George Sosa
Last autumn when George Sosa came through
London as part of his annual European tour I sat
down with him and talked about Alec Bradley to
understand how this American cigar company was
planning to make its way in the UK.
Over a coffee and an Alec Bradley Prensado
Robusto, George explained that the company
had been founded by Alan Rubin in 1996. Alan
had always been a cigar lover and when he sold
his family’s hardware business he decided on a
completely new direction. He followed a dream
and founded his cigar company named for his two
sons Alec and Bradley.
Alan started selling cigars made by the famous
Henke Kelner and very soon brought Ralph
Montero into his business. Ralph has tobacco in
his blood going back many generations. George
describes it as a great meeting of business and
cigar knowledge.
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George joined the company 7 years ago to head up
sales at a time when the company only had a full
time staff of just 4 people. Then they started their
own production and it was The Maxx that really
put them on the map in the US.
Then in 2007 the momentum started to grow. The
company launched the Tempus, a cigar developed
with huge input from the management team right
down to the fermentation and blending. The cigar
received a 94 point review from Cigar Aficionado
and people really started to take notice.
2 years ago Alec Bradley took CA Cigar of the Year
with the Prensado Churchill with a 96 rating and
Alec Bradley had arrived.
George has been slowly and carefully building
European distribution and awareness, finding the
right partners to work with. He knows that the
company needs controlled growth and he knows
it’s critical to work with people who know which
cigars work in which market.