Alex (house roller) Hotel Comodoro Cigar Shop (Havana) Nov.2015

                      Once again I was in Cuba and while there I frequently visited my local cigar shop. That cigar shop happens to be the one in the Hotel Comodoro with Alex being the house roller. He's been here about two years now, he took over after the well known (and friend) Crisantos retired. Since that time he's earned himself quite the reputation. I used to sit in the shop for hours and hardly see a soul come in to buy cigars, except maybe the hotel guests. On this trip I had a couple of opportunities to hang out for a while and it was like a revolving door of people coming in to buy cigars and many of them coming in to see Alex. Someone at the Partagas Encuentro blurted out that he was the best roller in city and to that Alex replied something humbling. He's rather embarrassed of all this attention is what he's told me, not wanting to put himself above rollers who have been in the industry longer than he's been on the planet. "I try to do the best job that I can" is what Alex says, "There are many better rollers in the city." He may not be the best, not even close if you take into consideration the dozens of exceptional rollers in the numerous factories in and around Havana but he's very young and has many years ahead of him. In my opinion, if he continues to grow from the position he's been given, there's no reason he can't become one of the elite few. Below are a few pictures from a couple of my visits.