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| PEREZ-CARRILLO: NEXT GENERATION |
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Page 1 of 2  Plus: register now to enter to win 233 cigars on Sunday!Los Angeles, July 3, 2009 – The name “Ernesto Perez-Carrillo” is renowned among smokers, and thousands are devoted to his famed La Gloria Cubana blends now produced by General Cigar. He announced earlier this year that he would leave General Cigar and begin a new cigar company with his son Ernie and daughter Lissette. Ernesto (shown above at the Quesada 35th Anniversary launch party last Monday in New York) and Ernie were guests at last weekend’s Famous Smoke Shop Cigar Expo and Cigar-B-Que in Easton, Pennsylvania and we had a chance to sit with the youngest Carrillo, the 27-year-old Ernesto Perez-Carrillo and find out about the new venture. “Both my sister and I – and my sister is also going to be involved in the business – basically grew up in the factory. Literally every day after school, from [age] 10 or 9, until I left for college. And I think my Dad’s dream was always for both of us to be part of the business, working full-time, really involved. But I think both of us felt we had to go out and do our own thing, gain some experience and then take it from there. “It kind of reached a point: I did my thing, she did her thing and my Dad, probably two years back, started talking to us about the possibility of doing this together and we’re all itching to do it. Obviously, growing up in the cigar business, I guess it’s in your blood.” Ernie is a Stanford graduate and worked in the high-powered McKinsey & Co. consulting firm and then with the investment bankers Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts (KKR), whom he left to join the new family venture. He spoke in some detail about their plan to begin production later this year: “We rented a factory and we’re hoping to get in there mid-August and start production. My Dad has been talking to people there already to get the factory up and going and we’re hoping to release the first run probably towards the end of November, maybe sooner. Our plan is essentially to have one core brand that will be available year-round and that will be more – we don’t know the prices yet – similar to what I guess you’d call the “value segment.” And then every year we’re going to have a limited edition that will be different every single year based on the best tobacco my Dad can find, the best he comes up with. “This year we’re actually going to launch with the limited edition, which will be called the Inaugural Edition 2009.” The name of the brand will be “E.P. Carrillo.” Ernie explained that “My Dad, at first, was hesitant to use his name; he wanted to do something that had nothing to do with the family name, but my sister and I really wanted to use the family name. It adds more to the family legacy, obviously. So we trademarked every variation of the family name, and we went back and forth and she liked the last name – Perez-Carrillo – but it’s a mouthful, so we ended up with E.P. Carrillo.” Trademark applications were filed for five different names – Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, EPC, Carrillo, E.P. Carrillo and Perez-Carrillo – but the E.P. Carrillo name will be used first. |
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Did you know?
“American cigar consumption bottomed out in 1993 at 3.42 billion units (13 per capita), but premium sales are up.
