Flatbed Cigar Company, Bucks County Pennsylvania

Did you know Pennsylvania once produced more cigars than Cuba?

Flatbed Cigar Company was born out of love for great cigars. That was our entire business plan.

The idea was, if we have the best tobacco, the best rollers, make a bunch of blends, have lots of friends and colleagues sample the smokes...we should be able to find a profile or two to get behind. So, that is what we did. Those are the two blends we have available today; PANACEA Black - Natural and Maduro. (PANACEA Red...coming Q1, 2009)

 At Flatbed Cigar Company (owner/distributor of PANACEA) we are taking an Old-School approach to the cigar business. Right or wrong, it is the path we decided to take. The philosophy is: put all the money into tobacco. If we focus on making great cigars, they will sell themselves over time.

You’ll see our packaging is very basic (all cigar packaging once was), but it does its intended job, keeping the cigars fresh and safe. We do not manipulate the leaf in any way. No heating, cooling, steaming, coloring, flavoring, massaging, etc. What you see is what we started with. You may even see slight shading variances in the same box. That is OK. How the cigar tastes is really what is most important. In this age of cosmetic selling, we do have an uphill climb, but want to stay true to our convictions.

Flatbed Cigar Company was founded two years ago. Our first cigar; PANACEA Black, was introduced to smoke shops in the Mid Atlantic, and North East in October of 2007. Selling from the trunk of my car, I enjoyed the company of hundreds of cigar enthusiasts, shop owners and patrons alike as I made my way from The District of Columbia to Maine.  PANACEA is now in 42 stores and growing steadily. Most of our concentration remains in the North East, but we are in stores as far reaching as Wisconsin, and Louisiana.

Based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, we enjoy great tobacco tradition, dating back to 1765. Red Lion, PA (aka: Cigar Town, USA) at one time was producing 400 million hand rolled cigars a year. In addition to dozens of factories, many houses in town had rolling tables, where women made extra money rolling while their husbands were at work. The name “Stogie” was coined in Conestoga, PA where inexpensive cigars were made for the drivers of the Conestoga wagons. Traveling from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, the Conestoga wagon drivers were envious of the fine cigars enjoyed by their affluent passengers. A cigar then, as it is today, was a luxury. Wagon drivers simply did not earn the wage necessary to indulge with any kind of frequency. So manufacturers in Conestoga, PA began making cigars in addition to their well know wagons, and pricing them for the drivers.

Although we are based here, our factory is in the Dominican Republic. With more than 60 years of combined experience the art of aging, blending, and rolling continues in our modest factory. Who knows maybe a US/Dominican blend one day? (Actually you can bet on it). That is something I want to do down the road.

Flatbed Cigar Company now has three Independent Sales Agencies representing PANACEA, and we are actively looking for additional Sales coverage on the West Coast, South West, and South East. Give us a call if you would like to join the team! We are a small company making really good cigars. Who knows, if all goes according to plan, we will grow to a bigger company and still make really good cigars.

We hope you will enjoy smoking our Cigars as much as we have enjoyed making them.

Mellow On Ahead...