Croatian Mafia Cigars
Todd Pribanic is the founder and owner of Croatian Mafia Cigars. I was fortunate to speak with him about cigars, the story behind his brand, his heritage and upbringing, and travel.
You’ve led a life of travel and adventure. Tell us about that.
Yeah, so in 30 seconds or less…I was born in Ohio, raised in Mississippi, joined the military, and then lived in Europe while serving. I’ve lived in New Orleans, New Mexico, New York, Maine, Ohio, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Alabama, New Mexico, etc. , totaling 2 countries, 9 states, and 17 cities, and now proud to call Texas home. I've been in Texas 19 years now. I’ve been to Thailand three times, Colombia three times. Mexico City, Croatia, Istanbul, London, Paris, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, all over Europe etc. People ask, "Why do you travel to all these places?" My motto is, I go where the dollar is strong and the women are weak. That's worked pretty well for me. Of course, I am joking; I prefer strong women, but a weak currency compared to the U.S. Dollar is always a plus.
Tell us about your first premium cigar and what it meant to you.
Macanudo Portofino because it was mild and it came in an aluminum container, a tube. So you could carry it around in your pocket and not get damaged.
And who was that with? Who introduced you to the joy of a good smoke?
You know what, it would be the military when I started smoking in the Army in the early 80’s. But I don't have any recollection of sitting down with my father or grandfather or anything like that. My father smoked Camel non-filters and an occasional cigar. My grandfather smoked a pipe with cherry tobacco. My other grandfather smoked White Owls and Tampa Nuggets, and he was a cab driver. And I do remember distinctly getting into his red Ford LTD sedan and it smelling like White Owls and Tampa Nuggets and that distinctive smell.
How did you get into the cigar business?
I didn’t have this huge epiphany or lifelong desire to become a cigar manufacturer or importer, and like most things in my life, it just kind of happened. The businesses that I am involved with currently are things that I am passionate about after leaving the corporate world behind and being in Telecom/IT for 35 plus years. So I play in a weekly card game in Dallas. We were talking about our exploits during one of our card games, and one of the gentlemen who played said to me, “Hey, you ought to go to Esteli, Nicaragua.”
I went down there as a cigar consumer. I thought it would be like wine tasting in Sonoma and Napa. You taste some wine and then decide what you want to buy. Well, Esteli, Nicaragua, is a trade-free zone. You can’t buy any Cigars there.
I went to Drew Estate and took pictures outside, but I couldn’t get past security. Fortunately for me, the guy who recommended that I go down there was friends with a gentleman named Akhil, who worked with the Regius Brand. He brought me to Tabacalera Pichardo, where I met Eradio Pichardo Perez and this is how it all began.
As a consumer, I walked out of there with 300 cigars. I brought them back to the United States and started smoking them and giving them away to family members and friends. They all loved them and wanted to know where they came from. What were the blends? What’s the wrapper? What’s the binder? I liked them too.
I’m an entrepreneurial guy and run several other businesses, so I started formulating ideas.
I went down [to see Eradio], spent hours in his office smoking various blends, drinking coffee, and eating cookies, and finally, we agreed on some blends. I came back with five different blends and sizes that would be appealing to a both a beginner and aficionados alike. I brought those back — no bands, no boxes. I started selling them and giving out samples.
And your name…
I came up with a name — Croatian Mafia Cigars — a nickname given to my family based on my Croatian heritage and from a friend and fellow Fantasy Football/Baseball member, James “Monty” Wynn. Then I took it a step further and involved the Italian Mafia. I made every blend a different level of the Mafia.
I thought of a tagline, “Croatian Mafia Cigars: For the gangster in you.” My thought process was: “Everybody has a little gangster in them when needed” and there is a certain mystique tied to the Mafia and Cigars and I wanted to tap into that.
I'm assuming there's some form of organized crime in Croatia. Have you been successful enough that they've contacted you and said, "Hey, we were the mafia first?" "
No, no, they have not. But yes, there is a Croatian mafia. There is a mafia in every country, right, or a cartel.
