds of resorts, and now we are being asked to elevate and create cigar venues and fulfillment. Peter Acero from the San Manuel tribal nation, asked us to build out Yaamava’ Casino in Highland, California, then at the Palms in Vegas. We also added Circa in downtown Las Vegas. In 2010 year we added Grand Sierra in Reno. In Florida, we have two others. More are coming over the next two years.
When you design cigar programs for high-end casinos and resort properties, what elements do you focus on to elevate the guest experience?
Great products, great service and a never-ending supply of the menu. Consistent service and management in making the cigars always perfect. Secondly, teach, train and educate the staff on proper service. It should be elevated and elegant, making the guest feel special. Thirdly, convey a sense of urgency. Now is the only time that counts for luxury hospitality. Make sure you are prepared to deliver the most unique and original offerings in a timely basis. Tell a story, make a dream, deliver the experience. Finally, for every dollar in revenue for a cigar sale, the venue adds approximately $10 in additional liquor revenue. This makes the property very happy. Cigars are a force multiplier.
Casinos have always represented a certain lifestyle: glamour, risk and luxury. How do cigars fit into that emotional landscape for guests and high rollers alike?
The entire premise of Las Vegas and other casino areas is to experience excitement and one-of-a-kind experiences. Glamour, risk and luxury are all hallmarks of the cigar industry, for centuries.
From your experience, what differentiates a great casino cigar lounge or terrace from a merely good one?
People. People. People. Like any luxury experience, the staff and the environment pair to make the moment. That is why our training-and-education element for the staff in selection, proper service, and presentation is critical. Those that use us to our fullest are the most successful.
Cigars and conversation seem to go hand in hand. Why do you think cigars have such a unique power to connect people, especially in the business and hospitality world?
The year was 2009 and I was serving on the board of directors for the USO during the war. I had over 500,000 cigars donated to the troops deployed in both theaters of the war by this time. Dave Petraeus, four-star general of the forces in Iraq had invited me to
come to Baghdad and host the first-ever cigar social in history in a forward operating base. It was the heart of the most awful time in Iraq. The concept was a morale program featuring the Army versus the Marines in a friendly boxing match, with cigars for all.
The whole idea of a cigar social, in a forwardcombat zone, was so each service member could respect rank but not be recognized in rank. The E3 who would get the chance to stand next to a senior officer – a flag officer no less – and have a moment to discuss family, wishes, hopes and dreams would endear that enlisted man/woman to that officer in a way that would impact the enlistee for life. He would follow the command structure to the ends of the earth.
For the first time, he or she would know the man who would lead them to battle. Trust him as a person, an officer and now a friend, with the cigar as their common bond. As a result of the union I had created, I was asked to establish almost 100 cigar clubs between Iraq and Afghanistan. There, soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines could gather, light a cigar, share their stories of life inside the unit, and from home. Since starting the “Cigars for Soldiers” program, Fumar has donated over 1.5 million cigars to those deployed, personally delivering almost 100,000 in my missions to the theaters of operation. Like very few other vices, pastimes, luxuries, and hobbies, a cigar has the unique status of conversation, thoughtful gestures, insightful moments with friends or family and a time of self-reflection.
Many casinos are now embracing curated lifestyle experiences, from private tasting events to cigar dinners. Do you see that as the next frontier for casino entertainment?
For over 30 years, we have been doing just that, creating memories and experiences that last a lifetime. Fumar has managed to uncover the wonders of talking to each other, sharing a story or two and enjoying the common bond a cigar can curate. Specialized cigar dinners are old school to some and brand new to the next generation. Private tastings for the most well-heeled of clients can be done in many forms. We have discussed vintage and one-of-a-kind cigar experiences, large-scale events for groups, wedding-cigar bars, and custom-made cigars for our service members and for thousands of companies.
The key to all these successful programs is a welcoming environment. In the last 15 years, the casinos have restricted cigar smoking from table games while allowing cigarette smoking to continue. It’s as if cigarettes are somehow more acceptable compared to the aroma of a fine cigar. In addition, a cigar lasts for an hour, which captures the cigar smoker at a table longer – adding to the revenue streams of the casino! The “unwelcome nature” of this seems at odds with the facts. The next generation and the prior generations all just want to have a comfortable, welcoming atmosphere to enjoy, converse, and relax.
In 2003, you founded Friends of Freedom, which has delivered over 1.4 million cigars to deployed service members. What inspired that mission and how did it evolve into a national movement?
What began as a business opportunity became a passion. I live by six principles instilled in me by my father: commitment, sacrifice, courage, integrity, citizenship and patriotism. A love of the country, found by a first-generation immigrant from Lebanon, says, “If you do well, you must do good.” I acquired the logo rights for the military branches in 1998, attempting to sell branded cigars on military bases. Unfortunately, the bases had BX/PX commissaries that were geared for the lower ranks. My $5 cigar was the wrong product. they wanted five cigars for $1. After 9/11, my wife and I decided we would never sell one again. Instead, we would only donate them to our troops as our way of giving back.
