About Conch Republic Cigar Factory®

Our History

In 1990, an immigrant cigar maker decided to start his own business, and moved to Key West to connect with our island’s rich cigar history. Located at the western end of the Florida Keys, Key West was once home to thousands of Cuban cigar rollers.

Key West’s cigar makers have been using the finest blends of tobacco to create the world’s finest cigars for more than a century. After Cuba itself, no place has a history more entwined with cigars than Key West.

To avoid any confusion with an existing “cigar factory” using the Key West name, Elie decided to adopt the identity of Key West’s alter ego, naming the business “The Conch Republic Cigar Factory®”.

Our namesake, the “ Conch Republic” was born in 1982, as a result of a callous disregard of the rights of the US citizens residing in the Florida Keys, by the Federal government. A task force of Border Patrol, DEA, and Customs agents established a road block on US Route One between the Florida Keys and Florida City on the mainland. The agents stopped cars, checked identifications, and required a number of citizens to submit to searches of their vehicles and persons. When the city commission of Key West, and the county commission of the Florida Keys ( Monroe County) objected to this action, reminding the Federal government that we were part of the United States, the government ignored their objections and continued violating the rights of American citizens.

Borrowing from the script of the movie “The Mouse That Roared”, Key West and the Florida Keys passed resolutions seceding from the United States, and declaring the Florida Keys to be henceforth known as “The Conch Republic”. The Conch Republic promptly declared war on the United States: then immediately surrendered to US forces, and demanded reparations from the US government for the costs of the war. Having found no significant amounts of drugs, or Cuban cigars, the task force was sent to harass other innocent citizens elsewhere. The Conch Republic remains to this day as the world’s first “Fifth World” nation – a State of Mind – and is celebrated each April in Key West.

For the first few years, the business was small. Elie, his wife, Marie, and a few employees worked in their single store, and a separate cigar production facility. Demand for the best handmade cigars was growing, but production was often limited by the lack of availability of small lots of cigar leaf, which met Elie’s stringent standards for quality.

In 1993, Elie made the acquaintance of a new supplier, who would solve the problems the company experienced finding adequate stocks of the best aged leaf. Filiberto Marimon, of Danli Tobacco in Miami was virtually born into the cigar and tobacco business. Born in Cuba well before the Castro Revolution, Filiberto Marimon learned the tobacco business from his father and grandfather. Danli Tobacco has more than 30 years experience growing some of the best premium cigar leaf in the world. Danli also imports the best quality Dominican and Ecuadorian tobaccos to blend with its own, and other Honduran leaf. Directly, and through his Honduran import connections, “Don Filo”, could provide virtually any tobacco variety that the Conch Republic Cigar Factory® would need.

Able at last to obtain an adequate supply of the best premium aged cigar leaf varieties for our Conch Republic Cigar® blends, the company increased production by several orders, and gradually expanded to operate three retail stores, as well as a substantial mail order and wholesaling operation by 1997. The Conch Republic Cigar® varieties were able to maintain the smooth, but complex, flavor blends that became the company’s signature, and to expand production.

By 1998, the expansion of the company’s operations prompted Elie to look for a manager to assume most of the administrative responsibilities. Through the island’s informal news service, the world-renowned “Coconut Telegraph”, Rodger Ellis was referred to Elie to interview for the job.

After two years of managing the company, Rodger and his wife Margo negotiated a purchase arrangement with Elie and became owners of the company in July of 2000. Though it had taken more than a decade of hard work, they were able to realize their dream of having their own business in Key West’s thriving tourist market.

The company has overcome both financial (the crash of the tourism market following the 9/11 attacks) and physical (back-to-back hurricane seasons with multiple mandatory evacuations) challenges to survive and continue to thrive in Key West. We attribute this primarily to the continued commitment of our company to produce the finest quality products, and to backing that commitment with a “100 Per Cent Satisfaction Guarantee” for our cigars.