While Roberto Duran is not a household name in the U.S. cigar market, he is no stranger to the tobacco business. He began his career in Havana, Cuba, working as a production supervisor before taking a position with Pacific Cigar Company, the large Asian Habanos S.A. distributor. Last year, Duran introduced the Azan brand, which includes the Burgundy, Premium White and Maduro Natural lines, at the 2013 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show. At this year’s show, Duran showed off a new eponymous line, Roberto P. Duran. It incorporates a Ecuadorian Habana criollo wrapper, a binder that comes from Nicaragua and filler tobacco from Nicaraguan tobacco as well as leaves from an undisclosed country. The new line pays homage to his family and his family’s city of origin in Cuba. “The Duran last name is from my mother’s side, it was my grandfather on my maternal side which introduced me to the joys of tobacco,” Duran said in a press release. He added that his grandfather lived to be 99-years-old and smoked on average about eight cigars a day. “I owe my livelihood to him. I wish to honor his memory with a cigar which bares his last name and honor the city ...
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