My Favorite Cigar
Charlie Randall • President, Mcintosh Laboratory • H. Upmann No. 2
You may not know the name Charlie Randall, but if you’re into high-fi audio, you certainly know the name McIntosh. The company’s blue watt output meters and glowing vacuum tubes have been mesmerizing audiophiles for decades. And if you happen to own a McIntosh system, then you have Randall to thank. Serving as the company’s president, the 58-year-old has been with McIntosh for most of his life, developing everything from its vacuum-tube amplifiers and Precision turntables to its high-powered loudspeakers with a keen understanding of sonic frequencies and harmonics. “It’s the tubes that give you that warm sound,” Randall says, explaining that analog components can reproduce music closer to reality than digital platforms.
He’s also been smoking cigars for most of his life, and the H. Upmann No. 2, Cigar Aficionado’s Cigar of the Year, is a favorite. Premium cigars and McIntosh equipment have something in common—they’re made by hand and require some artistic finesse as well as technical precision. Randall is ushering McIntosh into its 75th anniversary next year. “Whether it’s cigars or stereos, people like companies with a long history.”
