Source:
https://www.latinoleadersmagazine.com/mayjune2022/7/7/cigarden-interview-with-lissette-perez-carillo
Lissette Perez-Carrillo
Interview by Francisco Arias
FCO: I’ll start by telling you that there is a personal interest to know more about your brand because of the way you present the company, a family company in every sense and when preparing for the tasting that I did a couple of weeks ago, I reviewed the history about how you started with the tradition of incorporating both your grandmothers picture and yours on each side of the cigar band, and that speaks of a great family union, so I'd like to know more about that, what have you learned from your father in this industry, how has it changed since you got involved, and what do you see in the future for E.P. Carrillo? Lissette Perez-Carrillo: Well, the company has had a development or an evolution in the sense that this started in Cuba with my great-grandfather and then continued with my grandfather when he arrived in Miami in the United States, he opened a factory for the brand “La Gloria Cubana” which was their brand when they were in Cuba which got complicated when Fidel Castro came to power, so my dad worked with his father for many years when his father died, he continued with this company and since I was a little girl I was always spending time with them there, I worked since I was 5 years old, I put rings on and kept the cigars in cellophane, for me it was always like something that was normal, I did not know that it was something so different from what the other girls or boys at school did when they accompanied their parents to work! I did not know that what my dad did was considered something so special, for me it was something normal because I grew up with it, so as I grew older I realized more and more that it was something special and that it required a certain specialty, plus I realized how my dad developed that talent and that doesn't necessarily mean that because my dad does it, then my brother or I are going to do it. My brother and I don't pretend that we're blenders, we each bring certain skills to the table. So basically in that company I worked until I went to law school in Ney York, and while I was in school, Scandinavian Tobacco came and made us an offer to buy the company, and we decided to sell it, this was very difficult for many years for my dad, because that was like his baby and although it was difficult, it was obvious that we were never going to be able to see the numbers that we saw in that sale, or at least not in the way we were running the business. And I am referring to the access to tobacco and capital. We were not reaching the sales potential that the company could reach after it would be acquired, the other company was clearly much larger and had much more money to invest. So many years passed, 10 years, and I went to law school, then I was working in New York as a lawyer and my brother was in college. And one day the moment came when my father had to decide if he would continue with that company as an ambassador and all that, obviously they were the owners, not us. And he sat down with us, and well, we decided to start E.P. Carrillo. It was very different from what we expected in the sense that not only was my dad's name necessary to achieve success, many of the people who knew him were from a certain generation, and there were other generations that the truth was that it would be quite difficult to obtain their attention with only the name of “Ernesto Pérez Carrillo”, I'm talking about smokers who are maybe 30 or 40 years old, back then, let's say 10 years ago, and it's still something that I think with so much competition it's something that we are always trying to achieve, which is to bring new demographics to our brand. Basically, what we did is that the three of us started our company, he took care of the factory and the blends, my brother handled the sales, and I handled the marketing and legal department, so each one was always doing things that the other might do. But the branding will always belong to my father, it's not that we don't know how to do it, if we had to do it, we would do it, it's just not something that really comes to us. For example, my brother and I are more analytical people, we see numbers. My dad likes to touch the tobacco, do you see my point? It is his passion, and it shows every time you see him, he always has his attention on it and is always pushing himself to reach other levels. So while he is already 70 years old, for example I am here, I know all the blends, on this trip I brought my daughter who is 16 years old, my son has come with me before, the idea would be that for example if he wants to retire in 10 years, then have people who may not be us but whom he mentored and taught them his method and that is something we continue to do, we have two people, one of them is called José Manuel, he is a fairly young boy, he is very talented and the other is Jorge Maique who is the one who created Behike, do you know Behike from Cuba? FCO: Definitely! Lissette Perez-Carrillo: So this man was the one who created all that, it was his idea, his design, so he is in the factory with us and so, interestingly enough, my father has a very specific way of how he likes to make the blends, a lot of perspective, we are currently exploring it with different blends, for example with José Manuel, the youngest boy, he has a different form, although my father can teach him his, he can also contribute a lot because he has a lot of