Michael Cincunegui, owner of Long Ash Cigars, comes from a long line of cigar makers and aficionados. Michael, born a fourth generation Tampa native and fifth generation Floridian, has inherited a long history of blending his Tampa background with Ybor City’s rich heritage of fine cigars. Tampa, after all, is known as “Cigar City.”
In the late 1800s, Michael’s great great grandparents migrated from Cuba and Spain to Key West, Florida to work in the cigar factories. When the factories were destroyed by a series of hurricanes, fires, and labor strikes,the famous cigar industry magnet, Vicente Martinez Ybor, decided to relocate his cigar factories to Ybor City, Florida, where Vicente felt the region was less susceptible to hurricanes.
Michael’s great grandparents, Manuel and Aurora Cermeno, and Manuel and Josephina Fabregas Gonzalez, all worked in Tampa’s historic cigar factories.
In the 1940s, Michael’s great grandfather, Manuel Cermeno, opened up a buckeye on 7th Avenue in Ybor City, called Chinchal Habanero. That buckeye cigar shop employed seven cigar makers and a sales clerk, and provided income to Manuel Cermeno’s family. Chinchal Habanero was in business about seven years, when it closed due to the demise of cigars in general, and the boom in cigarette popularity in the 1950s Cigars are now popular again, having their own magazines like “Cigar Aficionado.”
Michael is assisted by his mother, Sandra Cincunegui. Both Michael and Sandra have plenty of experience in the cigar industry, having worked at cigar shops for a number of years. Sandra also worked as a greeter in Ybor City, going from shop to shop and restaurant to restaurant, as a goodwill ambassador for Ybor City’s Chamber of Commerce.
Long Ash Cigars specializes in premium handmade cigars aimed at appealing to a variety of tastes. Our cigars are locally handmade, and each one is a work of art in and of itself. Long Ash Cigars welcomes you to Ybor City, the heart of Cigar City, and invites you to try our exquisite lines of cigars and to visit our walk-in humidor to enjoy the rich aromas.
The Shop
Michael Cincunegui, owner of Long Ash Cigars, comes from a long line of cigar makers and aficionados. Michael, born a fourth generation Tampa native and fifth generation Floridian, has inherited a long history of blending his Tampa background with Ybor City’s rich heritage of fine cigars. Tampa, after all, is known as “Cigar City.”
Long Ash Cigars are rolled by hand right here in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida. Our cigars are only made with grade A long filler tobacco. We have a wide variety of cigars from Mild to Full Body. Be sure to come by and watch one of our master cigar rollers create one of these pieces of art right in front of you.
