Alec Bradley Cigars is a company started by Alan Rubin in 1996. Rubin has a lot in common with fellow cigar mogul Rocky Patel, as both Rubin and Patel were born in or around 1961. Both started their careers in the cigar industry in the late 1990s. Both based their companies in Florida (Bradley first in Fort Lauderdale; and Patel in Naples). Both founded their companies as a second career. Both worked hard to build their brands. Finally, both Alec Bradley Cigars and Rocky Patel Cigars are currently renowned and successful on both a national and international level.
It must have been a difficult decision for Rubin to unhinge the family cabinetry business, as he later sold it, and like Patel, instead of working in the family business, he followed his passion, and started in another direction. To keep the theme and tradition of the family business, Bradley christened his company Alec Bradley after his children. Although Bradley had been toiling away at his second business since 1996, Bradley’s ascension into notoriety did not happen until ten years later, in 2007, with his introduction of the Tempus cigar. Alec Bradley Tempus cigar is derived from the Latinate part of the original English language, meaning time. (Germanic is the other part of the original English language, just in case you were interested.) Like Patel, Rubin’s company is customer-based.
The tobacco in the cigars are grown and manufactured in South America, and like Patel, Rubin pays close attention to details, and oversees the entire process of the making and production of Alec Bradley Cigars, from hiring the workers (locally) to grow the best tobacco, to the creation and rolling of the tobacco to make the stellar cigar for his customers. Rubin’s attention to detail paid off with his success and award-winning cigars, and Rubin’s work ethic continues to pay off, as millions of Alec Bradley Cigars continue to be sold every year.
Here are the cigars that Alec Bradley Cigars sells (listed in alphabetical order): American Classic Blend, Black Market, Bogey’s Stogies (the first brand), Cuban Spirit, Maxx, Maxx Connecticut, Trilogy, Tempus (the breakout cigar that gained notoriety), Tempus Maduro, Prensado, Select Cabinet Reserve, Special Blends, Tempus, Family Blend, and Vice Press.
In addition, the Prensado cigar was so popular that Alec Bradley’s cigar Prensado Churchill smoked the rest of the cigars in competition and rankings. According to Cigar Aficinado, a magazine geared towards the sophisticated cigar community, the cigar product Prensado Churchill took the top spot, and was considered the best in the world. Later in his career, Alec Rubin developed and launched another stellar cigar called The Black Market Cigar, which won awards in 2011.
Like Rocky Patel, Alec Bradley’s Cigar Company expanded beyond cigars and featured other cigar- related products. Other Alec Bradley products include ashtrays, cigar, and torch lighters.
