Tony Santana Cigar Rolling Company

He was very nice prepared,organized and on time..he was a great hit with the men and the ladies. He was great touch to the wedding was impressed with his work.will use Tony again.

Tony recently rolled cigars at my daughter's wedding at the beautiful Ashford Estate. Everyone was so impressed....no one had seen this before....He made the day more special and gave me a chance to share a quiet moment or two with over a cigar with my new son-in-law and his groomsmen. The cigars were perfect....Tony is a real class act....he will make your event more significant.

Where do I begin? I talked to Tony in May 2011 for my wedding in September 2011. When I called him a week before to make sure everything was in order, he didn't even have me down in his calendar, a red flag that I regretfully ignored. I was adamant about having the rollers during the dessert hour. He only had the cocktail hour available and he convinced me it was the best time to have it. He even promised that he would show up personally to roll the cigars and give the presentation. On the wedding day, two women showed up with pre-rolled cigars and sat there. There was no bride/groom 'gift', no presentation, no nothing. I was fuming. I called him the next day, he made excuses as to why it was a bust, and promised to send me a 'surprise gift' to make it up to us.
After 3 months of no gift or refund, I finally got in touch with him. He told me what the gift was and why it was taking so long - he SAID it was an autographed Al Pacino Playbill, framed etc, which he only reserves for charities and special occasions. I figured, 'ok, he's really going to try to make this right'. Fast forward 6 more months of phone calls, messages, excuses. I finally threatened to bring him to small claims court last week. So today, 6/27/12, he sends me the poorest quality photo copy of a signed Al Pacino Playbill and tires to pass it off as authentic with a $750 value! He lied to me repeatedly, insulted my wife and I, ripped us off, almost ruined my wedding (I was so angry it was distracting, took me out of it until I realized the day was about my wife and family and I couldn’t let this disappointment affect everything else that went great). I just have to say, BUYER BEWARE! I have emails and text messages to prove this if anyone needs it. He actually had the nerve to text me to me stop contacting him when I called him out on the fraudulent Pacino autograph or Id get served for harassment. Is this guy kidding me? My advice is that there's plenty of others out there that I've heard are great, no need to risk the hassle with this guy if anything goes wrong. Dishonesty and lack of honor are things I have 0 tolerance for.

Cigars were great, but don't count on them to be there on time. Not only were they an hour late, but they did not provide the promised personalized cigars or dipping services. Our day was almost perfect, but Tony S. definitely put a damper on it. My best man called Tony directly on his cell phone when 2 girls showed up with pre-rolled cigars and there was no one there to roll them. Tony was not only unprofessional but actually laughed at him on the phone. Good cigars but terrible business people.

I can’t say that I saw or was even present for the presentation. (as the bride I had too much going on around me). What I can say is: I contacted about 10 cigar vendors around NJ and Tony Santana was by far the most reasonability priced and the nicest. Everyone LOVED it! The men at my wedding haven’t stopped talking about it. There is even a picture of three guys in front of the roller making “wow faces” like they just struck gold. It is a really nice touch and the guys liked it so much that all of the soon-to-be married guys at my wedding took his card to hire him for their own wedding.
This is a very unique service, people love it and I highly recommend it!

(tonysantanacigarcompany.com). Details are below.

Testimonials

My experience with the Tony Santana Cigar Rolling service. I have worked with Tony several times and have always been extremely pleased with his professionalism and enthusiasm; his presentation is top notch. I highly recommend his services to anyone looking to add a special touch to any event. Nella Cicchino The Landmark

Tony recently rolled cigars at my daughter's wedding at the beautiful Ashford Estate. Everyone was so impressed....no one had seen this before....He made the day more special and gave me a chance to share a quiet moment or two with over a cigar with my new son-in-law and his groomsmen. The cigars were perfect....Tony is a real class act....he will make your event more significant.

My husband is dealing with this part but he very picky person and loved the service that he has been getting with his question and types that are offered

What a lovely addition to the vianese. My husband figured this part out mainly because i know nothing about cigars but needless to see... allll of the gentleman were very impressed!

Tony is the nicest guy. He went above and beyond for our wedding. He knows everything about cigars and he didn't just roll the cigars and leave them out for everyone. He explains every detail of what he is doing when he rolls them, a bit of history of cigars and what ingredients he uses. Everyone loved him! He rolled honey/cognac cigars... what a hit. He even rolled extra cigars and put them in bags for everyone to take home with them.

My sister and her husband used them too and were so pleased. Tony is a really nice, great guy who was happy to be apart of our special day. I'm so glad we decided to have a cigar roller!!

For about 1 yr prior to our wedding I knew I wanted a cigar roller. I wanted a very Latin theme & it would just “fit”. Well, MH hated the idea. For months I begged & begged & finally he agreed to it! We were referred to Tony by Primavera. He is their house roller. He was a HIT!!! We called around & nobody compared to Tony. Ok..here’s the deal. Tony owns a cigar store in Nutley. We met w/him & clicked in like 5 min. You can see the passion this man has. He told us, “its an honor for me to be a part of your day”. He just dosen’t roll cigars. He tells people the story about cigars & how they are made etc. He is straight from Cuba. He used to work for the gov’t but decided to follow his passion for Cigars & opened up his store & began to do weddings! He’s in this business for the long haul. Tina LaMorte came up to me & said, “My God – where did you find this cigar roller – He’s AMAZING!” My boss & co-workers are big cigar smokers as well as my mom’s friends. They were like – this was such a great idea! What a great classy touch! The best thing about Tony is that he rolled for THREE HOURS! Oh & what a great guy listen to this..we had him by the inside bar at Primavera so that he could see the party & people didn’t need to leave the room to see him. He had a blast at our party! The man rolled an extra 100 cigars because he didn’t want to leave! He said he felt like he was a guest more then a vendor. He is just great!!! Another thing w/Tony. He has a very beautiful tradition where we hand him the cigar leaf & he rolls it for us & it’s meant to bless us for 100 yrs of marriage. He also gave MH a special cigar to smoke w/the dads & GM. Also, we got 5 unique cigars that we smoke every 5 yrs of marriage! Lastly, in addition to your typical cigars, Churchill/Corona etc..he has ladies cigars w/vanilla, cherry, wine & some other type of high grade Cigars. He was such a FIND!! I gotta give thanks to Primavera for the referral. I would recommend him with my eyes closed shut! AMAZING guy just all around & vendor!!

