How it all started
A birthday gift from a 17 year old to his father, California jeweler John Mahroukian, led to the creation of Los Angeles-based JM Tobacco, Inc. Anto Mahroukian, president of JM Tobacco, delights in recounting the story.
“It was my dad’s birthday in 1994,” Mahroukian recalls. “I bought him an expensive cigar. I don’t even remember what it was, but it cost about $20. He smoked it and he liked it. He asked how much I paid for it, and when I told him, he was shocked.”