dark-brown Ecuadorian wrapper. The Calle Ocho line, named for Little Havana's main street, where the Caribbean Factory is located, came online in February. These cigars feature tobacco from Santo Domingo, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua, in a light Ecuadorian wrapper. Even with a new company, the key to success is achieving consistency of the tobacco blends. "All of my decisions about tobacco are based on longevity," Doyle says. "It has to be tobacco that will be there in a year or two or three." Doyle, a Maryland native, previously operated several Italian restaurants along Memphis's famous Beal Street. In 1988, a friend talked him into taking a qualifying test for training as an air traffic controller. He entered air traffic school with the intention of relocating to Miami, where he'd spent vacation time. "I belong in Miami. I've always thought that," Doyle says. "When the FAA asked me to name three cities I wanted to work in, I put down Miami, Miami, and Miami." While working at Miami International Airport, he began buying cigars at retail and reselling them from the trunk of his car. Doyle opened Caribbean's Key Largo store

in November 1994 without the thought that it would be a success. "It never was supposed to make money," Doyle says. Mostly he thought it would allow him to buy cigars wholesale so that he could expand his FAA trade. s a customer draw, he hired a roller to sit in a corner of the store and make cigars. "I originally wanted to hire a guy to come in on weekends to show how cigars are made," Doyle says. Santiago Cabana, the Cuban roller Doyle hired, saw greater potential. "He came to us and wanted to roll cigars full-time if we'd buy them. They were for tourists to take home." When the tourists headed home, they were walking advertisements for Caribbean's cigar. Before long, Doyle started getting calls from tobacco store owners who wanted to stock them. "They didn't have a band or even a name," recalls Doyle. "Before I knew it, we had 50 accounts. We actually were having to hold some of our cigars back for our own store." The cigar, by then named Santiago Cabana after the roller, came to the attention of Nestor and Mariana Miranda, of Miami Cigar Company, which distributes the Don Lino and Don Thomas brands, among others. "I'm not sure how they ended up in the store. I think they were looking for a locally made cigar to distribute to compete with La Gloria Cubana," Doyle said.

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