About Me

Rekha Chedalavada
Disciplined Destiny is the philosophy of Rekha Chedalavada, a writer of cultural and feminine identity. She believes destiny is ours to control thro' equal parts discipline and magic. She lives in the Garden State where she is sometimes lured to write about food, identity & the co-existence of man with nature. She accepts payment in the form of legal tender and really good Tequila.
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FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2009
The Comedians

Only the comedians could induce me to such depths of depravity. Only forces as omniscient and (seemingly) punitive as the Gods could drive me to drink unholy amounts of liquor and smoke myself into oblivion. And not my usual swanky beverages of choice - Anejo Tequila, multi distilled Vodka and unoaked Chardonnays. No no, the brink of madness the Comedians drove me to caused me to nonchalantly sample Vodkas named after Polish composers, branded by rap stars, distilled from wheat, rye, potato, grape and even hemp. Ok, I didn't taste the hemp vodka, but if anyone knows where I can find it please give me ring...

Who are these Comedians and why do they torment Rekha, you ask? Ah, fine question my friend. Caught in the midst of the chaos that is my life these days all I can say is in the spirit of hammering new nuances into my writer persona, I've been forced to endure despair, rejection, depression and that fine old friend - rage.

Which is why last night found me in the company of my lovely friend Mariana who never fails to bring insight in dark hours. Even better, who can throw back booze like no mans business and loves the puff of tobacco products. Who better to accompany me to a wine and cigar tasting? To Jamie's Restaurant in Lyndhurst we went. The cigarman - Tony Santana was nowhere to be found so we moisied to the tasting table. My buddy Ryan was pouring a provocatively named Shiraz by the moniker of Layer Cake Shiraz.

Now Ryan is one of the wine assistants at Shoppers Vineyard, my favorite local booze emporium. Favored by me for their off the beaten Napa path selection of wines and decently priced spirits. Even closer to my heart is the fact that this wine shop allows pets. I know it sounds bizarre but it works. When Duke was a wee puppy I would pop him into my canvas bag and carry him around everywhere. When hitting the wine shop I'd pop him into the shopping cart and wheel down the aisles in pursuit of the perfect libation to accompany my latest dining creation. Now the wine assistants at this store are a convivial bunch, not over-pressured from sale quotas or domineering overlord managers. Upon spotting the dog in the cart, they'd relieve me of my Dog Mom duties and play with the pup till I was done shopping.

So here it was, years later. The dog stretched out on the couch at home and me being poured a tasting of an Australian Shiraz by Ryan, one of the guys. Small world, even my Comedian oppressed brain could appreciate the moment. The wine was poured and tasted, found to be deliciously deep-berried without harsh spice. Best of all, it finished with a flicker of dark chocolate. Gimme a case of that, baby.

By this time the cigarman - Tony shows up. Tony and his promoter - Rob Menaker do an upscale combo of cigar + beverage tasting once a month. Tony knows his stuff, descending from a proud line of Cuban and Mexican cigar makers. He swung into his demo of handrolling a cigar. The purity of tobacco based on location or terroir, just as important with tobacco as it is with the grape. Then Tony really got rolling, or dipping to be precise. Apparently Latinos of European and American descent have honored the art of dipping cigars in brandy to sweeten and compliment the leafy bouquet. Tony shared his family secret which involves soaking branding in a snifter of honey, then dipping the cigar in the mixture. It sounds sexy & decadent and tastes even better. Even the menfolk present - a macho handful of Italian-something guys who looked like they enjoy a weekly puff at Uncle Primo's house - got a kick out of the honeyed cigars.

Rob the promoter sidles next to me and hands a freshly dipped cigar with a flourish. "My compliments darling," He says. "Just do me a favor, smoke it in front of me." Glad Rob, gladly. Which is why hours later Mariana and I have chuffed down the whole freaking cigar. One each. Accompanied of course by glasses of the excellent wine. I could feel the Comedian yoke levitating off my body for a few breaths. Either that or I was blacking out from the heavy smoke. My friend Mariana, having no such burden to bear was displaying her comely left foot to a few men, at their request. She is voluptuous, flirtatious. All woman. I am heartened by our time fraternizing with friendly albeit aggressive men. (Yo, if I wanted to fly to Las Vegas for dinner I would!) By the chocolate-tinged wine - what will I make to bring out that note?! By the astoundingly unctuous lamb ravioli tricked out with slivers of mint in a demi glace. Or perhaps I'm just tongue dead and suffocated by smoking an entire Robusto in one shot.

In any case, for a few hours I forget about the Comedians.
POSTED BY REKHA CHEDALAVADA AT 1:23 PM 0 COMMENTS
LABELS: CIGARS, JAMIES RESTAURANT, LAYER CAKE SHIRAZ, SHOPPERS VINEYARD, TONY SANTANA

If want to watch a true professional at work check Tony Santana out. Geat person!