Press
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Choosing a Marketing Plan: Traditional or Social Media? more info »
Date: February 24, 2010
Publisher: NY Times
Author: Jane L. Levere
New York, NY
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E.P. Carrillo Review more info »
Date: February 3, 2010
Publisher: Toasted Foot
Author: Matthew Michael
Macon, GA
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E.P. Carrillo Review more info »
Date: January 24, 2010
Publisher: The Weekly Cigar
Author: Danny Principe
Fort Lauderdale, FL
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E.P. Carrillo Review more info »
Date: January 19, 2010
Publisher: Nice Tight Ash
Author: Charlie Cathcart
Maryland
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A New Beginning more info »
Date: January 16, 2010
Publisher: Smoke Magazine
Author: E. Edward Hoyt III
New York, NY
Choosing a Marketing Plan: Traditional or Social Media?
| Address: | New York, NY |
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| Website: | www.nytimes.com |
EPC CIGAR COMPANY manufactures and distributes cigars that are hand-rolled in the Dominican Republic from Ecuadorean, Nicaraguan and Dominican tobacco. It has been in business since April, although the family that owns it previously ran a successful cigar company that was sold to Swedish Match in 1999.
THE CHALLENGE To develop a cost-effective and efficient marketing strategy to promote the company and its new brand, E. P. Carrillo, while building on the family’s legacy.
THE BACKGROUND EPC Cigar, based in Miami, is owned and operated by the Perez-Carrillo family, whose Cuban-born patriarch, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, established El Credito Cigars in 1968; its best-known brand was La Gloria Cubana. After Mr. Perez-Carrillo’s death, his son, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr., sold El Credito to Swedish Match in 1999, working there until March 2009. Mr. Perez-Carrillo Jr., 58, remains a big deal in the cigar world.
He was encouraged to start EPC Cigar by his daughter, Lissette, 36, a lawyer based in Miami, and his son, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo III, 28, a management consultant based in New York, both of whom had worked for El Credito while growing up. The three family members run the company, which employs 34 people in Miami and the Dominican Republic.
Its first product was a $13 limited-edition inaugural cigar released in December; it will be followed this spring by the core E. P. Carrillo line, which will be available in five sizes priced from $6 to $8.
E.P. Carrillo Review
| Address: | Macon, GA |
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| Website: | www.toastedfoot.com |
I debated the scoring in this category; at $13 a stick, and the fact that is a limited run cigar, I made a minor deduction. The experimental wrapper used for this cigar will not be available again until 2012; perhaps then, when grown in larger quantity, the price will decrease a bit and the stick will be easier to come by. I had to pace myself on this one, as I never wanted to put it down in between puffs; it was so complex and yet incredibly smooth. Though a seasoned veteran, this is one heck of an introductory cigar! If you see these, pick up a box because I doubt this exact blend will be produced again.
(Total: 9.3)
E.P. Carrillo Review
| Address: | Fort Lauderdale, FL |
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| Website: | theweeklycigar.com |
Vitola: Encore
Length: 5 3/8″
Ring Gauge: 52
This is a cigar I have been wanting to try for some time, but a $13+ pricetag kept me away. Thankfully, Ken, the very generous owner of my local B&M (http://www.cigarsandmore.com) was nice enough to give me one and, I have to say, this is one of the finest cigars I have had the pleasure of smoking.
The Verdict
Appearance: 14/15
This cigar is beautiful. There is not a lot of oil to the wrapper, but the veins are tiny, and the cap is applied in a way that makes it almost flush with the the wrapper leaf. The cigar is firm and evenly packed. There are 3 water spots on the wrapper, which is something you see every now and again, particularly with Cuban cigars.
Flavor: 25/25
The wrapper smelled of sweet hay/grass, and the cold taste had hints of raisin and cinnamon. The draw seemed a bit snug, but as soon as the cigar was lit, it opened up perfectly.
