The Gatekeeper brand is a limited edition product of second-generation cigar makers Alec Rubin and Bradley Rubin. It is the second release from the now adult sons of Alan Rubin from their father’s company which also bears the same name. 

The Gatekeeper is the collaborative effort of the Rubin brothers and respected cigar making veteran Ernesto Perez-Carrillo. The brand was born in 2019 in Ernesto’s factory, Tabacalera La Alianza S.A located in Dominican Republic  but production was relocated to the Plasencia’s Tabacos de Oriente factory, located in Honduras in 2021.

The Gatekeeper Brand

The brand currently has four vitolas in its brand line, that is:

• Corona -  5 1/8” x 42 ring gauge

• Robusto - 5” x 50 ring gauge

• Toro - 6” x 52 ring gauge

• Gordo - 6” x 60 ring gauge

Each cigar is enfolded in an Ecuador Habano wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder, and filler tobacco from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. The cigars have two bands, with the exterior and most visible band depicting a golden hand holding the head of Medusa. The smaller, interior band is engraved with the word ‘Gatekeeper’ in golden lettering. It sits completely hidden beneath the larger one.  

Flavor

The Gatekeeper is a blend featuring flavor highlights of pepper, leather, earthy notes, cedar, and nuts. Undertones of spices such as cinnamon and candy, caramel and nougat sit comfortably beneath the surface. Given the flavor profile, expect a balance of sweet and savory when you light up any of the Gatekeeper brand line cigars.

About Alec Bradley

The Alec Bradley Cigars Company was founded by Alan Rubin in 1996. Armed with money from the sale of his father’s nuts and bolts company, the All Points Screw Company, Alan decided to follow in his father’s entrepreneurial footsteps but try a different industry. While looking for a name, he remembered his father’s advice that a great company name should start with the first letter in the alphabet so as to appear at the beginning of the phone book. He therefore named his company Alec Bradley after his two sons and embarked on a mission to give smokers an unforgettable experience and “make cigars that people can enjoy”. Over 25 years later, the company boasts over 30 brands, some of which feature among the most highly rated non-cuban cigar brands in the industry.  

About the blenders Alec and Bradley

Alec and Bradley Rubin grew up immersed in the cigar industry. From a young age, they would work in their father’s company during summer vacations and by the time they came of age, they had both worked in various departments.  The brothers blended their first cigar in 2018 when Alec was 26 and Bradley was 22 years old. They called it Blind Faith and its successful debut paved the way for the launch of the Gatekeeper and Kintsugi brands.