scraped together enough money to purchase a cigar factory in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood. Nine years after escaping Cuba, Ernesto Sr. Eventually, the family escaped Cuba and settled in Miami. was jailed many times, and all of the family’s possessions were confiscated. Opposed to the Castro regime, Ernesto Sr. His father, Ernesto Sr., worked in Cuba as a tobacco buyer before purchasing the small El Credito cigar factory in Havana. His family’s involvement in the cigar industry dates back to 1907, when Perez-Carrillo’s grandfather and great-uncle sold cigars on the streets of Havana, Cuba. It should come as no surprise to those who know Perez-Carrillo that he would quote a favorite musician to explain his love of cigars, because passions for music and tobacco are intertwined within him.

“To make great cigars you have to really live and want to be a part of it, too.”

“Billy Keene said that to play the blues you have to live it,” says Perez-Carrillo, referring to one of his favorite musicians to make an analogy about his work ethic. Passionate? Obsessive? Passionately obsessive? Any of these terms could be used to describe the 67-year-old, and they are the traits that he thinks are necessary to be a great cigarmaker. Unafraid of risks and trusting a storehouse of tobacco knowledge he had racked up over more than 40 years as a cigarmaker, Perez-Carrillo still enjoys making cigars as much as ever-constantly playing with tobaccos until a blend emerges. The maestro behind La Gloria Cubana, one of the world’s best-known and most popular cigars, continues to innovate and bring his own unique blending aesthetic to the premium cigar industry. And this year’s International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association trade show in Las Vegas was no different. There seems to be no stopping the fertile and creative mind of Perez-Carrillo. Since establishing EPC Cigars in late 2009 with his children, Lissette and Ernesto III, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo has regularly introduced new cigars-both long-term brands and limited editions-to much acclaim.

Cigar store house