Who is Sam?

Sam Leccia was born and raised in Pittsburgh PA, joined the Navy at age 18, and was stationed on the USS Constellation (CV-64) for 4 years. After his hitch in the Navy he got into the liquor industry where for 7 years he worked for such brands as Bacardi, Dewars, Grey Goose, and Jack Daniels. He also was a partner in an award winning vodka.

It was when he worked for Dewar’s scotch whisky where Sam’s interest in premium cigars hit a tipping point. He was fortunate to go to a cigar factory and it was on that trip that Sam felt that the Cigar industry was a perfect fit. He was overwhelmed with the manpower, passion, tradition, and work ethic that goes into every cigar.

While living in Laguna Beach, Sam caught wind that Jose Oliva was putting together a sales force and marketing program to take the Oliva brand to new heights. This was just the opportunity he was looking for. Taking a considerable pay cut and even a demotion in position, Sam was determined to show Jose that he could help take his brand to a new level. He took a regional sales position and tripled his territory in annual sales in 2 years.

Prior to coming on board, Sam talked to Jose about being part of “something bigger”. He mentioned that he would like to be involved in helping to launch a new brand. Jose’s response was that the Oliva brand needed the attention at that time but when the timing is better he would very much be interested in hearing more.

Sam took Jose at his word, and while working with Oliva Cigar, Sam spent countless hours of his spare time educating himself on tobacco and cigars. He would discuss with Jose how cigars are made in order to learn more about their makeup. He would taste different wrappers on different cigars to get a better understanding of what he liked and why. He also learned about “coffee can” curing, using different techniques to get different flavor characteristics out of the tobacco.

It was during this educational period at Oliva Cigar Company that Sam found out that there is a “sweet spot” on every tobacco leaf, and by using only this sweet spot, you can create a cigar that is not only complex in flavor, but consistent from beginning to end. It was then that he worked with Oliva on creating “Nub”. The Nub is a cigar innovation that could change every preconceived notion on cigar making, and cigar enjoyment.