If you’ve been in a humidor or read pretty much any cigar publication in recent years, you’re undoubtedly familiar with La Palina, the brand owned by Bill Paley. If you’re familiar with La Palina beyond by name, you might very well know that this current incarnation of La Palina is the second go-round for the company, with its history dating back to 1896 and Sam Paley, an immigrant from the Ukraine who began working in a cigar factory in Chicago, first as a lector and then as a roller and blender. After several years and with a burgeoning interest in cigars, Paley opened a cigar shop and factory in 1896, the Congress Cigar Co. The first and most prominent cigar to come out of that factory was La Palina, a cigar made with Cuban filler and American wrapper. In 1910 the company moved to Philadelphia, with Sam’s son William S. Paley joining the operation. But the younger Paley was more intrigued with radio than cigars, and eventually purchased five radio stations that would become the foundation of the Columbia Broadcasting System, or what we know today as CBS. After Sam retired in 1926, Congress Cigar Co. was liquidated and La Palina appeared ...
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