Cigarkings Sun Grown

The story of CigarKings cigars began while company founder and owner Philipp Kugler was still a student. At the age of 17, he created a cigar label as part of a communications design project. Interestingly, up to that point, he had had no connection whatsoever with the cigar business. “There were no cigar smokers in my family or among my friends,” Kugler emphasizes. It was only after this project that he discovered the pleasure of smoking cigars himself – well, legally speaking, he wouldn’t have been allowed to smoke before then anyway! ;-)

From Diploma Thesis to CigarKings GmbH

The project eventually became his diploma thesis, which in turn developed into a business idea: in 2016, he founded CigarKings GmbH. He began visiting retailers and attending events to establish a presence in the market. In addition, cigar evenings and events were regularly held on Friday nights in his own lounge in his hometown of Munich. Since the “upgrade” relaunch at the end of 2018, Philipp has had his cigars produced in a small, undisclosed factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. Under the direction of Cuban exiles, 16 cigar rollers work there. A key factor in Philipp’s decision to produce there was the fact that the cigars are made using an old, traditional method known as the Entubado technique. This rolling style involves up to eight separate channels of filler tobacco, each forming its own smoke channel. The result is a compact, slow-burning cigar that allows the aromas of the tobaccos used to develop particularly well while still providing a perfect draw.

Nicaraguan Tobaccos and Vitolas in the CigarKings Portfolio

He has since put together an entirely new portfolio, which he imports directly from Nicaragua himself. The five different vitolas are each available with two different wrapper options. The wrappers come from Ecuador, the binder remains a secret, and the filler blend is 100% Nicaraguan. In October 2019, two small Coronitas were added to further round out the range in terms of formats.