Mount Pleasant Magazine 6.3

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Photos courtesy of Cigar Row.
blockbuster sales. Nonetheless, they’re an integral part of
the story about how a guy who set out in life with no real
career path in mind became a force to be reckoned with in
the special world of cigar culture.
A northerner by birth, Brown found his way to the
Lowcountry by enrolling at the College of Charleston. He
fell in love with the city and the region, though he never
finished his degree. A lifelong top tier tennis player, he felt
he had to take a shot at the pro tour.
Just getting on that tour was accomplishment enough
in itself, but, after two years of constant travel and play
alongside the biggest names in the sport, he decided that
touring wasn’t a good fit for him.
The superstars, he recalled, traveled with their entou-
rages of friends, family and road staff. Essentially, they
took their home lives along with them from stop to stop
around the world. Aspiring talents such as Brown couldn’t
afford that luxury, and life on the road was often a lonely
and isolated existence.
When he quit the tour, Brown returned to Charleston
with no idea what he might do next. Answering a classi-
fied ad, he took a job at a West Ashley cigar store, mainly
because the ad stated “no experience required.” And that’s
where he found his calling.
The more he learned about cigars, their history and
their unique culture, the more passionate he became
about them. He loved the experience of working at a re-
tail store where many of the same customers came in day
after day to enjoy a smoke and the camaraderie of their
fellow cigar buffs.
Nonetheless, he felt that staying at the store limited
his horizons.
“It was a little West Ashley community,” Brown said.
“No one from as far away as Mount Pleasant was ever go-
ing to come there. Period.”
Brown went into business with a friend, and his love
affair with cigars continued to blossom. He eventually
bought the entire company and began distributing cigars
himself. Many of his customers were major resorts, which
he serviced with the same cigars anyone could buy at a
good local store. He soon became aware of a secondary
market for his line, the special events – weddings, anniver-
saries, bachelor and bachelorette parties and more – held
year-round at these resorts.
One way to tap into these special events was to offer
a customized service, an expert putting on a show rolling
cigars on the spot for partygoers. Brown at first resisted,
considering this “a novelty act.” But before long, he
learned how to hand-roll cigars himself and began taking
advantage of these lucrative events.
Brown began fielding questions from party guests
about where they could buy his excellent cigars. He had
to inform them that they couldn’t. He didn’t have any
manufacturing capacity beyond the two hands he used to
roll the cigars at their events.
It didn’t take long for Brown to recognize this new mar-
ket. His small company had already built a reputation by
showing up at events – plenty of other rollers weren’t that
reliable – and providing both a good show and a great end