Alec Bradley cigars are to the smoking world as Rolex is to the word of timepieces. Both make a wide variety of items, but both have one thing in common: quality. Alec Bradley stogies are about as high class and scrumptious as you can find, all at a price that not only a prince, but a pauper can afford. Famous Smoke Shop and Alec Bradley have built a long standing relationship to help provide you with these cigars at damn good prices. The reason we keep good relations with them is simple. Aside from being awesome people in general, and pretty damn good at flip cup, they have developed a rich history in their short time on the market.
It all started in 1996 with Alan Rubin taking part of the proceeds of his father's hardware import company to create Alec Bradley cigars, named after his two children (dawwww). It was at the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America trade show where he eventually found a small manufacturer in Honduras to make his first creation, but those crafty Honduran thieves took him for a ride. He paid them but barely received the cigars he asked for. Eventually he received some cigars, and the first Alec Bradley cigars ever banded, called Bogey's Stogies, were meant to be sold at golf courses locally, but ended up failing miserably after only 2 years. Of course, with a cigar including bogey in the name, it's easy to see why golfers wouldn't want this bogus cigar.
Mind you, Alan was starting Alec Bradley cigars right at the tail end of the cigar boom of the 1990s which meant prominent cigar companies had already formed and secured a foothold in the industry. Breaking in to a newly established market was no easy feat at the time, but persistence paid off in the year 2000 when he teamed up with Ralph Montero, a prominent cigar professional. That year they employed Davidoff's master blender, Henke Kelner, to create the Occidental Reserve, and samples were sent to brick and mortar shops around the nation, garnering them 300 customers. Alec Bradley followed up shortly thereafter with the Trilogy, a triangular box-pressed cigar.
However, Alan Rubin and Ralph Montero hit their stride as late as 2007 with their first full-bodied cigar called the Tempus. No other Alec Bradley cigar offered a strength profile as powerful and perfectly balanced as the Alec Bradley Tempus. It was an instant success, which sent the company into overdrive. And what does a company do when the profits roll in and they want to be a contender? They throw down the knockout punch.
Two years later, in the spirit of going all-out for the sake of premium hand rolled goodness, the Alec Bradley Prensado was released, which immediately drew cigar collectors to retail counters across the globe. Immediately the ratings started flowing in - 91, 94, 96, hardly any marks below the 90 mark, leading to Alec Bradley's biggest honor. They had made the number one cigar in the world. Sure, it took two years before it won the prestigious award, but the Alec Bradley Prensado had beat out the competition, and in just over a decade, Alan Rubin went from selling an import company to receiving top honors.
Since then, Alec Bradley has been pumping out stellar blends non-stop. The Alec Bradley Sun Grown has been making its way into everyone's humidor; the Alec Bradley Nica Puro is perhaps the best Nicaraguan Puro to ever hit the shelves; and the Black Market should honestly be illegal it's so good. They might actually need to start selling it on the black market.
It's unheard of to have the kind of success Alan Rubin had while making every Alec Bradley cigar, well, aside from the Bogey Stogie fiasco. To go from nobody to top dog after failing with his first product in just over a decade is unheard of. But if Alan Rubin proved one thing, it's that he knows how to make a damn good stogie."