talent, a lot of passion, since he was little learned to do this and thus we are creating the future so that my father's legacy continues, although he still has a long way to go because he loves what he is doing and so perhaps our children, if they are interested, can continue this, they are four, I'm sure one of them will be interested at some point! FCO: What would be the characteristics that allow people like your dad, like Jorge Maique or José Manuel to become Master blenders? Lissette Perez-Carrillo: Well in this case the testimony that I can give you is from my Dad, because of the amount of time that I have spent with him, what I have observed, I think that one of the things that he always aspires to is to constantly improve, we got a rating of 98 points, which is the highest rating since the "Cigar of the year" competition was held. And he was always trying to improve, for him that was a great success, but he always wonders: What was in that Cigar? Because his favorite is the Encore, which also won 96 points in 2018, so he always thinks: What is the consumer going to like and how can I improve what I know so I can give them what they want? So, one of the aspects that I have noticed in him is that flexibility. That after so many years of knowing, you know... how to flirt with something that he likes and maybe that the people he usually talks and interacts with also like it, so it's about finding “ligas” that attract the younger crowd, maybe 30 or 40 years old, from that same group that I was mentioning to you. And with the Pledge we found that we were able to please all ages and all kinds of demographics, and they loved that cigar, it was an impressive thing, so that's it, always looking for the next level of it. FCO: It is a process of continuous improvement that he practices, correct? Lissette Perez-Carrillo: Exactly! He starts making notes in folders, about all the details he observes, comparing, for example: This one was fine, but the other blend was better, because of this and that, and how the wrapper burns, all those details. It's almost obsessive in a certain way. It is something that he is always thinking about, and I have noticed that he is also always looking for certain aromas, it is not just that it tastes good or that it feels good or that it smokes well, it is a certain aroma that he is always looking for in the tobacco when it is fresh, already when it is burning, before reaching the last part, all those things that are developed with constant practice that generate the experience and although it could be seen as something obsessive, I think that is what has allowed him to reach this level of excellence. FCO: Speaking of the new generations and the trilogy. How would you divide the demographics that like these three cigars?
Lissette Perez-Carrillo: I think that the Pledge speaks to all smokers, it is a stronger tobacco, but even a person who has just started smoking can be struck by it because although it has a blend or profile of full-bodied tobaccos, it has flavors that please the palate. I don't know if you have tried it in the different sizes, but even though it is a strong tobacco, it pleases. And it appeals to people who are just starting out who generally want to start with something softer like a Connecticut, I don't think people have to start with a Connecticut, I think they can start with any blend and not because it's medium or strong It will attack the palate. A good mix can be appreciated by anyone. And people can try and decide if they move down a bit or if the mix is too soft, they move up a bit, but we've seen that everyone likes the Pledge. FCO: How do you define the strength of the three cigars that make up the trilogy? Lissette Perez-Carrillo: The Pledge is the strongest and I would say that La Historia and Encore are similar, they are both medium, so La Historia I would say has a distinctive flavor and is something that complements coffee and complements a drink, it is something that pleases a lot and that you don't have to have a very deep knowledge of what you're smoking, whereas the Encore which is my dad's favorite cigar, it requires the retro hale, it does require that understanding of the complexity of the blend, because maybe someone smokes it and at first you might think that it is not so complex, or so strong, but that cigar is as my father says "It is an elegant cigar" since it intrigues you and changes, but you have to know how to smoke. FCO: What I detected in the Pledge that I tasted last week, in the second and the last thirds, if you don't practice the retro hale, you lose 70% of what the cigar offers in terms of aromas. Lissette Perez-Carrillo: Did you found that In the Pledge? FCO: Yes, I did. Lissette Perez-Carrillo: My dad always says you must do the retro hale, that you must do it on all cigars, but there are some cigars that if you don't, you lose everything! And that's what the Encore says. FCO: That’s correct, for me personally in the first instance the retro hale is a way to check the quality of a cigar, a poorly fermented tobacco, poorly cured or that it was not given adequate time during manufacturing, it is evident that it generates a nasty and aggressive retro hale. In the case of the three cigars of the trilogy, I can attest that all three were a delight! Only by doing retro hale you are capable of detecting hazelnut aromas or hints of honey, among many others. FCO: I would like to talk a bit about the feedback you have received from consumers regarding the new Pledge