David J. Swinburne Named President and CEO of Sans Pareil

Sans Pareil has a new president and ceo, as the company announced today that David J. Swinburne has been appointed to those roles.

Swinburne is one of the five shareholders and board members of Sans Pareil, though has played a silent role in the company until now due to focusing on multiple other projects. According to a press release, Swinburne’s professional background is rooted in business transformation, specifically through mergers an acquisitions, as well as large scale program delivery, global supply chain solutions and premium cigar retail locations. He is also a co-founder of La Cultura Cigar & Social, a cigar retail shop in downtown Kansas City, Mo., as well as a blogger about cigars and cigar community.

“It’s an honor to work with a brand as special as Sans Pareil,” Swinburne said in a press release. “Meeting with Jochy Blanco at Tabacalera Palma made the decision to lead Sans Pareil an easy one. The quality of leaves and passion the factory pour into these impeccable cigars is unmatched. I’m excited to build the right team to share these stories and cigars with our partners and clients around the globe who share our same passion for the highest quality tobacco.”

Sans Pareil came to the market in the first half of 2017 alongside La Instructora, another brand produced by Jochy Blanco. Its portfolio contains three core lines, simply known as Red, Blue and Purple. All three lines use Dominican tobacco for the binder and filler, while the Red has an Ecuadorian corojo wrapper, the Blue uses a Dominican criollo 98 leaf, and the Purple gets an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. Its name comes from the French phrase meaning without equal.

A fourth line, the Sans Pareil Gold, was a rarely seen cigar but an unmistakable one, as it was offered in a Super Lancero vitola that measured 13 1/2 inches long with a 40 ring gauge. That blend uses an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper atop a Dominican binder and filler.

Since its debut, the company has prided itself on its stringent quality standards for the tobacco that goes into its cigars, saying that it only uses tobaccos that are between six to seven years old, and that it selects the top one percent of leaves for its blends.

Now, the company is entering what it describes as a new phase of expansion and innovation, with Swinburne tasked with driving the company’s strategic vision and growth initiatives.

As for what that means for the cigars, Swinburne told halfwheel that changes will be made as needed for Sans Pareil to deliver the highest quality of aged tobacco available on the market. The three core lines are remaining, with an additional line and two changes to the company’s Gold Line planned for the 2024 PCA Convention & Trade Show in March.

“Like many companies, change in leadership allow for new ideas and relationships to grow,” Swinburne said. “Something as simple as a fresh set of eyes viewing obstacles is exactly what a company needs to bring it to the next level. With my background in business transformation with multiple Fortune 500 companies, the team believes this was the right fit for Sans Pareil.”

Swinburne added that the company will be focused on expansion both in the U.S. and international markets. “We have seen very positive feedback in multiple geographies, and bringing our cigars to these markets will position the company for well-positioned growth,” he said.

In a related note about the change at Sans Pareil, Swinburne said that Aaron Saide, who had been the face of the company in addition to his other roles, departed the company in early 2023 to work on other projects outside of Sans Pareil.