Steve Zengel, the founder and CEO of Los Caidos Cigars died on April 23, 2023, after a brief illness. Zengel, who held a Doctorate degree from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, had been in the cigar business for over a decade. In 2012, he would found Beach House Cigars in Seaside Heights with a group […]
José Blanco of Arturo Fuente will be moving into an expanded role. Today the company announced that Blanco will be its new Worldwide Brand Ambassador. “I’m excited for the challenge of this new role and grateful to Carlito (Fuente) for this opportunity!” said an excited José Blanco in a phone conversation with Cigar Coop confirming […]
The question of where some of the former brain trust of Alec Bradley would land have has been answered. Today Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) has announced that Alec Rubin, Bradley Rubin, and Jonathan Lipson, formerly of the Alec Bradley marketing team, will join the STG North American Branded marketing organization. In the new role, the […]
Quesada Cigars has named Hector Becerra as their U.S. National Sales Manager for S.A.G Imports, the company’s distribution arm. Over the past year, Becerra had served as the territory manager for Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, and New Mexico. “The Quesada family has been a part of the tobacco industry for over a century, I’m fortunate to […]
Hooten Young Cigars has named Allison Trainer as its Vice President of Sales Tobacco Division and Consulting. Hooten Young is a veteran-owned American Whiskey and Cigar Company. The company created its whiskey and cigars as a tribute to those who served in the Armed Forces. Trainer was most recently the Brand Manager for Vintage Rock-A-Feller […]
The Premium Cigar Association (PCA) has announced today it has hired Antoine Reid as its Director of Content. In this new role for the organization, Reid will be responsible for overseeing content creation and production for PCA’s various platforms. The PCA says Reid’s primary focus to begin will be creating new digital content, updating the […]
The Premium Cigar Association (PCA) announced today that Mary Szarmach, Sr. V.P. Governmental & External Affairs at Smoker Friendly, has been elected as the incoming secretary on the PCA Executive Committee. Her term will begin July 11, 2023, at the PCA board meeting during the annual Convention and Trade Show. “It is I truly an […]
Elvis Batista has announced he has stepped down as Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Blackbird Cigars in order to pursue other opportunities. In an email communication, Batista said: “I’m very grateful to have worked with the Blackbird Cigar team in helping build its current sales and marketing structure and to have had to […]
The Cigar Association of America (CAA) today announced Brian Fojtik has joined the organization as Senior Vice President for Government Relations. In this new role, Fojtik will be responsible for helping to develop and implement state and federal legislative strategies and policy initiatives, as well as managing CAA’s 46 state lobbyists and the federal lobbying […]
Siegfried Maruschke Sr., the owner of the large tobacco growing and brokerage operation Jose Mendez & Co S.R.L. in the Dominican Republic, passed away on January 29, 2023. He was 83 years old. Maruschke’s father-in-law, Jose “Pepe” Mendez was the founder of the company. Mendez left Cuba following the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and would […]
