Fall 2020 PCA Magazine

PREMIUMCIGARS.ORG AUTUMN 2020 | PCA The Magazine 35 corporate umbrella. Rubin insisted that his sons develop their own blends, and invest their ownmoney in the project “so theywould have skin in the game.”Hewanted themto feel some of the pressures he had experiencedwhen starting out. They rose to the challengewith two successful introductions, the first being a cigar they called BlindFaith. Rubin says: “Both of my sons spent a lot of time in the factories and the fields developing their blend. And they sold out their first production in 10weeks.” This was followed by a line the young Rubins calledGatekeeper; and they are nowworking to bring a third tomarket, theKintsugi (pronouncedKint-Su-Gee). The nameKintsugi comes fromthe legend of the Japanese artformKintsugi, which posits that a 15th-century Japanese Shogun dropped his favorite vase, shattering it to pieces. He then ordered artisans to reconstruct it with gold or silver lacquer, rendering it evenmore beautiful. Says BradleyRubin: “Unfortunately, the cigar industry seems to be a bit fractured right now.We are all fighting to reduce or eliminate regulation, but there is little consensus on how to achieve this.We can all learn fromtheKintsugi story.We are all better together. The passion behind premiumcigars is the gold lacquer that binds.” Brother Alec adds, “Bradley and I hope that if we spread the story and spirit of Kintsugi through our cigars, colleagues and enthusiastsmay one day embrace the tradition and come together for a common cause.” As of this writing, Kintsugi is on preorder, with shipping expected by end of November 2020. JonathanLipson, director ofmarketing and a nine-year company veteran, says today Alec BradleyCigars works with six different factories in three countries to produce a portfolio offering 29 lines. Lipson says, “We have consistently had yearly limited edition releases of Alec Bradley Fine&Rare, Black Market FilthyHooligan and FilthyHooligan Shamrock (both released around St. Patrick’s Day), and aDiamond ShapedCigar. In total,” he adds, “across all lines, we have over 125 individual SKUs. Also, recently, we’ve introduced something very unique:We gave some of our territorymanagers the ability to blend their own cigars and release themas territory exclusives.” Luis Rodriguez, owner ofMickey Blake’s Cigars in Southington, Connecticut, reports that dealingwithAlec Bradley is a pleasure. “I can’t say enough good things about the Alec Bradley company,” Rodriguez says. “I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and can say that when you do business withAlec Bradley, you are truly part of their family. I thinkwhat sets Alan Rubin apart is that it was not so much his dreamto own a cigar company as it was his passion. It was just where he always he needed to be.” DavidMallow, owner of Barrister Cigars inUnion, New Jersey, says hewould counsel tobacconists that doing business withAlec Bradley is “highly recommended.”He says, “They have been intricately involved withmy business fromthe very beginning, and their products are extremelywell received. If there is ever a problem, they go above and beyond to resolve it.” One example of the Alec Bradley problem-solving ethic thatMallow relates: “We did an event, but therewas a shipping problemand the cigars were not going to arrive in time. So the Alec Bradley national salesmanager [at the timeGeorge Sosa] and JohnLipson [at the time territory director] actually drove six hours in a rainstormto procure product for us fromanother location and deliver it for our event.” This is the kind of commitment that cements long-termrelationships, and it speaks volumes to the Alec Bradley business philosophy. After nearly a quarter-century, it is safe to say that AlanRubin’s cigar company has established his family in the assemblage of great names attaching to cigar-making fame. TodayRubin is active in PCA andCRA to continue the fight against draconian anti- tobacco legislation. And his activismspans borders: Earlier this year Alec BradleyCigars provided enough food and essentials for 700 families in Honduras tomake it through a regional COVID-19 outbreak. If your store shelves could use ameasure of the passion and commitment that the Alec Bradley companymanifests, call themat 888.426.4397 to open an account. Alec Bradley’s well-rounded portfolio of cigars includes Project 40 Maduro, Kintsugi, Maxx, Mundial, Post Embargo and more, adding up to 125 products across all their lines. A L E C B R A D L E Y C I G A R S