The Premium Cigar Association Is Going Global — and It's Just Getting Started
For most of its nearly century-long existence, the Premium Cigar Association operated with a fundamentally domestic mindset. Founded in 1933 as the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America, the organization spent decades focused on state legislatures, federal regulatory agencies, and the economic health of the American tobacconist. That work remains as urgent as ever. But something has shifted. Over the past year and a half, the PCA has embarked on an international expansion unlike anything in its history — forging partnerships in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, Greece, Hong Kong, the Middle East, and beyond. The strategy is deliberate, the pace is fast, and the implications for every corner of the premium cigar world are significant.
While America remains the unquestioned priority of the Premium Cigar Association, supporting its members increasingly requires a global vision. Strong international partnerships help PCA brands expand commercially abroad, strengthen advocacy efforts against harmful regulation, encourage meaningful educational exchange, increase membership, and reinforce the health of the broader cigar ecosystem connected to the United States. That's not a marketing line — it's a framework that is actively reshaping the association's operations from the ground up.
The Logic Behind the Expansion
The decision to go global didn't happen in a vacuum. It grew out of a clear-eyed recognition that the American premium cigar market and the producing nations that supply it are inseparable. You cannot protect the American retailer without also protecting the tobacconist in Santiago, the roller in Estelí, or the leaf grower in the Jamastran Valley. The reality is simple: the strength of the American market cannot be separated from the strength of the producing nations and emerging premium markets around the world. It is with that philosophy that the PCA continues advancing an ambitious international agenda centered around education, advocacy, market development, and long-term relationship building.
The logic extends beyond supply chain protection. Emerging premium cigar markets in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East represent meaningful future demand for the same brands that American retailers stock on their shelves. As affluent consumers in those regions develop more sophisticated palates and greater brand awareness, the entire global market strengthens — and U.S. manufacturers, importers, and retailers benefit directly. The PCA has recognized this dynamic and is positioning itself as the connective tissue between producing nations and these new consumer markets.
The association is not attempting to reinvent the wheel, but to leverage its history, relationships, and reputation to forge long-lasting partnerships to benefit its membership and PCA's financial health. It took a significant step in creating the PCA Alliance to welcome a new category of membership focused on individuals and small businesses with a vested financial interest in the success of the premium cigar industry. The Alliance was created to allow the association to grow a grassroots army for legislative and regulatory purposes and replenish its coffers to prepare for future battles.
Ricardo Carioni: The Architect of International Affairs
Any serious examination of the PCA's international push has to start with the man running it. Ricardo Carioni, the association's Director of International Affairs and Education, is not a typical trade association hire. His résumé reads like a geopolitical thriller. Before joining the cigar industry, he served in a diplomatic role as Nicaragua's Deputy Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Iceland, as well as an official representative to the United Nations Maritime Organization and international organizations in the coffee, sugar, and cocoa sectors. He later moved into the private sector, joining Casa Turrent as head of business development, and prior to that serving as COO of Tor Imports in Great Britain and CEO of Gesinta in Spain.
His hire was a signal. The PCA wasn't looking for a former retail shop owner or a domestic lobbyist — it wanted someone who understood how governments talk to each other, how cultural diplomacy works, and how emerging markets are cultivated over years of relationship-building. The PCA said that Carioni would spearhead the organization's education strategy, strengthen alliances across borders, and design high-impact programs that serve members both in the U.S. and abroad. Additionally, he would be instrumental in expanding PCA's advocacy reach and reinforcing the cultural and economic narrative of premium cigars worldwide.
Carioni has been vocal about the stakes. "As a proud Latin American, I believe in the cultural and economic importance of this industry — not only for my home country, but for every producing nation, every importing nation, and every aficionado who understands premium cigars as a cultural heritage of humanity," he said. "My commitment is to work alongside all PCA members to protect, nurture, and grow our industry through education, global advocacy, diplomacy, and strategic partnerships."
Carioni is also a co-founder of The Cigar Academy, an educational venture he launched with Thomas Gryson in March 2024. That connection to a dedicated cigar education platform would later prove central to the PCA's most ambitious international moves.
The Cigar Academy: Education as Infrastructure
In a move that underscored just how serious the PCA is about making education a pillar of its strategy, the association acquired The Cigar Academy outright. This was not a content-sharing agreement or a co-branding exercise — it was a full acquisition that folded the platform directly into the PCA's operational structure.
Now operating as a PCA-controlled business unit, The Cigar Academy provides a scalable global infrastructure that positions the Association as the standard-setting authority in premium cigar education in the United States and internationally. The platform enters this next phase with a growing global user base, a steadily expanding community of certified professionals, and active partnerships across retail, manufacturing, duty-free, and hospitality.
