Corporate · Indianapolis, IN

A special blend for a VIP night in Indianapolis, with Charles Barkley

Invited to make a special blend for the night. Charles Barkley filmed himself with one of them, and the placard with Franklin’s name is in shot.

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Charles Barkley lighting a cigar with Franklin

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 blend

Invited to make it for the night

In May 2025 he was invited to make a special blend for a VIP event in Indianapolis. The night was at Commission Row, on a rooftop terrace with the downtown towers behind it, and one of the guests was Charles Barkley.

Barkley

“A great night”

Barkley filmed himself with one of the cigars, with the placard bearing Franklin’s name in the shot, and thanked “the folks at Commission Row” for “a great night.” Franklin kept the story. In his own words, Barkley is “one of the greatest NBA basketball players in the history” and “a humble man.”

Indianapolis is a city he keeps coming back to: his archive has him there in February and March 2024, in July 2025, and for the Indy 500 in 2026.

What an amazing and honored experience last night, where I was invited to make a special blend for a VIP EVENT where I had pleasure of meeting world renowned. Mr. Charles Barkley!

Franklin PichardoPosted May 27, 2025

His own clip

Charles Barkley filming himself with the cigar, Indianapolis, May 2025.

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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