Interviews
Cigar Weekly Interview with Ernesto Perez-Carillo
Ernesto
Perez-Carrillo: "In 1968, my dad started the business with one cigar roller. I
would work with my father first after school, then during the day. But I always loved music, and I thought that
was my goal. My dad and my mom were
always very insistent that I take this business over. Quite frankly, the
business wasn't going all that well. I wasn't getting a salary from the cigar
business, so I was playing gigs at night and that was how I would survive --
getting money from the music. But as for
my music, I eventually realized I wasn't that good. It was a rude awakening.
I
really got serious about working here and realized was my father had a certain
way of doing things but I was more aggressive. I was younger and knew it all.
Despite everything, I didn't really think I would be doing it this long.
Because once I saw what the business was about, it was a small mom and pop and
the way it was there was no future in the business unless we grew. We did grow,
adding rollers and capacity at our El Credito factory. I hung on because I came
to love what I was doing even though at
the time I was making about 200 bucks. I
remember, I made a commitment to myself that I was going to be the best I can
be at this. So I started getting really
deep into tobacco, trying to learn everything I could. I would visit the different factories, talk
to different manufacturers. It was an
obsession with this business and thank God it paid off. We kept growing and we were doing better and
better. But soon it became clear I
needed to make a change.
When
you grow as much as I was growing I didn't have many options. I knew my limits and I am not much into
numbers or organization. For everything that needed to be done to grow a
business I didn't have that savvy ten years ago. My kids were young - Lissette was 25 and
working as a lawyer, Ernie was 17 and was interested in finance. They weren't interested in the cigar
business. You have to let your kids do
what they feel they have to do and if the time comes when they feel this is not
what they want to do then it is time to do something with them if that
opportunity arises. They worked here in
the factory with me, but Lissette and
Ernie had no real interest in maintaining the business. So I asked myself 'How
do I take the next steps?' Luckily, I
got bought out by General Cigar and everything worked out tremendously."
CW:
So what made you want to go back out on your own again?
Ernesto
Perez-Carrillo: "About year and a half ago, Ernie and Lissette stared getting
into cigar smoking. Lissette's husband
smokes them, too. So about a year or year and a half ago they started to get
the cigar bug. At the beginning, I didn't give it much thought. This business of cigars is completely
different for them because my daughter was a lawyer and Ernie was into private
equity. While it is an exciting business it's totally different from what they
were used to. One day, I as I was making up my mind to leave and start doing
something on my own and they approached me and said why don't we do something
together. The more that we talked, the more interest was growing in them. So I thought I have to do it for them. It is
a once in a lifetime opportunity."
CW:
What are your first steps in the new venture?
Ernesto
Perez-Carrillo: "Well, we won't have any
cigars for at least a year. What I am doing now is buying tobacco and aging
it. I may not make cigars for maybe a
year or year and a half. I gotta be comfortable with what I make. I want to make a cigar that won't be so
different from what's out there, but something that will give me a new
identity. I don't want to be known as
Ernesto the guy who made La Gloria Cubana, I want to be known as Ernesto the
person who makes this new cigar.
I
am going to start working in April or May on the factory and that will probably
take me about 6 months, getting all the
permits, the lighting, the tables and molds.
In the meantime, we're aging tobacco. The tobacco that I have purchased
is being stored by the people I have bought it from. I have had a relationship with these people
for over 30 years since my father started El Credito and they are willing to
help me out. I haven't concentrated too
heavily on the factory yet because I have been getting the tobacco and thinking
up the blends I want to come up with when I come out with the cigar."
CW: I know it is early but what are you thinking?
Ernesto
Perez-Carrillo: "There is so much good tobacco out there it is going to be hard
for me to say this is the one. I think
there is a great opportunity to make good cigars with different wrappers
binders and seeds, fillers from different countries --Nicaragua, Brazil,
Honduras
and the DR. It is incredible. I am
interested to see what I can do with these tobaccos.
For
the longest time I was locked into a flavor profile and that was a full time
job trying to keep up with demand for La Gloria, Serie R and El Rico. That was my focus -- to make that brand grow
because I still think La Gloria Cubana still has more growth potential. In the coming years it will grow more. It remains a very unique blend and I think
that cigar can grow tremendously.
But
now, I can make a more international cigar with different types of tobacco. La
Gloria Cubana could only be sold in the United States. I am planning a cigar that can be an
international brand. There will be
growth. I think cigar smokers want a
good quality cigar that they can enjoy and one that is a value for the
quality. That has always been my motto
and the company's motto quality at a value."
CW:
How big will your first batch be?
Ernesto
Perez-Carrillo: "Starting out my plan now is based on the tobacco I have
available. For the first year 250-300,000 at the most to start. It all depends on the tobacco. I am not going to say now is the time to
start production. The tobacco will tell me when we are ready. This is why we are doing this. Thank God I don't have the pressure where I
have to sell x amount of cigars a month or a year. When the tobacco is ready and when I think I
got something special for the customers , for the cigar smokers and for the
friends I have, that's when it will come out.
This is why I am saying it may be a year or year and a half, I hope a
year but you don't know. I have some different strategies on how I may come to
market. It may one or two blends because
if I want to make 250,000 cigars but I only have enough aged tobacco for
100-thousand then that's what it will be.
Right now my head is spinning from all the possibilities."
CW:
Will you be at IPCPR this year?
Ernesto
Perez-Carrillo: "I don't know. If I do go to New Orleans it would just be to visit. I
won't have anything set up."
CW: What are Lissette and Ernie doing now?
Ernesto
Perez-Carrillo: "Right now my daughter
is still working and my son Ernie is in the stock market and he actually is
doing well. Ernie officially left his job in June. Lissette is working out of her
house. Hopefully, they can hold out 'til
we get started. This is going to start
small and I want to make a special cigar, something I hope people will
like. Something special may take a year
or a year and a half until that cigar is ready I will not put it out and they
are fine with that. And they both will
continue doing that until I open the factory.
Basically they will be running the day-to-day operations and I will be
operating out of the Dominican
Republic."
CW: And General will continue making the El
Credito brands?
Ernesto
Perez-Carrillo: "Yes, General has the
factory in Miami
and in the DR and they are going to keep making them. But I am not going away
even though I will be working on my own.
They will have to kick me out. We
have talked a lot about this and they are very open to anything that I need and
whatever they need from me I am there for them. General and Swedish Match helped me live my
dream and now they are helping me live my other dream to come out with a brand
for my family.
CW: It still will be a big change.
Ernesto
Perez-Carrillo: "Absolutely. When you
are working for a company like General, you have everything in your hand and it
is a whole different ballgame what I am getting into now. They had the tobacco, marketing, sales
finance. Believe me, I gave this plenty of
thought. Like when I sold the business,
but that turned out to be a good thing for me.
It is a question of taking that first step. From there on, everything will work out on
its own. I have a little bit more idea of what to do, my son is into finance
and my daughter is a lawyer so I know they can handle it. This opportunity also gives them a sense of
ownership because they are working on something that will be theirs down the
road. There is a saying - 'to play the
blues you gotta live it' and this is my life and I gotta live it how it is
right for me especially at my age. "
______________________________________________________
Frank Seltzer (Mowee) is a former network correspondent
who now owns a media consulting company in
Dallas ,
TX .
A regular cigar smoker since 1973, Frank runs the DFW Cigar Society, a
group that has almost 300 members who get together twice a month to trade smokes
and lies. He also runs away as often as he can to his condo in
Maui ... hence the name Mowee (which, by the
way, was the way Captain Cook
originally spelled the island when he heard
Hawaiians speak it.)