PCA CEO Joshua Habursky framed the acquisition in unambiguous terms. "Education is the strongest tool we have to protect and advance the premium cigar industry," he said. "This acquisition reinforces our commitment to making education a core pillar of our mission — expanding PCA's role beyond advocacy into global professional development and certification."
Under PCA leadership, The Cigar Academy will expand its programming to include a dedicated retailer-focused curriculum launching later this year, as well as immersive, in-person training experiences at farms and factories in the United States and major producing countries. The Association also plans to collaborate with academic institutions, including Florida International University, to introduce an online version of the Luxury Hospitality Executive Education Program.
The FIU connection is more than a footnote. The executive education course immerses participants in the refined world of luxury marketing through the unique lens of premium cigars, offering direct access to thought leaders in the premium cigar industry alongside top marketing executives from complementary luxury sectors such as fine wine, craft chocolate, and rare spirits. For cigar retailers looking to compete in a market that increasingly overlaps with whiskey bars, country clubs, and high-end hospitality venues, that kind of cross-sector education is quietly transformative.
Latin America: Deepening Roots in Producing Nations
The ProCigar Partnership
The Dominican Republic produces some of the world's most coveted premium cigars, and its industry body, ProCigar, has long been one of the most respected trade organizations in the region. In early 2026, the PCA and ProCigar formalized their relationship in a way that goes well beyond a ceremonial handshake. The PCA announced a new partnership agreement with ProCigar, marking an important milestone in the continued growth and unity of the premium cigar industry. Rooted in a shared commitment to safeguarding tradition, supporting members, and elevating premium cigar culture worldwide, this agreement represents a renewed collaboration between two leading organizations dedicated to advancing the industry across the Dominican Republic, the United States, and beyond.
ProCigar's executive director spelled out what the partnership means on the ground. "By strengthening our relationship with the Premium Cigar Association, we are creating new opportunities to support retailers, celebrate our shared premium cigar heritage, and work together to ensure the continued growth and protection of our industry worldwide."
The practical mechanics of the deal are telling. The alliance focuses on supporting retailers, promoting premium cigar culture, expanding education initiatives across the supply chain, and enhancing international industry engagement between the U.S., the Dominican Republic, and other markets. As part of the partnership, ProCigar will return to exhibit at the PCA Trade Show, while a PCA delegation will attend the ProCigar Festival, reflecting efforts to deepen industry ties and jointly support promotional and educational programs.
The two organizations are also backing each other's publishing and storytelling initiatives. Both organizations will actively support one another's key initiatives, including ProCigar's new Retailers Program and PCA's cultural publishing project with Nick Hammond, Around the World in 80 Cigars: The American Dream. These efforts reflect a shared focus on elevating premium cigars through storytelling, engagement, and broader industry participation.
Honduras: A Historic First Engagement
Honduras has earned a permanent place on any serious cigar lover's map. The country's Jamastran Valley in the El Paraíso department produces leaf that rivals Cuban tobacco in depth and complexity, and Honduran puros from houses like Alec Bradley, Rocky Patel, and Camacho have built devoted followings among American aficionados. The PCA's engagement there has grown considerably. The PCA announced a partnership with Honduras' Festival del Puro y el Café, an annual event in Danlí, El Paraíso, a key hub for Honduran tobacco production.
Particularly meaningful was the PCA's first engagement at the Honduras Cigar Festival, where the association received distinguished recognition for its growing international educational and advocacy efforts. That recognition matters. When a producing nation's cigar festival formally acknowledges an American trade association, it signals that the relationship has moved beyond tourism and into genuine institutional partnership.
Meetings with Honduran tourism authorities, including the Minister of Tourism, further highlighted the increasing recognition of premium cigars not simply as products, but as cultural and economic ambassadors capable of elevating luxury tourism, hospitality, and international commerce. This framing — cigars as engines of tourism and commerce rather than mere consumer goods — is strategically important. It's the kind of argument that opens government doors and secures the kind of high-level support that can insulate an industry against regulatory hostility.
PCA CEO Joshua Habursky said the agreement expands the association's international partnerships following similar collaborations in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, reflecting Honduras' growing influence in the global premium cigar sector. Nicaragua, the world's largest premium cigar exporter by volume, has also been a focal point of PCA's regional strategy, with festival appearances and relationship-building that mirror the Honduran approach.
Europe: The Greek Experiment in Market Development
Moving beyond the traditional Latin American producing-nation model, the PCA has set its sights on Southern Europe as an emerging premium cigar market. The vehicle is the Greek Cigar Festival, held at the Amaronda Resort & Spa in Eretria, and the partnership at its center offers a template for how the PCA intends to build markets from scratch.
