July 13, 2013 (Miami, Fla.) — On July 10th, 2013 Drew Estate announced that Steve Saka will be retiring as the CEO of Drew Estate, its family of companies and its subsidiaries. Saka joined the company as President in July 2005 and was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in July 2012.

“The team at Drew Estate would like to thank Steve for all of his hard work and dedication over the past eight years. His passion, leadership and expertise are a very rare combination within our industry. Steve will be truly missed and we wish him all the best moving forward,” said owners, Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel.

During his tenure, Drew Estate has grown to become one of the largest and most successful premium handmade cigar manufacturers in the world.

When asked what he was going to do next, “First, I am going to seriously slay some smallmouth, those fish have no idea what’s coming. Ultimately though, I am a cigar and tobacco man at heart and both are integral parts of my life, but for now I want to return to just being a cigar citizen,” said Saka.

Drew Estate has repurchased his interests in the company and as part of the mutual arrangement Saka has agreed to step away from the cigar and tobacco industry at an operational level for two years. His last effective employment date as CEO of Drew Estate is July 11th.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.