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TOBACCO BUSINESS
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
it,” explains Goldman. “Toward the
end of 2012, we began talking about
opportunities and came up with the idea
of putting together a new premium cigar
company.”
To say that things moved quickly
after that would be something of an
understatement; Goldman joined the
company as president of Royal Gold
Cigars on January 2 and has since
launched four impressive premium
cigars—a timeline he acknowledges was
ambitious. “Developing a premium cigar
brand from seed to smoke normally
takes a year to 18 months,” he says, “but
we’re talking about the largest tobacco
company in the U.S. So we were able to
draw on Swisher’s reputation, resources
and capabilities in production, packaging
and distribution.
“It was prior experience, connections, a
lot of hard work, and a little bit of luck,”
he says, summing up the factors that
enabled the development of four premium
brands in, essentially, seven months flat.
“We were able to quickly identify the
manufacturers we wanted to work with
and streamline the development process.”
Goldman chose to work with well-
respected cigar makers in the Dominican
Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua.
“The goal is to build a broad portfolio
of products with different flavor profiles
at different price points,” he explains.
“Swisher didn’t want to build its own
factory; they had tried owning and
operating a premium cigar factory before
and, well, it’s not for the faint of heart.”
Goldman leveraged his industry
relationships to develop Royal Gold’s
first four brands (see Sidebar, “Royal
Gold’s Full House”). One coup was
convincing Drew Estate to partner with
Swisher in the development of one of its
first four brands. Goldman and Jonathan
“The goal is to build a broad portfolio
of products with different flavor
profiles at different price points.”
—Alex Goldman
