Alec Bradley Cigars

Alec Bradley is a premium-cigar brand founded in South Florida in 1996 by Alan Rubin and named for his sons, Alec and Bradley Rubin. The company grew from a difficult post-boom launch into an influential independent portfolio through partner-factory production, with Tempus, Prensado, Black Market and Fine & Rare becoming defining families.

Scandinavian Tobacco Group acquired substantially all assets of the Alec Bradley cigar business for $72.5 million in a transaction effective March 1, 2023. Alec Bradley now operates as an STG-owned brand distributed through Forged Cigar Co., while Alec and Bradley Rubin remain active in brand development, partnerships, creative direction and public-facing work.

A Difficult 1996 Start and the Rubin Family Name

Alan Rubin left his family's fastener business in 1996 to enter premium cigars and named the new company after his sons. Its first concept targeted golf courses, but the approach did not succeed. Rubin redirected the business toward tobacconists and kept the company alive with value-oriented bundles and distinctive ideas during a crowded, contracting market.

Trilogy's triangular press and the large-ring-gauge MAXX family showed an early willingness to experiment. The decisive breakthrough arrived with Tempus in 2007, a fuller Honduran-made line that raised the company's critical profile and strengthened its relationship with the Raíces Cubanas factory in Danlí.

Prensado, Fine & Rare and National Recognition

Prensado followed in 2009, built around dark Honduran Trojes wrapper tobacco and made at Raíces Cubanas. The Prensado Churchill received 96 points and was named Cigar Aficionado's 2011 Cigar of the Year, turning a long independent-company struggle into Alec Bradley's most visible achievement.

Fine & Rare also debuted in 2011 as a limited, ornate project built with ten distinct tobaccos. Its recipe and code can change by edition, but the ten-tobacco concept and Raíces Cubanas production became the recurring framework. Black Market, Magic Toast, Project 40 and later projects widened the brand beyond the original Tempus-Prensado story.

The 2023 Scandinavian Tobacco Group Acquisition

STG announced the agreement on February 22, 2023 and completed the acquisition effective March 1. The $72.5 million transaction covered substantially all assets of Alec Bradley Cigar Distributors Inc. and associated companies, including brands such as Prensado, Black Market, Fine & Rare, Kintsugi and Double Broadleaf.

The change was an ownership transaction, not proof that every cigar moved to an STG-owned factory. STG described the business as asset-light and production as outsourced. Current line pages therefore need both the STG brand-owner relationship and the factory actually responsible for the named cigar.

Rubin Family Roles After the Sale

Alan Rubin initially advised STG after the acquisition and then stepped away from regular business activity. He returned to help Alec and Bradley select the final blend for the 2026 Thirty Years anniversary cigar, but current coverage describes him as retired rather than the brand owner or operating chief.

Alec Rubin serves as brand manager of strategic partnerships, and Bradley Rubin serves as brand ambassador while guiding creative direction, branding and social media. Their roles preserve family continuity under corporate ownership; they should not be described as owning the brand after the STG acquisition.

Ownership, Distribution and Brand Leadership

Alec Bradley is owned by Copenhagen-based Scandinavian Tobacco Group. In the United States, Forged Cigar Co., an STG subsidiary, distributes the brand. Alec and Bradley Rubin remain the most visible brand stewards, but STG is the corporate owner and the old independent company's equity structure no longer defines the brand.

The brand originated in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where the independent company was headquartered. Current publishing should distinguish that historical base from STG's wider U.S. operating system and avoid treating the former Florida office as a separate current manufacturer headquarters without fresh confirmation.

Partner Factories and an Asset-Light Production Model

Alec Bradley has no single factory identity. Raíces Cubanas in Danlí makes Prensado, Tempus, Magic Toast, core Kintsugi, Fine & Rare and the 2026 Thirty Years cigar. The Plasencia family's Tabacos de Oriente, also in Danlí, makes much of Black Market, MAXX, Medalist and current Gatekeeper production.

Project 40 is made at J. Fuego Cigar Co. de Nicaragua; Safe Keepings is made at Oliva's Tabolisa factory; Do Not Disturb is made at Tabacalera La Isla in the Dominican Republic; and the limited Kintsugi Wabi Sabi was made by A.J. Fernandez. These examples make line-level factory verification essential.

Tempus and Prensado

Tempus was the 2007 breakthrough that moved Alec Bradley toward a fuller Honduran-led identity. Prensado followed in 2009 and became the company's signature achievement when the Churchill was named the 2011 Cigar of the Year. Both are Raíces Cubanas families, but each expression requires its own blend and size record.

Black Market and Magic Toast

Black Market pairs a memorable crate-style presentation with a core blend produced mainly by the Plasencia family at Tabacos de Oriente; small-format or special releases can differ. Magic Toast is made at Raíces Cubanas and occupies a separate Honduran-production branch. A shared brand owner does not make the factories or blends interchangeable.

Fine & Rare and Kintsugi

Fine & Rare is an edition-driven limited series defined by ten tobaccos, a blend code and year-specific production. Core Kintsugi is a Raíces Cubanas line developed by Alec and Bradley Rubin, while 2025's limited Wabi Sabi extension was made by A.J. Fernandez. Both families need expression-level records rather than one permanent specification.

Project 40, Safe Keepings and Do Not Disturb

Project 40 and Project 40 Maduro are value-oriented Nicaraguan lines made by J. Fuego. Safe Keepings, introduced after the STG purchase from a Rubin-era blend book, is made at Oliva's Tabolisa factory. Do Not Disturb, introduced in 2025, adds a Dominican chapter through Tabacalera La Isla.

Gatekeeper, Thirty Years and Special Releases

Gatekeeper began as an Alec & Bradley collaboration with Ernesto Perez-Carrillo at La Alianza before production moved to Tabacos de Oriente in Honduras. Thirty Years reunited Alan, Alec and Bradley Rubin for a 2026 Raíces Cubanas anniversary blend. Filthy Hooligan, Shamrock, Chunk, Post Embargo and other releases need seasonal or edition-specific pages.

Alec Bradley in the Ashology Network

The manufacturer page should be the parent hub for the 1996 founding, Alan Rubin's story, the family name, the 2023 STG acquisition, current Rubin roles, Forged distribution and the multi-factory portfolio. Individual cigar pages should carry the factory, blend, size, release, tasting, construction, value, availability and competition evidence.

Alec Bradley should not receive one universal Ashology score. A Raíces Cubanas Prensado, Tabacos de Oriente Black Market, J. Fuego Project 40, Tabolisa Safe Keepings and La Isla Do Not Disturb come from different production systems and answer different briefs. Company history establishes context; only a named cigar and vitola can be evaluated.