Corporate · Philadelphia, PA

An evening in Philadelphia, with a cigar roller under the string lights

Guests at the table under a tent as the light went down.

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Franklin rolling at his table on the covered terrace as guests gather behind him

1 of ~28hands trusted with the Opus X — the same ones at your partyCigar Journal, 2016

6 minfrom loose leaf to a cigar in your guest’s handHis own words

150+nights that ended with the room around his tableFranklin’s own count

The terrace

Golden light, and a full terrace

In October 2024 he set his table on a covered terrace in Philadelphia, under rows of string lights, with a lawn and a pond with a fountain below the rail. The low sun came in under the roof while guests stood in jackets and sweaters, drinks in hand, talking around the station.

The table

Every step, in plain sight

He worked seated, in black, at a table dressed in white: the round board, the press, the chaveta, the leaf kept under an orange cloth and the boxes stacked at his elbow. The leaf is cut to shape, the filler rolled in, the cigar set in the press, all of it a few feet from the people waiting for theirs, while the conversation carries on behind him.

Close to home

Just up the road

Philadelphia is close to his shop in Bethlehem. The morning after this evening he was back behind its counter, opening To’ Makao for Fuente Friday.

Great time last night in Philadelphia, thank you all for the tremendous support and hospitality!

Franklin PichardoPosted October 11, 2024

His table on the terrace

Philadelphia, October 2024. The terrace fills up behind him, and he keeps rolling.

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How he works a corporate event

Trusted with the Fuente Opus X—At the Fuente table since 1995—Formula 1 Miami’s official roller—Featured in Cigar Journal—Chosen by Hublot, Tudor and Bell & Ross—

The same hands can be at your event

Franklin Pichardo has been rolling since 1995, the year Arturo Fuente released the first Opus X — and he is one of the few in the world the family cleared to roll it.

See how he earned them