El Titan de Bronze – Owner Sandy Cobas

Cigar aficionados and tourists alike have been coming to family owned El Titan de Bronze cigar factory in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood for 17 years.

“Being Cuban, born in Cuba, it’s a part of our heritage,” says owner Sandy Cobas. “Part of our tradition.”

The cigars are all handmade, by Cuban rollers, whom she calls artists. “There’s modern machines, but it’s not a fully handmade cigar,” Cobas explains. “You can’t modernize something that’s so good.” Some of the rollers even bring their tools over from Cuba.

Even in the current economy, Cobas’ cigar business is succeeding. “People, unfortunately, they’re going through a lot, and one of the things that relaxes you is a cigar.”

Word of mouth and confidence in her product has helped Cobas grow the company. “We’re so confident in our product that a customer will come in, and we’ll offer them a cigar to smoke. Instead of selling it to them, we’ll say, ‘Here. Try this cigar, and see if you like it.’ It’s kind of risky because who knows if they’re gonna like it or not,” Cobas says. “But we’re so sure of our product that we give it to you to try before you even buy it.”

Be sure to check out Bonita’s 18th Anniversary Cigars and Bonita’s Time Warp Cigars both of which are rolled at the El Titan de Bronze Factory.