Enjoying a smoke with the Catholic Cigar Company

We had about an hour for cigars and whiskey.

That morning, J.J. Pedula and Shea Waits drove from Oklahoma City to meet me at a cigar lounge in Owasso, Oklahoma. Immediately afterward, they would have to jet off for other meetings, all while racing a monstrous cold front that would cover much of the nation in snow. On the drive home, they would pray.

But for an hour, as J.J. and Shea laid out their vision, the world and all of its problems didn’t exist.

“We’re relaxing, we’re having a cigar. And we’re gonna be talking about sports, we will be talking about politics, we’re gonna be talking about whatever. But then there comes a time where we’re going to be talking about the really important things.”

They’ve followed a veritable bread-crumb trail of blessings, landing at the foot of a unique small business: Incensum: The Catholic Cigar Company.

We settled into our leather smoking chairs and talked. And nobody said it aloud, but we all knew that the conversation would go at least as long as the cigars.

They opened with Incensum’s origin story. Both Shea and J.J. had been on the hunt for a side hustle, something they could do to make some extra cash. Then the idea came, strictly as a joke, “What if we sold Catholic cigars?”

What does it mean to make a “Catholic cigar”? And what would this mean in the highfalutin world of cigar appreciation?

“You always see these real nice button-ups and the brimmed hats,” Shea said, “and they look suave and everything and, like — that’s not us.”

Both J.J. and Shea are “ordinary” guys who have devoted themselves to a mission that is extraordinary: “We wear a flannel and we’re blue-collar, and we work everyday jobs,” says Shea. “Those are the type of men that make the world go around.”

“Men, especially Catholic men, we are at war. We are really in the trenches. We’re being attacked from all angles. And, you know, it’s our job to provide for our families, both corporeal needs and spiritual needs.”

“Obviously, we’re supported by our wives. We’re supported by the church. But for a long time, I felt like I was kind of a lone wolf. Because there’s no one there to talk to you about those important things other than your buddies and your brothers.”

Cigars are a way of bringing men together, says Shea. “We’re relaxing, we’re having a cigar. And we’re gonna be talking about sports, we will be talking about politics, we’re gonna be talking about whatever. But then there comes a time where we’re going to be talking about the really important things.”

“You can’t really look at America right now and say that it is a Christian nation,” he continues. “There’s so much pornography out there. You get on any social media platform, and it’s just garbage. And it’s trash. How do you keep your family protected from that and move forward in the truth?”

In response, they wanted to do something fun, a side gig that also gives other Catholic men the experiences that they have with the men from their own parish.

“It was like an answer to prayer because for months, I was trying to think about what I was going to do, as kind of a side deal, something a little bit more fulfilling. And something related to Catholicism. And it was like, I didn’t have my heart on real estate or anything like that. And so I wasn’t pulling the trigger on anything.”

Next, they needed a name. They came up with “Incensum,” the Latin word for “to set fire to.” It carries an apostolic undertone.

“We’re out there fighting the good fight,” says J.J. “But not a lot of us. And nothing is particularly tailored to our needs. And this is what we’re trying to do.”

They’re interested in “sanctifying the Catholic cigar experience.”

It’s inherently cultural.

“I would love for Catholic men to rediscover Catholicism as a culture and not just a religion, something that happens on Sunday,” says J.J. “It’s something that you live.”

They point to companies like Black Rifle Coffee: “Disruptors in their space who make great coffee. And they don’t take themselves too seriously. So that’s where the idea came from. And then it just started developing.”

In a time of DEI panic and corporate amorality, J.J. and Shea have founded a business on the principles that guide them.

Their values are front and center, right there on the cigar branding. When you have one of their cigars, you enjoy a quality smoke while supporting a Christian mission.

What good is a parallel economy without a stogie at hand? .