The House
Patience, set alight.
AP Reserve exists for the slow hour. Cigars blended with intention, aged without compromise, and shared without ceremony. We built this house the way we intend to build our blends — by hand, over time, with people we trust.
First Release
Still in the aging room.
Our founding blend is resting. It will surface when it is ready — and not a day before. When it does, the people on this list hear about it first.
The Founders
Arsenault · Perla
A house named for the two families who stand behind every cigar that carries its band.
Co-Founder
Lucas Perla
At 33, Lucas Perla has built his life around hard work, entrepreneurship, family, and enjoying the moments that make the grind worthwhile.
With a background in engineering and as the owner of a landscaping company, Lucas has always had an appreciation for craftsmanship — whether it's building a business, creating something with his hands, or enjoying a well-made cigar. Outside of work, he's a devoted family man, ski patroller, entrepreneur, and lifelong believer that some of the best moments happen when good people slow down and enjoy each other's company.
His appreciation for premium cigars grew from that same mindset. For Lucas, a cigar isn't simply something to smoke — it's an experience. It's time around a fire with friends, a pour of good bourbon, a conversation that runs longer than expected, or a quiet moment at the end of a long day.
Easygoing by nature and always happiest around good people, Lucas helped create AP Reserve around a simple idea: work hard, make time for the people who matter, and when the moment calls for it, light something worth remembering.
Work hard. Make time for the people who matter. Light something worth remembering.
Co-Founder
Dominic Arsenault
Dominic Arsenault's story is rooted in hard work, craftsmanship, and an unwavering belief that nothing meaningful is built without patience.
Born and raised in the small town of Ashburnham, Massachusetts, Dominic grew up in a working-class family. His father worked union construction in Boston while his mother waited tables in local restaurants. From an early age, he learned that success wasn't something handed to you — it was something earned.
Traditional classrooms were never where Dominic felt most at home. He was drawn instead to working with his hands, understanding how things worked, and mastering a craft. He attended Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School, where he entered the plumbing trade and discovered the foundation upon which he would eventually build his career.
By his twenties, Dominic had earned his Master Plumber license and founded Domination Plumbing & Heating in Leominster, Massachusetts. What began without investors or a safety net grew through relentless work and calculated risk into a seven-figure company.
That same entrepreneurial drive carried him far beyond the plumbing industry. Dominic has built and sold a nationwide trucking company, completed major real estate projects generating seven figures in profit, invested in additional home-service businesses, and built the private pond-side home he once envisioned for himself and his family.
Yet for Dominic, success has never simply been about what can be accumulated. It is about craftsmanship, family, faith, and legacy. Those principles ultimately became part of the inspiration behind AP Reserve.
A longtime cigar enthusiast, Dominic was drawn to the tradition surrounding a great cigar — the craftsmanship behind it, the patience required to create it, and the conversations and relationships that form around it. A cigar is rarely about rushing to the next thing. It is an opportunity to slow down, appreciate what has been built, and share time with the people who matter.
AP Reserve was created with that philosophy at its core. Alongside co-founder Lucas Perla, Dominic set out to build a cigar brand that reflects the standards they hold themselves to in business and in life: quality without compromise, understated luxury, attention to detail, and respect for tradition.
From a working-class upbringing in a small Massachusetts town to building multiple successful ventures, Dominic's journey represents what AP Reserve stands for. For Dominic, AP Reserve is more than a cigar brand — it is a celebration of the moments earned along the way.
Work for it. Build it. Appreciate it. Leave something behind.
