Year in, year out, Americans are born into the incalculable privilege of sleeping secure in their beds, free of fear that any foreign enemy’s bombs or bullets can intrude on our lives here in the States. We enjoy this blessing thanks to the service of more than 2 million members of the American armed forces, deployed strategically at home and around the globe. Through the decades, their mission evolves, and our politicians come and go. But American service members steadfastly guard us every minute of every day, even when we are not thinking about them. The greatest fighting force on earth shields us, answers to U.S. civilian leadership, goes where they are sent—oftentimes at great personal cost—and they do what the nation tells them to do.
It is worthwhile taking a moment, now and then, to reflect on our remarkable gift of domestic tranquility, and on the men and women who safeguard it so completely that, to most of us, peace at home is an unquestioned birthright. It is the least we can do to say, “Thank you for your service,” and to mean it from the heart.
The combat veterans who own and operate Warfighter Tobacco Company of San Antonio, Texas, wanted to build a cigar business that pays homage to America’s military personnel and heritage. Today, thanks to an excellent product line and the pride they take in sharing with discriminating cigar lovers, Warfighter Tobacco has hit upon a winning formula. Now approaching the 10th anniversary of its founding, the company has placed cigars on the shelves of about 250 retailers in the U.S., and has won a loyal following among customers who have come to relish Warfighter’s highly rated and reasonably priced smokes.
Company principals and co-founders Scott Jansen (president) and Jon Simons (vice president and COO), both having entered the U.S. Army as infantrymen, met in 2001 in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, before being deployed to Iraq in 2003. They formed a fast friendship over the shared love of machine guns; and the friendship endured. Years later, in 2013, the two men would find themselves sharing cigars, which led to discussions that perhaps they should launch a cigar brand together.
In February 2016 Jansen and Simons signed papers in Bennet, Nebraska, forming the Warfighter LLC, and they placed their first cigars on the market in August of that year. It wasn’t very long before Warfighter landed an account with Texas retail chain Spec’s Wine, Spirits & Finer Foods, shoring up the fledgling cigar company’s financial footing. Warfighter made the move to its San Antonio-area headquarters in January 2019, and the rest has been a story of steady, controlled growth. Simons says, “Someone told me a little while ago, ‘You guys are coming up on your 10-year anniversary? That’s great! It takes about 10 years in this industry to become an overnight success!’”
Warfighter manufactures all of its cigars at Tabacalara Carreras in Estelí, Nicaragua. Simons has no trouble remembering exactly when he and Jansen took their first trip to tour the Carreras factory. “We landed back in the States two days before the whole world shut down for COVID,” he says. They were relieved to have closed their deal in Estelí just in the nick of time.
Warfighter currently offers a portfolio of nine lines, spanning tastes from lighter Connecticut smokes to heavier maduros. Examples illustrating the Warfighter approach to cigar blending include the Garrison line, with three variations featuring Corojo, Rosado and bold Oscuro Maduro wrappers. These cigars range from medium to full body. On the other hand, the Field line, with three variations featuring Connecticut, Sumatra, and Maduro wrappers, keeps things a bit on the lighter side, bearing in mind that a soldier in the field might want to be a little less jittery. (As Simons points out, “You don’t really want a guy smoking a nicotine-heavy cigar if he’s manning a machine gun or a guard shack.”) Whatever one’s circumstance or taste preference, there’s a Warfighter cigar that will serve the occasion.
Price is certainly no great barrier. Warfighter cigars carry price tags that fit the approachable ethos the company honors. Says Simons, “A lot of our customers are the same people we are: active-duty or prior-duty military guys and first responders. Working class. We understand what the cost of living is in this day and age.” Per-stick prices range from $6.75 for the 6×50 mixed-filler Dumpster Fire to $13.25 for the company’s 6×60 long-filler offerings. Warfighter’s best-selling cigar is the $12.75 Night Shift, a 6×50 toro fitted with a distinctive green candela ring on the cigar’s cap meant to replicate the green glow cast by night goggles. (See below for our review of the Night Shift.)
Warfighter hopes to debut a 10th anniversary cigar at the 2026 PCA trade show. Says Simons, “It’s going to be on the bolder side, with a Sumatra wrapper and Nicaragua fillers, priced in the $12–$14 range.” He adds that, while details are still being worked out, “We want the 10th Anniversary cigar to exemplify all that we have learned about creating cigars in the last 10 years.”
Simons says one way his company gives back is by volunteering “self and time” to veteran-service non-profits. One of those is Warfighter Scuba (name coincidental; no corporate relation), whose website proclaims: “We provide therapy for our combat wounded Purple Heart recipients through scuba.” Simons, who volunteers as an instructor for Warfighter Scuba, explains, “Scuba is a form of therapy that is not aways fully appreciated, even by the veterans who use it. But the weightlessness of water helps amputees and burn victims. Scuba is like entering a different planet, which is good for stress relief.” Warfighter Tobacco also engages with partners in supporting hunting trips through non-profits. “There is a need,” says Simons, “to get veterans out of their isolation, so they can experience, for instance, a beautiful ranch.” The Warfighter Tobacco website conspicuously features links that allow purchase of cigars for donation to Cigars for Warriors.
Engagement extends without fail to the company’s relationships with its retailers. Mike Neese, tobacconist with Stag Tobacconist in Colorado Springs, Colorado, says, “We’ve had a good experience dealing with the Warfighter guys. We find them very friendly and responsive.” Another positive report comes from Pam Kuczenski of Edleez Tobacco in Albany, New York. She says, “We have for years supported the troops with monetary and product donations, so when a customer of ours requested that we begin stocking Warfighter cigars, we took note.” While Kuczenski was attending the last trade show, she sought out the Warfighter booth on the showroom floor. “I found that they are a great bunch of guys,” she says; and she adds that Warfighter cigars sell briskly at her store.
The brand’s guiding north star is that every Warfighter cigar should invite reflection on the blessings of liberty that our nation’s fighting men and women secure to us. In terms of corporate mission and career fulfillment, that is enough to give Simons a measure of satisfaction. “We have made mistakes,” he allows, “and we have had hardships. We have had wins and losses. But we are still here, still motivated, still driving forward with the same passion as day one—only now, 10 years in, we have a lot more knowledge.”
The Warfighter Tobacco Company headquarters is located at 128 Commercial Place in the San Antonio suburb of Schertz, Texas. “That is also the location of our U.S. warehouse,” adds Simons. “There’s no smoking lounge as of right now, but we do have a small retail space in our warehouse for walk-in customers.” You can view Warfighter’s cigars, as well as accessories and apparel, at the company website warfightertobacco.com. If you wish to place an order or ask about a Warfighter retailer event, or you can email info@warfightertobacco.com or call 210.347.8117.
– Photography courtesy of Warfighter Tobacco Co. Story by William C. Nelson.
This story first appeared in PCA The Magazine, Volume 4, 2025. To receive a copy of this magazine, you must be a current PCA member. Join or renew today at premiumcigars.org/membership.