The first few puffs were incredible. The taste was unbelievably complex, and included cinnamon, honey, a slight grassiness, raisin, and pepper (think a softer white pepper as opposed to a Cubao or Tatuaje).
As the cigar progressed, the body picked up slightly, going from mild/medium to medium. The ash was strong, and held on for around 2”. The second third showed a similar taste profile, but the honey/graham sweetness and cinnamon picked up and I started to notice vanilla in the background.
The pepper faded out in the second third, and picked up again in the final third. At this point, the body had crept to the medium/full range.
Construction: 23/25
The construction was top notch. The burn was mostly straight, but went jagged a few times. The remarkable thing was that no matter how bad the burn got, the cigar always evened itself out.
Overall Impression: 34/35
What can I say? This cigar is a masterpiece. It tastes like a cross between a Cuban Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill and a Davidoff Aniversario No. 3. At $13, the E.P. Carrillo Edición Inaugural 2009 is a steal. This is the perfect smoke for a lazy Sunday afternoon outside on your deck, and would be even better paired with an iced latte. If I had the money, I would pick up a box or two in a heartbeat. Also, if I had smoked this cigar before I put out my Top Cigars of 2009, the E.P. Carrillo Edición Inaugural 2009 would be very near the top.
Final Score: 96/100
E.P. Carrillo Review
| Address: | Maryland |
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| Website: | nicetightash.com |
Ernesto Perez-Carrillo is most associated with his original cigar creation, the La Gloria Cubana. After rave reviews in the first issues of Cigar Aficionado, the brand help lead the industry into it’s first big boom in the mid-1990s. In 1999, Swedish Match/General Cigar purchased the company from Ernesto, and he stayed there for 10 more years, until the spring of 2009. Wanting to return to his roots as a family-run boutique cigar manufacturer, he started a new company, EPC Cigar Co., along with his two children, Ernesto III and Lissette. Limited to 150,000 cigars, the Edición Inaugural 2009 is the first release from this new venture, with their first full release due in April 2010. Billed as medium bodied, the mix of Nicaraguan and Dominican filler are bound by two 5 year old Piloto Cubano binders, one from Nicaragua and one from the Dominican Republic, and is encased in an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper that has been aged for 3 years.
A New Beginning
| Address: | New York, NY |
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| Website: | www.smokemag.com |
When you've risen to the top of the cigar world, what do you do next? If there's tobacco in you blood, you start all over again, Cuban-style, with your family by your side. Cuban-born Ernesto Perez-Carrillo became one of Miami's biggest cigar sensations in the early 1990s when his reblended La Gloria Cubana brand captured rave reviews and inspired a cult-like following.
Hardly an overnight sensation, Perez-Carrillo's father owned the El Credito Cigar Company in Cuba and re-established it in Miami as a small store-front operation many years later. Tremendous growth and a new Dominican Republic factory followed, but Perez-Carrillo ultimately sold El Credito to Swedish Match S.A./General Cigar Company in 1999. He continued at the helm as master blender until early 2009 when he left to start a new, family-owned cigar company, despite numerous challenges facing tobacco manufacturers.
Joined by his son, Ernesto "Ernie" Perez-Carrillo III and daughter Lissette McPhillips Perez-Carrillo, he's going back to basics confident that passionate cigar enthusiasts will find a place in their humidors for his newest blends which, for the first time in his family's history, even bear the Carrillo name on the band.
SMOKE: You're the third generation in your family's cigar making tradition. How did it all begin?
PEREZ-CARRILLO: My grandfather started back in 1907, and what they used to do is make cigars in the streets of Cuba. My father came into the business in about 1928, he was 24 years old, and basically he continued it. He was mostly into the growing and brokering of tobacco. His first factory he bought in 1948, which was El Credito, and that's when he got involved in cigar making himself. That lasted until he came to the United States in 1959. He reopened the factory in 1968 - it was a small chinchale - and basically ran it until he got sick. My wife and myself, we were involved in the beginning there, helping him out. In 1980 when he passed away, that's when I started running the company myself.






