How this Louisville entrepreneur is turning heads with his American-made cigar company

[JohnS]

Here at FoH, we don't spruik someone's enterprise easily. In this case, we aren't aiming to do that. Quite simply, we applaud anyone who has the innovation, drive and tenacity to go out on their own in the cigar industry because we know how hard it is. (Much like our venerable host has done himself.) Below is one such story...

How this Louisville entrepreneur is turning heads with his American-made cigar company

Maggie Menderski - Louisville Courier Journal

In 2021, Gary “Lōks” Smith walked into a convention with a name tag that wasn’t his and a dream of launching his own American-made cigar company.  

The Louisville man was trying to get a foot in the door in the cigar industry. But the Premium Cigar Association’s annual conference in Las Vegas was a “members only” event.

Instead, he chatted up anyone he could find in the hotel lobbies and bars. In those seemingly hopeless moments, an executive from a major cigar company took a liking to him, and he reasoned that Smith needed his badge more than he did.

Everything changed from there. Even though Smith lives more than 1,500 miles from where his tobacco is grown and hails from a state where the law largely prevents public indoor cigars lounges — interest in his brand Gary Lōks Premium Cigars grew. 

“I just started having the right people in front of me at the right time,” Smith told me. “And it just started taking off from there.”

Gary Smith, owner of Gary Loks Cigars, lights a cigar in the home office. Gary Loks Cigars was recently honored to be the only American cigar company to be featured with a score of 89 in a blind tasting in Cigar Journal's 30th Anniversary issue. Jan. 29, 2025. Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal

Three years later, sitting in his basement office surrounded by stogies and cigar boxes in his south Louisville home, Smith couldn’t believe just how far he’d come since that conference. Less than a year after the executive passed him that badge, the esteemed Cigar Journal gave his cigar a high rating after a blind test, and listed his American-made underdog alongside highly regarded companies based in Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. 

Last year his cigars were featured in the Super Bowl Gift Lounge in Las Vegas, and were also named the official cigar of the West Coast Hip Hop Awards in 2024.

Smith, who worked in sales before launching his company, started it all on a shoestring budget. He used the connections he made to track down a unicorn cigar manufacturer in Miami, who didn’t force him into purchasing a large minimum he couldn’t afford. Once they had a blend they liked, and eventually cigars, he needed a way to present them. When he didn't have enough cash in his checking account to order boxes, Smith bought unfinished ones at Joann Fabrics in Louisville. He purchased a lazar engraving machine and taught himself how to use it watching YouTube videos.

Gary Lōks Premium Cigars debuted in 2021 with its Jazz Series, which is named for Smith’s daughter Jasmine. That initial release featured a blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers tobacco, a Honduran binder, and a caramel brown Ecuador Connecticut wrapper leaf.

Gary Loks Cigars offers three blends in four different sizes and was recently honored to be the only American cigar company to be featured with a score of 89 in a blind tasting in Cigar Journal's 30th Anniversary issue. Jan. 29, 2025. Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal

Another cigar called “The Boss” has a five-year-old Mexican San Andres maduro wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder, and its filler is a blend of handpicked Nicaraguan Cuban-seed tobacco. 

His wife, Sharon, likes to joke that “The Boss” is named for her, and candidly Smith knows there’s a lot of truth to that, too.  

“She is the real star because she believed in me when nobody else did, and you can only imagine what I've put her through,” Smith told me.  

(He did, after all, bring her on that trip to Las Vegas without verifying they could even attend the convention.)

One of his proudest moments came after he released the “Lil G’” cigar, which is named for his son, Gary Jr. Smith describes it as “a delicious cigar with lots of creamy smoke,” and Cigar Journal named it one of the best cigars in the market for its value.

Gary Loks Cigars offers three blends in four different sizes and was recently honored to be the only American cigar company to be featured with a score of 89 in a blind tasting in Cigar Journal's 30th Anniversary issue. Jan. 29, 2025.  Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal

Even though Smith runs an intimate operation, he’s managed to keep his cigars at a reasonable price point. Usually, they sell for about $10-12.  

Locally, Gary Lōks Premium Cigars are available in the Trophy Lounge at Derby City Gaming Downtown at 401 W. Market St., which is one of the only establishments in Louisville where someone can enjoy a cigar inside without a membership. Most social, indoor cigar smoking is limited to private clubs and homes, as Louisville Metro's smoke-free ordinance "prohibits smoking in indoor public places and worksites."

Derby City hosted an event with Smith late last year, and Smith clearly has an eye for craftsmanship and a passion for his community, Tina Wilson the senior director of operations of at Derby City Gaming Downtown, told me. Many guests were impressed that Gary Loks Premium Cigars were American-made and delighted to hear that the company's owner and founder was based in Louisville.

“The pride and excitement in their reactions spoke volumes,” Wilson said. “There’s something special about enjoying a world-class product with deep local roots.”

But even with his early success in the cigar industry, Smith knows he still has a long way to go.

At this point he suspects he’s bartered more cigars than he’s sold, as way to get his product in front of prominent people. He’s actively seeking investors, and working with state and local officials to loosen the smoking ban in Louisville to allow for indoor cigar bars. Earlier this month House Bill 211 was introduced in Frankfort, and that legislation could pave the way for more cigar bars to open in the future.

Cigars and bourbon pair well together, and Smith believes Louisville is missing a substantial tourism opportunity. One of his favorite things about smoking cigars is that you have to enjoy it slowly. He says you never know who you’ll meet in the hour or so it takes to get from the beginning to the end.  

Gary Smith, owner of Gary Loks Cigars, lights a cigar in the home office. Gary Loks Cigars was recently honored to be the only American cigar company to be featured with a score of 89 in a blind tasting in Cigar Journal's 30th Anniversary issue. Jan. 29, 2025. Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal

His cigars have even brought him within a smoke ring of his heroes, such as basketball legend Julius “Dr. J” Erving II and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the College Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry.  

And while the VIP passes to major events and smoking stogies with celebrities have been unexpected perks, his major goal is something much humbler. It’s a theme in every conversation he has and utterly apparent on his cigar’s names.

Smith’s family means everything to him.

He has many years before his grandson will be old enough to enjoy a cigar with him, but Smith is building his brand with the young boy in mind.  

This isn’t about backstage passes to the the West Coast Hip Hop Awards or hanging out in the Super Bowl Gift Lounge. 

It’s about building something that he can leave behind for his grandchildren.

Source: https://eu.courier-journal.com/story/life/shopping/2025/02/04/american-made-cigar-company-gary-loks-premium-cigars-in-louisville/77777986007/

[Duxnutz]

I just moved to Ky, I’ll have to check him out!