But if you look up the term mafia, it's also associated with a lot of different other things. It really just means a group of people that get together and function and operate as a tight-knit group, or cliques, networks, or elite circles. And they have hierarchies and are orginized. There's the Bills mafia that follows the Buffalo Bills. There's the Velvet Mafia, which is the Gay Mafia. I don't know if you're aware of them…, ha, ha..
Uh…No…
Yeah. So although it can be associated with the Italian mob, there are other uses of the term, and it has been challenging. When I was setting up my first credit card processing account, they said there's a red flag. And they said, I said, "What's the problem?" They said, "Well, you got mafia in your name." I said, "Well, if I were in the mafia, I wouldn't be advertising now, would I?" And I said, "Look at all the rap artists and the rap companies, Death Row Records and all that. They're not killing anybody; they just have it in their name. It's part of their branding." So anyway, it was challenging sometimes, and I've been through four or five different credit card processing companies, either due to tobacco; even a T-shirt company refused to do business with me. Not because of the name, but because I was selling tobacco.
Back to cigars…
Now I'm bringing in thousands of cigars. Croatian Mafia Cigarsas are in 30 plus shops across the country, and expanding into markets weekly. I've been on podcasts, TV shows, and radio morning shows. I'm on another podcast next week, and I'm in New York, I'm in Chicago, I'm in Fredericksburg, I'm in Houston, I'm in Dallas, & the Mississippi, Alabama, Florida Gulf Coasts. I have a huge presence where I grew up and where I have ties with both friends and family on the Gulf Coast in shops, Lounges and Bars and restaurants. I've got an ambassador program. I've got an independent broker program. I've got independent brokers throughout the United States.
Your uncle actually worked for Al Capone. Can you elaborate on that?
Yeah, a great, great uncle. So on the Croatian side. By the way, I'm Hungarian on my mom's side. I always tell my mom I share that because I don't want to be so partial on my dad's side. And just remember the Croatian side. My grandfather on the Hungarian side is the one who actually smoked cigars. But my family on the Croatian side came in through McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Some of them went to Elyria, Ohio, outside of Cleveland, and then some went up to Minneapolis, and some stayed in the McKeesport area. Well, one of my great uncles who actually went up to Minnesota ended up working at, he had a bar that was a mafia hangout in Chicago, and he had ties to the Capones. So that's the affiliation there. Other than that, we've operated in some gray areas in regards to gambling, but we haven't “whacked” anybody.
You get one choice, and I'm going to preface this by saying you can count the Godfather Trilogy as one movie: best Mafia movie?
You know what? I like A Bronx Tale, but I also like Goodfellas, Scarface, True Romance, and Casino. I like those as well. I don't have one favorite. I think there are so many good ones, just like women and what you prefer. People ask me that all the time. You have a favorite, this favorite that? I do not. Why limit yourself, right?
I'm going to close out with something a little different here. You were from Ohio, but you've lived in Texas for 19 years. So we're going to do Ohio or Texas. Who's got better food?
Oh, Texas. And by the way, I was raised in Mississippi, so I moved to Mississippi when I was seven. So I grew up there, and my formidable years were spent there. So I would say Mississippi has better food than all of it because you have that New Orleans spillover with jambalaya,crawfish,gumbo, and seafood. So I would say Mississippi.
Well, I'll give you that. All right, better weather?
Texas. So you still have four seasons here. It doesn't get too cold. It can get hot, but the humidity is not as bad as in some areas where I've lived. And if it snows-
Two of those seasons in Texas last about two weeks each.
That’s right.
Visit Croatian Mafia Cigars HERE
This piece first appeared in the Fredericksburg Standard.
Like what you see? Want to keep the adventure going? Fire a PayPal or Venmo in my direction & you may get a shout out! Hot Tip: Include blog idea in the description…
