Archive for cigars

Drew Estate: The Rebirth of Cigars

Posted by Asher Passalinqua 
· Sunday, November 24th, 2019 
· 1 Comment

Drew Estate is one of the most famous cigar brands ever, and dominates a large percentage of tobacco sales today, even though the company was started only twenty years ago. Drew Estate was started in 1998 by Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel, who lived in New York City at the time, and had a small boutique that sold cigars in downtown New York City.

Experiencing declining sales and interest in cigars in the American market, Jonathan Drew moved to  Esteli, Nicaragua, with the hope of starting the “rebirth of cigars.” While in Nicaragua, one of the cigar hubs of the world, Drew obsessed over making new, exciting cigar blends that could bring flavors and experiences never before seen in the American market. After a year or so of meticulously perfecting his cigar blends, Drew returned to the United States and launched what would become the company’s signature cigar line, ACID Cigars.

The company grew and grew because of the wildly popular ACID line, which was a completely unique set of flavor profiles for the cigar market. By 2004, the company had expanded so much that they moved their headquarters from New York City to Miami, Florida to help continue grow the expanding company. In 2007, the company opened one of the largest cigar manufacturing plants in the entire world, which was 96,000 square feet.

This state of the art factory helped to maximize the company’s production, and helped Drew Estate to become a wildly popular brand in the cigar market. Through innovation and perseverance, Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel were able to start one of the most innovative and popular cigar brands in the entire world.

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Categories : Challenge, Cigars, Communication, Great Ideas
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A.J. Fernadez Cigar Company

Posted by Asher Passalinqua 
· Monday, October 14th, 2019 
· 3 Comments

 A.J. Fernandez was born in March 1979, and began his cigar operations in the country of Nicaragua. Unlike many other cigar manufactures A.J. Fernandez, who is known as “Tabacalera Fernandez”, in his home country, Fernandez had humble beginnings. When Fernandez first began his company, he began with only six cigar rollers in a small, worn down facility in Esteli, Nicaragua. Here he began to make his name not by making his own cigar brand or cigar lines, but he helped other cigar manufacturers to produce some of their best selling cigar lines.

Fernandez helped the biggest name in all of cigars, Rocky Patel. This is unique to A.J. Fernandez because he was able to learn from some of the most successful cigar manufactures in the world, before he began his own cigar operations. This allowed Fernandez to take the time to develop a sound business plan before beginning his cigar brand, and it gave him the time to focus on the quality and marketing of his successful cigar lines.

After years of working in the cigar industry A.J. Fernandez began two incredibly popular cigar brands: Man O War, and Diesel. These brands helped Fernandez become a household name in the cigar industry, and have become some of the most successful brands in the cigar market. Fernandez’s many brands produce sales of almost 9 million cigars per year and sell to over 30 countries world wide.

Fernandez also revived a discontinued cigar brand in 2010, which was started by his grandfather in 1959 during the infamous Cuban Revolution in order to pay tribute to his grandfather.

By taking the time to learn from other cigar leaders, Fernandez was able to perfect an effective business strategy, which helped him launch his cigar empire. A.J. Fernandez also “bucked the trend” of many other cigar manufacturers by taking the time to perfect his craft, and develop target markets and good marketing strategies. Fernandez’s story is an inspirational story of how hard work and thinking outside the box can lead to great success.

 

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Categories : Business, Cigars, Creating, Great Ideas, Marketing
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Warfighter Cigars

Posted by Asher Passalinqua 
· Monday, September 30th, 2019 
· 2 Comments

Warfighter Tobacco Company is a cigar manufacturer that was started in 2006 by military veterans Chris Ferdico, Scott Jansen, Bryan Bettey, Jon Simons, and Vincent. The mission of Warfighter Tobacco Company is to make really good cigars and to help support fellow military veterans and their families.The company was initially founded By Scott Jansen while on the set of Range 15 with other military members. One of his friends mentioned to him how other military veterans were succeeding in making various clothing, coffee, and outdoors products, because they were able to tailor their products around a military aesthetic, because of their prior experience serving overseas. With the help of other companies owned by veterans, like Black Riffle Coffee Company and Article 15 Clothing, Warfighter Tobacco had a limited cigar release of about 300 units, which was met with positive reviews from friends, family, and fellow military veterans alike.

They then found a great cigar manufacturer in the nation of Nicaragua, which provided much needed jobs to many impoverished members of the local community. Then, in July of 2017, at the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Tobacco Retailers Association Convention, the newly formed Warfighter Tobacco Company was officially unveiled to the masses, and to the surprise of everyone that started the company, people not only loved the cigars, but they loved the people, mission, and brand of the company.

Warfighter Cigars was the first mainstream tobacco company that is owned by veterans and they base their whole brand around a military aesthetic and vibe. This is extremely unique in the cigar industry, and their unique cigar band designs as well as cigar names help them stand out from the crowd.

The Warfighter Tobacco Company is also dedicated to helping former veterans through their involvement in various charitable and volunteer programs for military veterans and their families. They also employ many military veterans with reliable, well-paying jobs.

By having a unique mission, a great story, as well as an innovative cigar brand, Warfighter Tobacco Company was able to revolutionize the cigar market through creative branding and by creating a company that has great cigars, made by great people, with a great company mission and vision.

Info obtained from: https://www.warfightertobacco.com/

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Categories : Business, Cigars, Creating, Marketing
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Rocky Patel: The Rebirth of Cigars

Posted by Asher Passalinqua 
· Saturday, September 14th, 2019 
· 3 Comments

 

In 1990, while working in Los Angeles as an entertainment and liability lawyer, Rocky Patel was introduced to cigars by a friend and that’s when his passion for cigars began. He went on to became one of the founding members of the Havana Cigar Club of LA, and six years later, in 1996, he invested in the Indian Tabac Cigar Co. At the 1996 RTDA trade show in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Indian Tabac Cigar Co. made it’s debut, and hundreds of people waited in line to try the new brand of cigars. The key to Patel’s early success was his bold, bright packaging in a tired, worn-out cigar industry that was in desperate need of fresh ideas and young innovators like Patel.

After seven years of working in the cigar industry, Rocky Patel grew his reputation and became one of the most respected and famous names in the cigar industry. In 2003, Rocky Patel renamed the Indian Cigar Co. as “Rocky Patel Premium Cigars” in order to capitalize on his increasingly popular brand name. Not only does Rocky Patel make world renowned cigar blends, but he is one of the hardest working people in business as he spends almost 300 days a year on the road building partnerships and promoting his brand. Through fresh innovation and hard work, Rocky Patel was able to modernize the cigar industry and he still remains one of the top five most popular cigar brands in the entire world.

 

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