Who needs a pedigree?

Cigars are an industry like any other, and so generational pedigrees have always been powerful. If your great grandfather farmed tobacco, your grandfather rolled cigars, and your father oversaw the international distribution of a beloved local product, you’re assumed to be next in line. You’re in without even trying. For Drew Estate, it was different. In the early 90s, Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel were frat brothers at Oneonta State University. There’s no Cuban lineage. There were no cigar-leaf mobiles hanging over their cribs. They didn’t even really know much Spanish at all. But despite all that, they launched Drew Estate in 1996 with the tagline, “The Rebirth of Cigars.” Can you believe that? The stones on these guys. How much could they possibly know about the business? As it turns out, more than enough to totally take it by storm.