by Frank Seltzer (Mowee)
General Cigar announced today that Ernesto Perez-Carrillo is leaving the company. Perez-Carrillo's last day will be March 15th. He is leaving to open a new cigar business with his children. Ernesto is known for El Credito which was founded by his father and known for not only the El Credito brand but also its La Gloria Cubana.
El Credito was founded in Miami in 1968 by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Sr. , who had fled his native Cuba in 1959. El Credito initially began making fumas and cazadores -short filler cigars for the local Cubans in Miami. The younger Ernesto (Jr.) came to the factory in 1980 and began to rebuild the company's brands in long filler cigars. His biggest success was the La Gloria Cubana line. The success of that brand and the ongoing success of El Rico Habano and El Credito maxed out the little Calle Ocho factory in Miami. In 1996, Ernesto opened a factory in the Dominican Republic which gave him the additional capacity needed to fill all the orders he was receiving.
Swedish Match (General Cigar's parent company) bought El Credito in 1999 and Perez-Carrillo went to work for them running both his Dominican and Miami factories. Last year, he designed a new cigar to be made, exclusively, in Miami - Artesanos de Miami - as a tribute to the craftsmen who work at the El Credito factory on Calle Ocho. General Cigar will continue to make and market the full range of El Credito's lines.
When Perez-Carrillo sold it was generally thought it was because his children had little interest in the cigar business. Now, it appears Lissette and Ernesto have changed their minds and plan to join their father in the new cigar company.
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Frank Seltzer