sizes? Lissette Perez-Carrillo: The last size we put on the market was the Apogee which has a thicker 58 ring. I don't know if you knew that my dad was one of the first to make and introduce thicker cigars in the market, that happened when we owned the La Gloria Cubana brand. We used to own the La Gloria Cubana brand, it was the brand we sold and now one of the cigars we sell the most is the "Inch" and the Inch is one of the cigars we have in a ring gauge range of 60, 62, 64 and 70 and my dad still makes it with the highest quality and it is wide ring, since other companies use medium quality fillers when they make big ring cigars, my dad makes it totally premium, as if it were a 50 ring, 52 or 54, he creates it with the tobaccos that he believes are required to reach that size, so this is a completely different line of cigars from the trilogy, but if you are interested in reading a bit of that, you can enter the EP Carrillo website and search for Ernest Perez Carrillo big ring and you will be able to see several articles from his history in this regard. Exploring Large Cigar Types: The Big Ring Gauge Cigar - EP Carrillo - Cigar Company (carrillocigars.com) FCO: Excellent! Lissette Perez-Carrillo: For me personally La Historia is my favorite of everything we do, I love that cigar! And each of those cigars were created in different eras. La Historia was the first and they asked me to design the ring and the box of that cigar and then I decided to put my grandmother and I looking towards the future, my grandmother is on one side representing the past and I on the other side representing the future, this same ring is used with the Encore and it is used with the Pledge but in different colors, in other words this whole line that makes up The Trilogy has the same band except in different colors and the different names that we are using. We created the Encore a couple of years later, as if thinking, well La Historia took the 2nd place of the year, and we said well, lets come up with something new since the market is asking us for something more, and we made the Encore and coincidence that cigar won number one! So, imagine, we never expected that! And the Pledge for each size has the name of the grandchildren, the last size that we launched is a 66 but with a soft launch that in the trade show that is coming in June we are going to launch it officially, it is called El Futuro and that is a 5”x 50 from the Encore and the idea is that this is the line of the grandchildren, of the future, so every cigar that we take out in that line we are going to have that in mind. The idea with the Pledge is that with each stage of his development as a blender, he makes it as sort of a commitment, the Prequel has to do with the past and how he learned everything, the Sojourn has to do with all that time that was spent in the last company learning and developing all this knowledge that he must have to reach the level of a Master Blender! So, the Pledge line speaks more to the consumer, it is our promise to you “It’s our pledge to you” to give you the best that it has to offer, and that is when it is not a cigar like the Encore that maybe you have to be a smoker of several years to be able to appreciate it. The Pledge is a cigar that he thinks everyone is going to appreciate, that everyone is going to sit down and say wow I love it, that's the response we've gotten from the consumer since we launched it. Even before the first one was sold, the people who had tried it because within the same industry everybody shares cigars and samples, they were all talking about the Pledge FCO: I can see that the Pledge was a success from the beginning, even within the circle of blenders and manufacturers as you share with us. FCO: How has the industry behaved during these years of the pandemic? Lissette Perez-Carrillo: Well, as you know, sales grew during the pandemic because many people had more time to be at home and enjoy a cigar, recently the demand has decreased, and we believe it is because people are returning to their offices. FCO: That make sense, and before finishing, I would like to comment that Tobacco from San Andrés Tuxtla Mexico is one of my favorites, and I see that already use it. Lissette Perez-Carrillo: Yeah! sure, we used it mainly as a wrapper in La Historia and that was one of the first times my father used that wrapper and he really liked it! FCO: Definitely a fascinating story! All the trajectory of your father and the development in the tobacco industry that he has had all these decades in addition to the birth of the new company, how you got involved from a young age and eventually you and your brother got together to support your father in his new journey, all of this is a magnificent example of family union and the entrepreneurial spirit, which should be presented as an example of an excellent family business where everyone contributes with a particular set of skills and together your family created a synergy that turned into success. And continuous year after year, success that we can all observe and taste in magnificent cigars such as the Pledge, Encore and La Historia We are not saying goodbye because we will continue to watch this story that will continue to unfold. Cheers to you, to your father, to your brother and to your whole family, and I thank you very much for the time you dedicated to us. Lissette Perez-Carrillo: Thank you very much Francisco, it was a pleasure to be able to share the story of our family with the readers of Latino Leaders Magazine.