Starting in 2003, we began working with the Gold Star and Blue Star Moms, providing gift packs for their shipments to the deployed in their care packages. Word got around. In working with three different presidents, we made amazing strides in relationships and support. The demand got stunningly high, requiring Fumar staff to do literally hundreds of packages per month. I found myself on a platform where I could help, support and do my part to put smiles on the faces of those who were in the trenches. Now nearly 1.5 million cigars into the program, Friends of Freedom 501c3 has dozens of support programs that stem from our founding principles. Our objectives were: morale programs (cigars and battalion picnics, etc.); compassionate programs (motorized wheelchairs, cars to needy families while their family member was deployed, etc.); translating military service into civilian success (work, PTSD support). Currently, we are doing amazing programs which can be seen on our website: www.friendsoffreedomusa.org.
How important is it to you that the cigar community, including casinos, continues to play a role in honoring veterans and supporting causes like Friends of Freedom?
We chose to look for a way to make the lives of those wounded a bit brighter. First with Sheldon Adelson, then with MGM leadership, we secured hundreds of room nights, got a helicopter company to provide transportation, got American Airlines to provide us a 757, and pulled together some amazing entertainment, including my friend Clint Black and a dozen other musicians. We wanted 150 severely wounded guys and gals from Walter Reed Hospital, Brooke Army Medical Center and their significant other to come to Vegas for a four-day, get-out-of-the-hospital weekend over Veterans Day. Seventeen years later, the program still continues. The only way a great program of giving back works is to invite leaders to show their love of country, use their resources, to make just a day better for those who sacrifice for our freedom. The leadership at MGM considers this program their highest priority.
Your late wife Judy was a major part of your life and work, and now you’ve remarried Julie. How has family supported and grounded you through decades of travel, business, and philanthropy?
It was a few years after the diagnosis of my femurs dying that I discovered the true meaning of sacrifice and courage. I look back on that moment when the doctors told me I would never walk again, the struggle and pain to recover, as my savior. Due to the nature of the surgeries, extreme pain and agony were the standard for years. Once that passed, I realized the struggle was my liberation. It freed me of my past, made me much humbler and more thoughtful, and enabled me to appreciate the sacrifice others would have.
In 2018 through 2020, I had nine back surgeries to repair the damage from my deployments to my spine, making me struggle again while building a company and family. My wife of 23 years, Judy, was diagnosed with stage-four cancer in the summer of 2018, while I was in surgeries. Her death march was on. The surgeries, chemo and radiation took their toll, and she passed away in April of 2020 during Covid. On her death, she left me the final gift of our life together. I finally knew the difference between big shit and small shit. It's all small shit.
With this loss, I discovered compassion and understanding for those around me. I was a better dad, a better boss and now, with the new love of my future, Julie – an angel that saved my heart and made me whole again – a better husband. Both Judy and Julie have been my rock. Judy was very wary of my adventures to the Middle East and crossing the country a thousand times building Fumar. But I managed to keep my arms around the family. I have three children, each a point of pride. Each with their own future.
What advice would you offer to those in the casino and resort world looking to create authentic luxury experiences that truly connect with guests?
Memories make for relationships. It cannot be the same as anywhere. Creating an emotional attachment for a venue to the guest is the soul of hospitality. It's about the people. Individuals. Not the masses. Cigars aid in this for a certain population. But, as a whole, the personal connections that the staff can mark on with their guests will make the day for any individual. It is not hard; it has to be sincere. Marry their past emotions to a current environment.
And finally, what’s next for Fumar Cigars and Friends of Freedom? Are there new ventures or collaborations on the horizon, perhaps within the casino-resort sector?
We are growing at an amazing rate of over 20 percent per year. I am sure there are more casinos and resorts we will approach or be contacted by them. We have several opportunities on the drawing board. My hope is that this article appeals to the luxury approach to lifestyle for some of the casino operators. Elevate this little corner into a memory for the guests.
Events are the biggest driver of revenue and profits for us. We are preparing for a growth spurt of 30 percent in our 500-plus events we do per year. For me, it is about winding down. Taking time with my family, which has sacrificed for me to build this company for three decades. Our next leadership evolution is under way with Managing Director Matt O’Brien at the helm. He has been with me 18 years and it is time for him to lead. I will be consulting for the industry. We are currently working on three new venues, building clubs and lounges across the country for other folks. As a speaker, I hope to continue leading young minds into new ways of looking at the old.
The rarest cigar you’ve ever smoked?
A custom-made cigar by Alejandro Robaina from the field in 2,000. One of one.
Your favorite cigar and spirit pairing?
I am a bourbon guy, love my brown water with a Hemingway cigar by Arturo Fuente. The perfect pairing is actually anejo rum.
The best resort or casino setting to enjoy a cigar?
Lady Luck Nemacolin in southwest Pennsylvania. Best cigar room anywhere.
One historical figure you’d love to share a cigar with?
Winston Churchill, with an add-on of U.S. Grant.
A quote or philosophy that defines your life?
“Have a Cigar” by Pink Floyd: “Come in here, dear boy, and have a cigar. You’re gonna go far, you’re gonna fly high, you’re never gonna die, their gonna love you.”
Casino Life Magazine would like to thank David D. Haddad for taking time out of his busy schedule this interview.
*** This exclusive interview was originally published in October 2025 edition of Casino Life Magazine Issue 182 Volume 21 ***
