Brand guide
Alec Bradley cigars
Alec Bradley is a cigar brand founded in Florida in 1996 by Alan Rubin, with cigars rolled under contract in Central America, including at the Raíces Cubanas factory in Danlí, Honduras.
A father named the brand for his two sons
Alan Rubin founded Alec Bradley in 1996 and named it after his sons, Alec and Bradley Rubin.
The company grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which is where Cigar Aficionado placed it in 2023. Small staff. Big catalog. Around 30 full-time employees at the time of the sale, and almost 10 million cigars sold in 2022, up five percent on the year before.
The sons stayed close to the business. Alec Bradley's own story says Alec and Bradley remain actively involved in guiding the company's next chapter, and Cigar Aficionado notes a blend called Gatekeeper came from the brothers.
Who owns Alec Bradley now?
Scandinavian Tobacco Group, based in Denmark, owns Alec Bradley after agreeing in February 2023 to buy substantially all of its assets for $72.5 million.
Cigar Aficionado reported the deal on February 22, 2023, and said STG valued Alec Bradley's 2021 sales at $25 million. Today the footer of Alec Bradley's site reads Forged Cigar Co., Inc., which is the name on the copyright line. The Rubin name is still on the story page.
STG owns other cigar businesses too, including General Cigar, the maker of Macanudo.
Where are Alec Bradley cigars made?
Alec Bradley doesn't make its own cigars; partner factories roll them, and the one the brand names most often is Raíces Cubanas in Danlí, Honduras.
Cigar Aficionado put it flatly in 2023: Alec Bradley "does not make its own cigars." The brand's own Prensado page says the blend is "rolled at Raíces Cubanas," and its 30th anniversary cigar, Thirty Years, is "rolled by our good friends at Raíces Cubanas" from Honduran and Nicaraguan tobacco. Cigar Coop described that factory in 2013 as located in Danlí, Honduras, and wrote that Alec Bradley had "a long-standing relationship" with it.
Not every line names its factory. The Black Market and Project 40 pages list the leaf but not where it's rolled. Cigar Aficionado's profile of Nestor Andrés Plasencia names Alec Bradley among the brands his Plasencia factories roll for.
Alec Bradley leaf comes from five countries
Alec Bradley's listed blends draw on tobacco from Honduras, Nicaragua, Brazil, Panama and Sumatra.
Honduras and Nicaragua carry most of the weight. Prensado is a Honduran wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder. Black Market wraps Nicaraguan leaf around a Sumatran binder, with Panamanian and Honduran filler. Project 40 pairs a Nicaraguan wrapper with a Brazilian Habano binder and Nicaraguan filler.
Alec Bradley lines by wrapper and body
| Line | Wrapper (as Alec Bradley lists it) | Body (Alec Bradley's word) | Notable sizes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prensado | Honduran | Medium to Full | Robusto 5 x 50, Gran Toro 6 x 54, Churchill 7 x 48, Double Toro 6 x 62 |
| Black Market | Nicaraguan | Medium to Full | Punk 4 1/4 x 42, Robusto 5 1/4 x 52, Toro 6 x 50, Churchill 7 x 50 |
| Project 40 | Nicaraguan | Medium | 5 x 50, 6 x 52, 7 x 52, 7 x 70 |
Project 40 names its sizes by numbers, such as 05.50 for 5 x 50. A 70 ring is more than an inch across. Picture it with the ring gauge converter. Other current lines on the brand site include Do Not Disturb, Magic Toast, Filthy Ghooligan and the Uncut Series.
Alec Bradley milestones
Alec Bradley's timeline runs from a 1996 start to its 2023 sale, with the factory ties built along the way.
- 1996: Alan Rubin founds Alec Bradley.
- 2013: Raíces Cubanas, a joint project with the Danlí factory of the same name, shows at the IPCPR trade show.
- 2022: Almost 10 million cigars sold.
- February 2023: STG agrees to buy the business for $72.5 million.
- 30th anniversary: a cigar called Thirty Years, rolled at Raíces Cubanas.
What to know before you buy an Alec Bradley
Alec Bradley's listed sizes run from a 4 x 36 Smalls in Black Market to a 7 x 70 in Project 40.
Prensado is Spanish for pressed. Even so, the Prensado page lists sizes without marking any as pressed or round, so look at the cigar itself. The box-pressed guide covers what pressing changes.
"Body" is the label Alec Bradley uses on its blend sheets. It doesn't publish a separate strength rating, and it doesn't post suggested retail prices on these pages, so price tier is left out here.
Alec Bradley questions smokers search
Who owns Alec Bradley cigars?
Scandinavian Tobacco Group owns Alec Bradley. It agreed to buy substantially all of the company's assets for $72.5 million in February 2023, and the brand's site is now copyrighted by Forged Cigar Co.
Who is Alec Bradley named after?
Alec Bradley is named after Alec and Bradley Rubin, the two sons of founder Alan Rubin, who started the company in 1996.
Where are Alec Bradley cigars made?
The brand owns no factory of its own. Prensado and Thirty Years both come from Raíces Cubanas in Danlí, Honduras, according to the brand's own pages.
What does Prensado mean?
Prensado is Spanish for pressed. Alec Bradley lists the Prensado blend with a Honduran wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan filler.
Where the Alec Bradley facts come from
- About Alec Bradley: our story, Alec Bradley
- Prensado blend details, Alec Bradley
- Scandinavian Tobacco Group agrees to acquire Alec Bradley cigars for $72.5 million, Cigar Aficionado
- Cigar preview: Raíces Cubanas by Alec Bradley, Cigar Coop