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In an uncertain era when many cigarmakers are proceeding cautiously\u00a0, a bold new cigar company has entered the playing field with guns blazing\u2014Micallef Cigars. The Texas-based\u00a0company launched seven cigar lines last year and has everything in its extensive portfolio, from an $8 smoke all the way up to a cigar that retails for more than $40. Though still a newcomer to the cigar industry, brand owner Al Micallef says he\u2019s prepared to tackle any challenges that may lie ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned very quickly that you\u2019ve got to run a cigar company like any other business,\u201d said Micallef in a phone conversation with\u00a0Cigar Aficionado<\/i>. \u201cYou better be dedicated to put the time and the effort in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Micaleff, a Texas-based entrepreneur, already helms an impressive roster of other successful businesses, including a large expanse of ranch land in Alpine, Texas, called CF Ranch; a silicone plastic fabrication company called Jamak Fabrication, and a number of fine-dining restaurants in the Alpine and Fort Worth areas. Now he\u2019s taking on the trials of running a cigar company.<\/p>\n
\u201cNinety-five percent of my time is spent in the cigar business,\u201d Micallef said. \u201cMy other businesses are mature. I\u2019m dedicating my finances and time to growing this business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Micallef started his cigar company last year when a chance encounter introduced him to two cigarmakers from the G\u00f3mez Sanchez family.<\/p>\n
By Micallef\u2019s account, the G\u00f3mez Sanchez brothers, Joel and Edel, were driving through Texas when their car broke down. Stranded, the brothers stopped at the nearby Silver Leaf Cigar Lounge, in Fort Worth, Texas. They offered to roll some cigars for the patrons. Micallef, an avid cigar smoker\u2014who spends many afternoons at the lounge\u2014happened to be there and tried their cigars that same day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had some car trouble and stopped in the lounge. They said to the manager, \u2018Can we roll some cigars for you?\u2019 The cigars were so popular they stuck around for three days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Micallef says he was so impressed with the G\u00f3mez Sanchez brothers\u2019 cigars that he asked them if they would create a personal cigar just for him.<\/p>\n
He later came to find out that the G\u00f3mez Sanchez brothers are from a Cuban cigar family with three generations of experience in the industry. The family patriarch, Pedro F. G\u00f3mez, once rolled cigars at the H. Upmann factory in Havana, Cuba, and later worked as a factory supervisor at the Nueva Matacapan factory in Mexico (owned by the Turrents). His daughter-in-law, Migdalia Sanchez, worked at the Partag\u00e1s factory in Cuba. His grandchildren, Joel and Edel G\u00f3mez Sanchez, also worked in cigar factories in Cuba before moving to Miami, then Mexico and finally Nicaragua, where the family operates its cigar factory.<\/p>\n
Micallef Cigars currently offers seven different cigar lines:<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Reserva Limitada Privada<\/b>, a 7 inch by 52 ring gauge Churchill, made with a Mexican San Andr\u00e9s Habano wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder and filler from Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Peru. It retails for $42.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Experiencia<\/b>, a medium-bodied cigar available in two sizes, Prominente (5 1\/2 by 58), draped in a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper leaf, and La Crema (7 by 52), wearing a Mexican Sumatra wrapper. Both sizes retail for $13.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Reata,<\/b>\u00a0a mild- to medium-bodied Churchill and Torpedo, both sell for $15.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0G\u00f3mez Sanchez 1RA Generaci\u00f3n<\/b>, two figurados of different sizes made with Ecuador Habano wrapper ($20, $25).<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Herencia<\/b>, a medium- to full-bodied torpedo offered in both Habano and Maduro ($13, $14).<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Palacios<\/b>, an Ecuadoran Connecticut Robusto ($11).<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Torcedores<\/b>, a mild- to medium-bodied duo available in a box-pressed Torpedo and a Churchill, both $8.50.<\/p>\n
All of Micallef\u2019s cigars are rolled in Estel\u00ed, Nicaragua, at the G\u00f3mez Sanchez Family 1934 cigar factory.<\/p>\n
Micaleff says he\u2019s pleased with the strides his company has made in such a short time. When asked if he\u2019s concerned about the impact from the\u00a0\u00a0on his company, Micallef responded:<\/p>\n
\u201cMicallef has a long history of conducting business in a regulated environment. Admittedly, the cigar industry is a new business environment for us. We are confident that our business experience in other areas and our current team will meet the challenges of the FDA head on. Of course, we have high hopes that things will change, but we are planning for full FDA regulation and look forward to a long history in this wonderful industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
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