Far from your typical cigar of the month club
Standard & Twain is a cigar tasting experience that allows you to decide without bias which cigars you enjoy most----an ongoing adventure to hunt for, curate, age and discover your favorite cigars. We hope to challenge what you thought you knew, and help you discover your newest favorite cigar.
Where It All Began
Standard + Twain was born when several old friends returned to their hometown of Nashville for the holidays and met one evening to enjoy cigars, drinks and reminisce. It was a rare time together, so they knew the cigars needed to mean more than just their regular smokes. They needed to be more. So they had an idea...
They each purchased their favorite cigar and remove the band. Then they exchanged cigars. They smoked blind. The cigars were so good - the night was so memorable - it became an annual tradition, and with each passing year they wished others could share in the blind tasting cigar experience.
Getting inspiration from the wisdom of Mark Twain, who once penned a letter called Concerning Tobacco* ("It is a superstition that man has a standard of his own ... He thinks he can tell what he regards as a good cigar from a bad one, but he can’t. He goes by the brand, yet imagines he goes by the flavor.”), they founded Standard + Twain, the first blind tasting cigar experience.
*read the full letter here!
Founder
Kellen Gorbett currently lives in Nashville with his wife and 3-year-old daughter, Isla Kate. Before returning to his hometown of Nashville he lived in Nicaragua, where he met his wife, and in Spain for several years.
Kellen has over 15 years of experience in the cigar industry, starting at CAO Int. working under President Tim Ozgener and later Crowned Heads. He has traveled studying cigars and tobacco while writing for several publications including Cigar Journal, Cigar Press, Smoke, and Tobacco Business Magazine.
After identifying a brand bias issue among cigar enthusiasts and a booming trend of misinformation from certain cigar companies, he founded Standard + Twain to create an experience where cigar lovers can discover new cigars free of brand bias and marketing gimmicks.
