Cuban Cigar Family Business Booms With Latest Generation

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Marcos Diaz, 41, got out from underneath Fidel Castro's thumb in 2006, and is now a multiple-business owner in Pinellas County whose cigar lounge and bar in St. Pete will soon celebrate its grand opening.

Creating good Cuban cigars runs deep in Diaz's blood. The Diaz family started growing tobacco in Sague la Grande, Cuba, in the 1800s and prospered until a nationalist uprising in Cuba against Spanish rule began in the 1860s.

Fast-forward to the 1970s, and Cuba was firmly under Fidel Castro's communist control. Things weren't easy for Diaz or his family as cigar factory workers did not make a lot of money, and they couldn't own businesses because the government wouldn't allow it, Diaz said.

"Everyone inside my house was rolling cigars when I was born," he said. "The only ones not rolling was me, because I was a baby, and my uncle, who was 7 years old at the time. In the morning, they'd all wake up and go to the cigar factory and roll all day."

As the younger Diaz watched his family work hard, and was naturally drawn to the cigar industry, his family would tell him, "You are not going to be one of us, you are going to have a better future. You are very talented, and very smart."

When he was about 12, Diaz experimented rolling cigars on the family's kitchen table. He said he rolled his first professional cigar at 21.

When Diaz left high school, he gained entry to a university, which is free in Cuba. Except, he didn't like college. "It wasn't for me," he said. "I was there for three years and 21 days before I left. There was no future for me under Castro."

In June 2006, he traveled to the Tampa Bay area with barely any money, and never looked back. He got a job working at an air-conditioning company and worked 18-hour days. He said he didn't do much for leisure then because he was saving for his future cigar business. Eventually, he got a job rolling cigars at a place in Ybor City.

His grandfather flew to the U.S. to help Diaz roll cigars. The 28-year-old entrepreneur had saved $8,000 for tobacco, and created his own blends at his house. Luck would continue to be in his favor. Diaz imports tobacco for his premium hand-made cigars from Nicaragua, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.

Prices for his handmade cigars range from $7 to the most expensive, Gurkha Dragon, $59.50.

Ryan Adams, 33, a Cigar Paradise manager, said the cigar industry is one of the few industries that has boomed during the pandemic. "It's actually been in a boom for the past 10 years, but with so many people who had to stay home and were used to going to cigar bars couldn't do that any longer," he said. "People tried to create the cigar bar atmosphere at their house, so they bought plenty of cigars to enjoy at home. This brought more of an incline to the boom."

His reputation for rolling quality cigars got around Pinellas County, and he was offered a great deal on a space in St. John's Pass opening his first Cigar Paradise, 12933- A Village Blvd. in St. Petersburg, in 2008.

He also moved to St. Petersburg in 2008.

In November 2020, he expanded his business by opening Cigar Paradise Royal Lounge, 400 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg, in the former Chihuly Museum space. It has outdoor seating, and the indoor seating has plenty of seats at the bar, lounge and table-tops.

More than 100 cigar brands are available in the lounge's cigar premium section. Fresh cigars that have tobacco blends Diaz created are rolled inside the venue every day by Nina Perez. Diaz's New Generation blend creation has a creamy and smooth profile. The Cuban Paradise cigar has a creamy, cocoa, caramel taste with a stronger profile than the New Generation. His third creation is the Cigar Paradise that has a creamy, caramel, peppery profile with a medium strength.

From anywhere inside the venue, customers can enjoy a cigar, beverage, conversations and watch a Tampa Bay Rays' game or any sports' game on one of the four flat-screen TVs. Their cigar staff is very knowledgeable about the location's blends.

A smoked old-fashioned is their signature drink. It is made as an old-fashioned, but what makes it special, the drink is placed inside a small wooden box that is connected to a mini-smoke machine that has tobacco in it, and moves the cigar smoke into a box. The residual from the smoke gives the drink added flavor.

Cigar Paradise's grand opening is scheduled for Monday, May 31, with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 5 p .m. In honor of Memorial Day, they are giving 20 percent of the day's proceeds to the Gulfport Veterans of Foreign Wars. At noon, the American flag will be raised in the front of the entrance at half-mast in honor of men and women who have died while serving in the U.S. military. More grand opening celebrations include cigar and wine pairings, and tastings of Woodford Reserve from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Cigar Paradise Royal Lounge, 400 Beach Dr. NE, Suite 142, St. Petersburg, is open every day from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. For more information about Cigar Paradise Royal Lounge, visit its Facebook Page.

The process of making a smoked old-fashioned can be viewed here: (Video by Skyla Luckey)