The collaboration between the PCA and 2K Cigars is fundamentally a long-term market development initiative designed to help strengthen and professionalize the Greek premium cigar market while supporting the potential creation of a future Greek Premium Cigar Association aligned with international standards and best practices. That last point is significant. The PCA isn't just attending a festival — it's potentially seeding a sister organization in a European market, one that would be aligned with PCA standards and serve as a regional node in a growing international network.
Education stands firmly at the center of this partnership. Through The Cigar Academy, professional seminars and certification courses will be delivered to help maximize accessibility and local industry growth. Equally important is the role the festival plays in supporting PCA member brands such as J.C. Newman, Oscar Valladares, and Perdomo within an increasingly sophisticated European market eager for deeper cigar knowledge, luxury experiences, and meaningful engagement.
Beyond the educational component, the festival also integrates advocacy discussions, international networking, cigar awards, and high-level hospitality — creating one of the most ambitious formats yet for a PCA international partnership. For American brands attending, the festival represents a direct commercial opportunity in a European market that's increasingly receptive to the kind of premium, handcrafted cigar culture that has long flourished in the United States.
Asia and the Middle East: The Newest Frontiers
PCA Connect Asia
Perhaps no single initiative captures the ambition of the PCA's international expansion more vividly than PCA Connect Asia, an event conceived specifically for the Hong Kong and Macau markets. Developed jointly by the PCA, The Cigar Academy, and Cigraal Ltd., the initiative represents a fundamentally different vision from the traditional trade show format. Rather than focusing on exhibition space, PCA Connect Asia has been designed as a highly curated platform centered around executive networking, education, market intelligence, luxury hospitality, and meaningful long-term business relationships.
The collaboration will focus on education, regulatory advocacy, and industry engagement in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and Africa. The initiative will launch with PCA Connect Asia, featuring training workshops, certification programs, and industry events in Hong Kong and Macau. The choice of Hong Kong and Macau is deliberate — both cities sit at the intersection of Chinese luxury consumption and Western business culture, making them natural launch points for a premium lifestyle product with deep roots in craftsmanship and ritual.
The Premium Cigar Association announced a new strategic partnership with Cigraal, a leading premium cigar development and distribution company across Asia-Pacific. Cigraal brings on-the-ground market intelligence that the PCA could not replicate from Washington — and the combination of Cigraal's regional networks with PCA's brand, standards, and educational infrastructure creates a partnership greater than the sum of its parts.
Dubai and the World Cigar Show
In the Gulf region, the PCA's engagement has taken a particularly creative form: the launch of its first-ever international premium cigar. The Premium Cigar Association, The Leaf Master Tobacco Trading, and La Palina Cigars announced the launch of Yalla Habeebi, the first-ever PCA international premium cigar. Created to commemorate the second edition of the World Cigar Show in Dubai, the limited-edition release marks a historic milestone for the association while celebrating the continued growth of premium cigar culture throughout the Gulf region.
The cigar itself is grounded in something already proven. Based on the acclaimed La Palina Goldie, Yalla Habeebi features the blend's signature balance and approachable profile while introducing exclusive artwork and packaging created specifically for the World Cigar Show. Borrowing one of the Middle East's best-known expressions of friendship and hospitality, the name embodies the warmth, camaraderie, and shared passion that unite cigar enthusiasts around the world.
Ra'ed Saqfelhait, managing partner of The Leaf Master, captured what the collaboration represents for the region. "This is much more than a cigar launch," he said. "It is a celebration of friendship, collaboration and the remarkable growth of the premium cigar community in our region. To partner with the Premium Cigar Association and La Palina on PCA's first international exclusive cigar is a tremendous honor. Together, we are celebrating not only the World Cigar Show, but also the remarkable growth and global future of premium cigars throughout the Gulf."
Habursky reinforced the strategic dimension. "Launching PCA's first international cigar alongside industry-leading partners like The Leaf Master and La Palina reflects our commitment to expanding PCA's global presence while creating meaningful value for members, manufacturers, and premium cigar enthusiasts worldwide. This year's event will also feature an expanded lineup of educational programming, exclusive publications, and regional networking opportunities that further strengthen PCA's international engagement."
Building the Grassroots Army at Home
All of this international ambition would ring hollow if the domestic foundation weren't being simultaneously reinforced. The PCA Alliance, a newer membership category, has extended the organization's reach into adjacent industries that have a natural stake in cigar culture. Small businesses joining the Alliance include distillers, breweries, wineries, golf courses, gun clubs, barbershops, and restaurants that sell cigars. Individuals include lawyers, accountants, T-shirt designers, and other providers of services and goods to retail shops.
