Bond Roberts Adds Non-Cuban Cigar Auctions

Bond Roberts, a multifaceted cigar partnership, has announced that it is expanding its auction business to allow users to list non-Cuban cigars for sale.

Previously, the auction platform has only accepted Cuban cigar submissions since it launched in 2020. Bond Roberts is a peer-to-peer auction platform, similar to eBay. Users take pictures of the cigars, which are verified by Bond Roberts, and then other users bid on the listing. The company charges a 15 percent buyer’s fee. The platform also encourages retailers to post listings.

Bond Roberts was founded by the owners of J.J. Fox, the Dublin, Ireland-based retailer, and Friends of Habanos, an online forum and store based in Australia. It also has a cigar brand by the same name, which is made under the supervision of Hamlet Paredes.

Of the roughly 30 current non-Cuban listings, cigars from Arturo Fuente, Davidoff and Selected Tobacco S.A. are listed.

“Until now, our auction platform has concentrated on Cuban cigars,” said Rob Ayala, co-founder, in a press release. “The New World market has developed into one of the most innovative and important parts of the premium cigar industry, with an increasingly knowledgeable and passionate collector base. For some time, our members have been asking us to bring New World cigars onto the platform. This expansion is a natural progression for Bond Roberts and one we believe will be particularly significant for collectors and sellers in the United States.”

The company says it has brought on John McTavish to oversee its new world cigar division. McTavish is a longtime cigar media personality who currently writes for Developing Palates.

“Collectors are now actively searching for limited releases, discontinued lines, aged boxes and cigars from significant periods in a brand’s development,” said McTavish in a press release. “Many of these cigars are becoming increasingly difficult to locate through conventional retail channels. Bond Roberts provides an established global auction platform through which these cigars can be properly presented, discovered and traded. I am delighted to be overseeing the division and helping build it alongside the collector community.”

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. Previously, I started TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors blogs of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry since 2010, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. Beyond writing, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff from weighing cigars to coordinating the tech. Outside of work, I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.