A Premium Cigar, a Texas Entrepreneur, and a Walkabout
Three years ago while on walkabout in Honduras, Texas entrepreneur Michael Makens discovers the best cigar he had ever smoked. After many years of hard work and dedication he has founded Flor De Jardin. Now people throughout the world can experience that same beautiful, premium cigar.
Bedford, TX (PRWEB) February 23, 2005 -- walkabout, n., Australian term
meaning a short period of wandering as an occasional interruption to regular
work.
Texas entrepreneur Michael Makens became familiar with the term
walkabout while attending University in Australia. With the ability to speak 4
languages, including Chinese and Spanish, he took the term to heart and has
traveled or lived in over 30 different countries. Every three to six months he
is off to a new place. When asked why he is constantly on walkabout he
commented, “Sometimes you just need to stop your daily routine and see what else
the world has to offer; you never know what you’re going to find.” This theory
has never proven truer than during a trip to Honduras three years ago when
Makens discovered one of life’s great pleasures: a hand rolled Honduran cigar.
Makens says that in traveling to Honduras, “all I wanted to do was find some
nice cigars to bring home for my friends as gifts.” As he smoked the finest
cigar he had ever enjoyed, he realized that he had found much more. Now, after
years of tireless work, he has founded Flor De Jardin and is fulfilling his
dream of bringing premium quality cigars back home.
When Makens first
arrived in Honduras, he was surprised to discover that here, in the heart of the
cigar world, not only were the factories and cigar producers off limits to
visitors, but that there were no cigars for sale anywhere in the town.
Discouraged by his less than cordial reception, he was nearly ready to move on
when a taxi driver said that he could take Makens to the best cigars around. The
taxi driver drove him out of the town and stopped at an old, run-down factory
from which an elderly Cuban man emerged. He introduced himself and after several
hours of discussion he finally warmed to Makens and invited him inside.
Eventually Makens was allowed to sample a cigar and immediately fell in love
with it. “Everything about that first experience was amazing. It was and still
is the best cigar I have ever smoked.”
Armed with two bundles of cigars
and promises to keep in touch, Makens returned to Texas with a new future in
mind. He was determined to make sure people back home could experience the same
cigar that he fell in love with.
It has taken three years for Makens to
found Flor De Jardin. “Many things went into starting this company,” he says,
“including permits, production, and most importantly trust from my friends in
Honduras.” Today he is striving to introduce his cigar to the world, with
quality as his top priority. From the construction of the cigar to the
construction of the boxes, Makens vows to maintain excellence. “I will only
produce as many cigars as I can and still guarantee the quality. I don’t want to
be a huge name producing 20 million sticks a year; I can’t maintain quality with
those numbers.”
To learn more about Flor De
Jardin go to (www.flordejardin.com).
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb211048.htm