Building a Legacy, One Cigar at a Time
You didn’t come here looking for another cigar to add to the humidor and forget. You came looking for one worth remembering, one with a story behind the wrapper and a reason behind the blend. That’s the cigar we set out to build.
Exile Cigars was born of a dream that began generations before the first leaf was ever rolled. Ours is not a story that starts in a factory. It starts in Santiago de Cuba, with a patriarch, a family and a dream interrupted.
A Dream in Exile
A lesser dream would have ended there. Ours didn’t.
Jose Rafael Martinez spent his life building a legacy in the shoe industry, opening store after store across Santiago de Cuba. Communism crushed that dream, and in 1969, Jose left Cuba behind and began the rest of his life in exile. His son, Alexander, and his grandson, Alexander Jose (A.J.), carried the dream forward. The industry changed from shoes to cigars, but the purpose never did: to build something worthy of the next generation and to hand it down with pride. Every cigar we roll traces back to that lineage. Alaska, Versalles and La Dalia are each named in honor of the shoe stores Jose opened, three tributes to a patriarch whose dream simply changed shape.
Crafted, Not Manufactured
Rolled With Intention, Blended With Purpose
Every Exile cigar is rolled at the La Union Factory in the Dominican Republic, where oily Ecuadorian Habano, silky Ecuadorian Connecticut and dark, toothy Mexican San Andres wrappers are matched with hand-selected binders and fillers to bring out something worth savoring.
Medium-bodied. Layered. Enveloped in nuance from the first draw to the last inch of ash. We are proud to bring you our cigars, born out of love, for your enjoyment.
Where the Legacy Continues
Every box we release carries the weight of three generations and the promise of the next. This is more than tobacco rolled into a wrapper. It’s a legacy, still being built, one cigar at a time.
For the New Smoker and the Seasoned Aficionado Alike
Whether you’re setting out to understand what a great cigar actually offers or you’ve spent years chasing hints of white pepper on the retrohale and know exactly what you’re after, there’s a place for you here. We built Exile for the discerning smoker, whatever stage they’re on. No pretense required. Just a genuine appreciation for the craft.
Frequently Asked Questions
Exile isn’t a mass-produced label. Every blend carries a piece of the Martinez family history, from the patriarch’s original dream in Santiago de Cuba to the wrappers, binders, and fillers hand-selected for each core-line cigar today. Craft and lineage are built into every roll.
Every Exile cigar is rolled at the La Union Factory in the Dominican Republic, using a combination of Ecuadorian, Indonesian, and Dominican tobaccos depending on the blend.
You don’t need years of experience to enjoy an Exile cigar. Send us a note through our Contact page and we’ll walk you through strength, wrapper type, and flavor profile so your first cigar feels like a discovery, not a guess.
Our core line spans a range of medium-bodied profiles, from creamy and nutty with a subtle hint of white pepper, to full-flavored with notes of dark chocolate, leather, and earth. Each blend is distinct, but every one is built to reward a slow smoke.
Visit our Where to Buy page for a current list of shops that carry Exile Cigars, or contact us directly and we’ll help point you toward one near you.