When I think back to what I was smoking when I first started enjoying cigars there are a handful of cigars that come to mind. One of them was the El Rico Habano and another was the La Gloria Cubana Serie R. I’m pretty sure at the time, I had no idea who actually made these cigars. Of course now I know that Ernesto Perez Carrillo was the man behind La Gloria Cubana. I didn’t know his family was behind El Rico or the history before Ernesto left General Cigars. Below is an interesting and insightful discussion with Ernesto and his son Ernie. Talking about life before he was into cigars, his history since and the future of EPC Cigars. From El Credito and La Gloria days of the past to current releases of New Wave and Dark Ritual, Ernesto covers it all. We even talk a little Four Kicks and Ernesto’s history with Mike Conder when they were both at General Cigars.
I’ve broken the video into two parts. Part One runs about 38 minutes with Part Two running about 40 minutes. If video isn’t your thing, you can download the entire audio mp3 version and load it up.
Contest – Easy contest for a pair (2) of EPC Dark Ritual. All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me something you learned or something you found interesting or entertaining for the video. Winner will be chosen at random. Contest ends on November 13th at 11:59pm (Eastern). Thanks Charlie for donating the cigars.
Cubanana?
Ha ha…thanks Nick. I got carried away with those “an” LOL.
Funny things too…I had encoded the movie and had it all ready to upload and then I realized that I had misspelled Ernesto’s name and had to go back to fix and encode all over again. LOL
Don’t be too hard on yourself Jerry. It made me wonder if they grow bananas in Cuba.
Cool videos as always. I’m a huge fan of EPC Cigars, namely the Short Run 2011, one of my favorite cigars this year.
Anyways, I really liked the demonstration of entubado bunching/rolling. I had always heard people in reviews say the longer part of the ash in the middle is the ligero, but never understood why or how they knew. Showing that the ligero is always placed inside the other tobacco varieties answered that question.
Thanks for the vid!
check out Doc’s most recent StogieFresh 5 podcast for a layman’s attempt at doing this rolling method. I guess General rolls all their cigars this way….who knew?
The aforementioned demonstration of rolling a cigar was very interesting, but so was him discussing what goes into a limited edition blend. It seems pretty obvious, but it was interesting to hear him discuss the specific seeds/plants that made him excited, and how he acquired them.
Secondarily, I was lucky enough to ask him about his drumming after the presentation, and the man has played with and studied under some of the best jazz drummers ever. Cool little factoid.
As a side note, George has a wealth of cool anecdotes about Ernesto, so swing by Draper’s in Bethesda and ask him to tell you some. They’re fascinating.
I enjoyed this interview tremendously especially listening to his reason for creating a cigar that he believes someone enjoys, and how he wants to enjoy it as well. Mr. Carrillo is my very favorite blender and to hear him speak about his personal experiences and his passion for what he creates just reassured me about my very thoughts of him. I have written many times on blogs and in conversation with other cigar lovers that this man is incredible! After smoking many of his cigars I noticed the consistency in his cigars they are tried and true. I am also glad that he does not saturate the market with inferior cigars. This is why I have come to love his cigars and respect the man and his family that stands behind him! I have not had the chance to get my hands on the Dark Rituals, so maybe there’s hope with this contest.
First thing i learned after watching this video is that i want to visit Draper’s shop
Second thing i learned was how cigar aficionado changed the way Carrillo produced cigars because of his popularity. How he moved to the D.R. and kept expanding his production, a lot of little facts like pyramid bundling, the D.R. using the triple cap method, the use of the lieberman machine to help control quality control
and last is that i really want to try the dark rituals, lol
Great Interview, thanks for the coverage. Two things, making a good blend is great, but if your cigar makers don’t share your same beliefs the product will ultimately suffer. The second thing, don’t judge a book by its cover. If your buying a cigar strictly by the looks of a wrapper, your being sold to. Taste and looks are two completely different factors when purchasing a cigar. Taste the product before you crown it. Thanks again Jerry.
Great information here. I also enjoyed the entubado demo, as well as his recollection of his first smoking experience. Actually, I really enjoyed the whole thing. His integrity is something to be admired.
I’m glad Ernesto did that. I’ve heard of Entubar but never really knew what it meant so it was awesome to see it actually demonstrated.
What I learned was I’m glad Earnie did’t didn’t make it as a drummer.
He is just an AWESOME guy! It makes me want to start up a cigar factory like he and his father had. He really embodies the “american dream” with his stories of the old days.
I learned that the “beep beep” noise every time someone entered or exited the store drives my dog nuts.
LOL…I was surprised that the lavalier microphones were able to pick that up.
Great job, and an interesting interview!!!
The idea that the wrapper has that much to do with the taste or flavor of the cigar.
Since I’m not allowed to watch videos at work (“What is this — Russia???”), I’m trying to upload the .mp3 link, and I’m getting “PAGE NOT FOUND”. Is this (yet another) case of User Error? If so, I apologize — technologically speaking, I am admittedly a few clowns short of a circus.
Very cool vid. Not too many people can keep my attention for 80min. Good job SR!!!
“Not too many people can keep my attention for 80min” – Thats what she said LOL
I really enjoyed the discussion of the limited edition blending! Thanks for the Video!!
ok history lesson learned, the enter beioro sp?
E Clapping nice videos
I found the most interesting part to be the demonstration using the napkins.
Very interesting history plus the info on blending, rolling methods, etc. I learned so much I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I’ve been enjoying cigars for 11 years now and this video makes me wish I started in the earlier years. Sadly I have never smoked an EPC cigar but hope to fix that soon when funds allow. Here’s hoping for the pair of Dark Rituals!
Thanks for such a great interview. I will be forwarding this to fellow cigar enthusiasts that don’t usually watch the videos and tell them that this is a must watch.
Kudos to “The Seed Planter”!
Thanks,
Rick
Thanks for the videos Jerry.
Interesting how many times he refers to the importance of blending something unique compared to everything else he had produced. Love that about EPC cigars.
Nice Video guys, I learned just how much one man can love Cigars its amazing
I found it interesting that the first cigar Ernesto ever smoke made him throw up and yet he is the icon he is today. Also that he mentioned a cigar shop in Cherry Hill NJ, that is where I live now, my computer speakers are pretty crappy so I couldn’t make out the shop name. Is it still around?
This was the first time I’ve heard Ernesto Perez-Carillo speak. I was expecting a man who spoke little or no English, instead I found myself listening to a man who spoke English very well. I enjoyed the videos.
Great videos
Thought rolling cigars with new paper down in Miami was very old school. would love to try one of those
Thanks for the video I enjoyed learning about the aspects of blending very interesting stuff!
I’m going to have to say I really liked learning about the blending. But it alway to learn about what types I blends I am smoking before instead if just lighting it up an saying mm this is good … What’s in it? I don’t know. Lol
EPC’s story of his first cigar and him vomiting on his drum set because of it…now that’s entertaining…
Great interview. Love hearing from someone do influential in the cigar biz! Thanks for sharing. Loved hearing about the blending process.
Ernesto is an amazing source of knowledge. This is a great overview of his history in the business. If you haven’t watched both halves all the way through, you surely missed something great.
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Congrats to Tom, whose comment (https://stogiereview.com/2011/11/07/an-afternoon-with-ernesto-perez-carrillo/#comment-165087) was randomly selected to win the EPC Dark Rituals giveaway!
Look for an email from me with details on how to claim your prize!