"Our nominee for the cigar maker hall of fame is Ernesto Perez-Carrillo. Learning the craft from his father, he is one of that select few who took the art of cigar making with him out of Castro’s Cuba to keep it alive and well in the Free World. For that alone he deserves great praise. But Carrillo does more than just preserve the techniques of Cuban cigar production; he passes them on to his people, seeing to it that the traditions are kept alive and even improved upon. True to his heritage and his vision, Ernesto Carrillo became a part of that movement that went first to Miami and then to the Dominican Republic to keep upgrading the manufacture of premium cigars. With him to Miami came the brand name of La Gloria Cubana, a cigar that Cigar Aficionado awarded some of its highest accolades. “My cigars are some of the closest cigars to Cuban ones.” For Ernesto to be satisfied with a blend for a new cigar may take five or six years. “Some people may not agree, but when you make cigars, you have to like it yourself. If I don’t like something, I don’t sell it.” Few artists are recognized in their own lifetime by their peers. Ernie is in that rare minority, a cigar maker recognized and admired by the others as an authentic master of the art of cigar making. Smoking one of Ernie’s La Glorias is an experience that tantalizes the senses." |
