Cigars for Christ | Q&A | Incensum The Catholic Cigar Companywww.youtube.com
We spent about an hour enjoying cigars and whiskey.
That morning, JJ Pedula and Shea Waits drove from Oklahoma City to pick me up at a cigar lounge in Owasso, Oklahoma. Shortly after, they had to fly out for another meeting, all the while racing against a huge cold front that blanketed much of the country with snow. On the car ride home, they prayed.
But for the hour that JJ and Xia were explaining their vision, the world and all its problems didn’t exist.
“We’re smoking cigars and relaxing. And we’re going to talk about sports, politics, whatever. But there comes a time when we talk about things that really matter.”
They literally followed the breadcrumb trail of blessings to the feet of a unique small business.
Incensum: Catholic Cigar Company.
We sat in leather smoking chairs and talked. No one said it out loud, but everyone knew the conversation would be at least as long as the cigar.
They started with Incensum’s origin story. Both Shea and JJ were looking for something to do to earn extra income. So, purely as a joke, the idea was born: “What if we sold Catholic cigars?”
What does it mean to make “Catholic cigars”? And what does this mean in the high-end world of cigar appreciation?
“You always see really nice button-ups and hats with brims,” Shea said.
Both JJ and Shia are “ordinary” men who have dedicated themselves to an extraordinary mission. “We wear flannel, we’re blue collar, we go to work every day,” Shea says. “These are the people who run the world.”
“Men, especially Catholic men, we are at war. We are in a real corner. We are being attacked from all sides. And, you know, families… Our job is to provide for both material and spiritual needs.”
“Of course we are supported by our wives. We are supported by the church. But for a long time I felt that I was a loner, because other than your friends and brothers Because no one is going to talk to you about those important things.”
Cigars are a way to bring men together, Shea says. “We’re smoking cigars and relaxing. And we’re going to talk about sports, politics, whatever. But there comes a time when we talk about things that really matter.”
“You can’t look at America today and say it’s a Christian country,” he continues. “There’s a lot of porn out there. No matter what social media platform you go to, it’s just garbage. And it’s garbage. How can we protect our families from that kind of thing and move toward the truth?”
In response, they wanted to do something fun, a side hustle that would give other Catholic men an experience with the men of their parish.
“It was like an answer to prayer, because for months I had been thinking about doing something a little more fulfilling as a side deal. And something related to Catholicism. And I I wasn’t interested in real estate or anything like that. So I wasn’t pulling any triggers.”
Next, I needed a name. They came up with the Latin word “Incensum,” which means “to kindle.” It has an apostolic feel.
“We’re fighting the good fight,” JJ says. “But many of us don’t. And there’s nothing specifically tailored to our needs. And this is what we’re trying to do.”
They are interested in “making the Catholic cigar experience sacred.”
It is cultural in nature.
“I want Catholic men to rediscover Catholicism as a culture, not just a religion, as something that happens on Sunday,” says JJ.
live”
They point to companies like Black Rifle Coffee as “disruptors of the industry that make great coffee. And they don’t take themselves too seriously. And that’s where the idea came from. And they just developed… It began.”
In a time of DEI panic and corporate immorality, JJ and Shea founded their business based on their guiding principles.
Their values are at the heart of their cigar branding. Smoking their cigars allows you to enjoy quality smoke while supporting a Christian mission.
What is the point of a parallel economy without stockpiles on hand?
