Cigar birthdays in June. Like every month we celebrate some of the people in the cigar industry. If we miss anybody on our calendar, please let us know and we will add him or her. Here are the birthdays for June.
The birthdays
June 3: Art Garcia. Known as Mr. Antigua Esteli in International markets but Segovias de Esteli in the United States. And his brand is slowly expanding with more and more international markets adding his cigars.
June 6: Andre Farkas from Viaje Cigars. Viaje could be considered the king of the small-batch releases as that’s how the brand came to fame.
June 7: Philip Zanghi from House of Debonaire. Once the partner in crime of Rocky Patel but after pursuing a career outside of premium tobacco he came back as the owner of Debonaire cigars and Indian Motorcycle Cigars.
June 7: Sasja Van Horssen. With his import and distribution company, he’s part-owner of La Sagrada Familia and Van Horssen is also still working on the release of a full line of Ilja cigars. After smoking a test blend years ago, we can’t wait.
June 8: Eddie Tarazona. The founder and co-owner of Tarazona cigars. With cigars from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, but born in the 310. We have yet to try one of his cigars.
June 10: Karen Berger. The widow of Cigar Industry Legend Don Kiki Berger did not only step up and maintained the business her husband left, but she is building the empire bigger and bigger. With her own line of cigars, and a bigger international outreach.
June 12: Bradley Rubin, the B in Alec Bradley. And nowadays not just part of the name of the company, but also one of the faces for the company. With his brother Alec, he joined the family business and is now releasing cigars under the Alec & Bradley moniker.
June 17: Stephen Johnstone. Owner of Robert Graham 1874 and with that also the owner of his Tobacco Lords cigars. And the Robert Graham 1874 limited edition. We just love the historical value behind the Tobacco Lords cigars.
June 19: Claudio Sgroi, the former master blender, president, and manager of Mombacho cigars. He recently left Mombacho but is still part of the cigar industry as president for the Nicaraguan tobacco chamber.
June 22: Michael Grossklos. This German gentleman is the blender for the private labels of the German retailer, importer, and brand owner Dalay Ziggaren.
June 25: Jeffrey Amendola from Amendola cigars. Up until recently, Amendola Cigars was a Honduran brand, but nowadays Amendola cigars hail from Nicaragua. This young company is family-owned and ready to go international.
June 26: Nestor Andres Plasencia. The fifth generation of the proud Plasencia family. Probably the biggest and most important family in the premium cigar industry as they are the largest grower. And they also make a lot of private labels for both small and large brands.
June 30: Ryan Frank Rodriguez. The founder and owner of the Nicaraguan brand Ohana cigars. He blends his cigars with the help of Noel Rojas, who’s also the producer of the brand.
These are the cigar birthdays for June 2021 as far as we know. If you know of any cigar manufacturer, blender, label owner that we miss, let us know and we will add him or her to our calendar.
