Watch: PCA 2023 Live Day 2 With Drew Newman of J.C. Newman (11:30 A.M. CDT)

Charlie Minato: If you agreed to come on our live show at PCA 2023, would you be willing to talk about the future plans about El Reloj?

Drew Newman: Of course! I’ll bring some surprises too.

And that’s how today’s show came to be. This morning, I’ll be interviewing Drew Newman, the fourth-generation owner of J.C. Newman. It’s a bit of a weird title, but I suppose it is better than owner in waiting. When Drew’s father, Eric, and his uncle, Bobby, retire, Drew will take over as the head honcho of J.C. Newman, but in many ways, Drew is already the one guiding the company.

Nowhere is that more prevalent than at El Reloj, the company’s headquarters and historic cigar factory in Tampa’s Ybor City. A handful of years ago, I was at El Reloj to say hi, and Eric Newman told me about the massive renovations and expansion that the company was about to start. Drew wanted to make El Reloj a cigar tourism operation, event space and more. Eric thought the idea was crazy. But as Eric told me, “it’s Drew’s money anyways…”

With that modernization complete, El Reloj now welcomes thousands of visitors annually, offers guided and unguided tours, hosts cigar rolling classes and so much more. But there’s a lot more planned, including one of the most fascinating projects I’ve heard of in the cigar industry in quite some time. Today, Drew will talk about it while I build Legos.

Yes, Legos. Earlier this week, J.C. Newman announced that it would begin selling a 201-piece Lego set that is a replica of its Tampa factory. That led to this idea.

Charlie Minato: Do you have an extra one here?

Drew Newman: Yep!

Charlie Minato: I need to figure out if we can do it, but I wonder if during our interview, I can put it together while you talk.

Drew Newman: I love the idea!

Charlie Minato: I just need to figure out if we can get the camera set up to work.

Drew Newman: The fastest anyone has built it is 53 minutes.

Hopefully, it won’t take me 53 minutes.