This isn't just a membership revenue play. PCA Alliance is available to premium cigar-friendly businesses such as wineries, breweries, restaurants, and country golf clubs that want to do their part to support those businesses that sell premium cigars and pipe tobacco products. The PCA Alliance is an avenue to support the industry's advocacy through financial support and participation. Every new Alliance member represents another voice in state capitals and on Capitol Hill, and more feet on the ground when regulatory battles need to be fought at the local level.
PCA leadership reported that the association recorded its strongest membership, attendance, and revenue growth in a decade in 2025, and noted increased participation in the year's board election. These are not vanity metrics. In the trade association world, membership numbers and revenue growth translate directly into lobbying capacity, programming budgets, and the organizational stability needed to execute a multi-year international expansion.
Advocacy in the Age of Global Regulation
One of the less obvious benefits of the PCA's international partnerships is their potential to strengthen regulatory advocacy — not just abroad, but at home. When the PCA can point to partnerships with government tourism ministries in Honduras, festivals backed by Dominican Republic government authorities, and educational frameworks being replicated in European and Asian markets, it builds a narrative that positions premium cigars as a legitimate cultural and economic force rather than a pariah industry.
That narrative matters enormously in Washington. The FDA has spent years attempting to extend its regulatory reach over premium handmade cigars, and the PCA has been on the front lines of that fight for just as long. The PCA protects its members against onerous, business-killing regulations and taxes, and amplifies voices while providing a positive effect on the political process for the future of the industry. Every international credential the association accumulates adds weight to that argument — it becomes harder to regulate away an industry that a federal agency can see is deeply interwoven with the economies of allied nations and the cultural heritage of millions of consumers worldwide.
Ricardo Carioni has been clear about the educational dimension of advocacy: "For all cigar lovers seeking authentic knowledge about the cultural heritage and artisanal traditions of the cigar world, The Cigar Academy is the ultimate source. Shared and accessible knowledge is power. Through this partnership, we aim to provide education for everyone — from cigar and nontobacco businesses to policymakers and aficionados — while ensuring that the true cigar culture is preserved and protected from misguided regulations."
What This Means for American Retailers and Enthusiasts
For the American tobacconist, the PCA's global push translates into concrete benefits that are easy to overlook at first glance. When the PCA helps develop a Greek cigar market that becomes enthusiastic about J.C. Newman or Perdomo, those brands grow in global stature. That growth circles back to the domestic market in the form of increased brand investment, more product development, and healthier manufacturer finances — which in turn means better inventory, more exclusive releases, and more brand-driven events for American retailers to host.
When the PCA certifies professionals through The Cigar Academy in Hong Kong, Macau, and Dubai, it raises the global standard of cigar knowledge. A sophisticated international customer base creates demand for the same education and experience that American aficionados have long sought in their local lounges. And when the PCA sits across the table from Honduras' Minister of Tourism, it is also sitting across the table from the people who regulate the growing conditions and labor environment for tobacco that will eventually appear in cigars on American retail shelves.
Every educational seminar delivered abroad, every new member signed up, every retailer relationship established, every hospitality partnership cultivated, and every consumer educated ultimately contributes to the long-term resilience and sophistication of the global premium cigar ecosystem. Because ultimately, a premium cigar may be rolled in one nation, aged in another, sold in another, and enjoyed halfway across the world — yet the experience remains profoundly human, built around craftsmanship, ritual, conversation, and shared appreciation.
That observation from Carioni cuts to the heart of what the PCA is really building. Not just an international trade network, not just a regulatory advocacy machine, but a cultural framework — one that positions premium cigars as something that transcends borders, languages, and regulatory jurisdictions. In an era when the industry faces pressure from all sides, that kind of cultural authority may ultimately prove to be its most durable defense.
A New Chapter, Not a Pivot
It would be a mistake to read the PCA's international expansion as a retreat from its core domestic mission. The association's leader remains steadfast to the core mission of promoting and defending specialty tobacco retailing, while also modernizing the association to meet the challenges and opportunities common among trade associations. The global work is additive, not substitutional — a recognition that defending American tobacconists in the 21st century requires engaging with the world those tobacconists are increasingly connected to.
The PCA Trade Show, held most recently in New Orleans, is the world's premier B2B event for the premium cigar and pipe tobacco industry, bringing together retailers, manufacturers, distributors, brokers, and media from over 25 countries. That international attendance at PCA's flagship domestic event has always been a signal that the premium cigar world is inherently global — the association is now simply acting on what that attendance has long been telling it.
The PCA turns 93 in 2026. For most of that run, it operated as a distinctly American institution defending a distinctly American way of life. What's happening now is something genuinely new: the oldest specialty tobacco trade association in the country is becoming, for the first time in its history, a truly international force. The cigar world should pay attention.
