An Industry Icon's Quest For The Signature Cigar

Date: July 16, 2009
Publisher: NPR
Author: Greg Allen
Miami, FL

Download this press
Original Article: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106703061

Description:

It's not a great time to be a smoker. New laws subject tobacco — and its use — to more restrictions than ever before. New taxes are being imposed, raising the cost of smoking.

None of this, however, daunts Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, a third-generation cigar maker in Miami. With his shaved head and hawk-like glare, he is almost an intimidating presence. He has been involved in the cigar business for most of his 57 years.

At his warehouse in Miami's Little Havana, he is working with his son and daughter to create a new signature cigar.

He pulls out boxes of tobacco from Nicaragua. These leaves of tobacco, called fillers and binders, will go into his new cigars.

"This is all basically Cuban seed tobacco," he says.

Perez-Carrillo has long been impressed by how those Cuban seeds thrive in Nicaragua. He pulls out leaves from two different batches and compares the feel and the smell. He pulls out a lighter and smells a bit from each leaf as it burns.

It's all part of his research in finding the right blend for his new cigar. Read more