PCA Magazine 2022 Show Issue

and saying to myself, “I wish I had a booth like that.” It was basically two couches. The show is something that you need to go to in order to do business and, to a certain degree, to grow your business. It’s not necessarily about what sales you’re going to get there at that moment. It’s not about ringing up the cash register. It’s the relationships you’re going to build because people have to see you. DO YOU HAVE A FONDEST MEMORY OF ONE OF THE SHOWS? DOES A CERTAIN MOMENT COME TO MIND? Along with the moment I just mentioned, I think when I got the ratings in Cigar Aficionado . That was a very important moment. Marvin came into my little cigar shop on 8th Street about 1990 and he started speaking about doing this thing, this magazine. Then in 1992 he introduced it. Before the ratings, my biggest sale was like 600 bucks at previous shows. The first day after that magazine got introduced and our cigar was rated, the first day was like $25,000. At that time, I went to most of the shows by myself and I used to get, I don’t know, maybe five orders, six orders a day. And that day alone, at one point I just stopped writing. I said, “Look, call the office. There’s no way I’m going to be able to take all this in.” WHAT HAS YOU EXCITED ABOUT YOUR COMPANY TODAY? We’re going to be introducing our first cigar made outside our factory. There’s another surprise that if we have it on time, we’ll be able to introduce it at the show too. But I see our factory now as a factory that has the potential for extreme growth. I was talking to my daughter this morning, and I was telling her we need to grow not because of the demand, not because of the back orders, but because of the steps that we’re taking to really satisfy our customers. Because at the end of the day, that’s who you have to satisfy. Then there’s also things about different tobaccos that I’mworking with, different projects that we’ll be announcing soon. IT’S A FAMILY COMPANY. SO WHY IS FAMILY SO IMPORTANT TO YOU? Family is why I do this. I want them to be a part of something. Not because of the security factor and that type of stuff. My kids are both professionals. They could be doing other things. But they’re doing this because they love it. I’m not going to say they enjoy working with me, which I’m sure they do. They just won’t admit it. It’s not easy for any of us, but you see how the relationship’s overall strength grows. They both decided to move here to Miami, which is great, for selfish reasons. You know, my wife and I wanted that. The grandkids are here, and it’s just a great dynamic. Let’s put it that way. IF YOU HAD A DAY WHERE YOU WEREN’T ALLOWED TO THINK ABOUT CIGARS, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? WHAT WOULD THE DAY LOOK LIKE? I love reading. I guess you could say it’s my hobby, any chance I get, I’m reading either a Kindle book or a regular book. I like to read a lot about business. I’m studying, kind of working on anMBA thing, because I never finished school. So I wanted to be able to do some of that, just for myself. I’m reading a book in Spanish called La Mena , which is a trilogy set in Spain, and a biography on Genghis Khan. YOU’VE BEEN ATTENDING PCA TRADE SHOWS FOR FOUR DECADES NOW. WHAT KEEPS YOU COMING BACK? Well, I do have to say, I did miss one. I think it was Cincinnati. I don’t remember the year, but I know there was something that I just couldn’t be there. But I’ve been there all the other times. I remember, at my first one, we used to sell the Gloria Cubana I think for $1.85 and a guy from a wholesale group in California comes to me and says, “Well, okay, this is the retail price. What is my price?” I said, “What do you mean what is your price? This is your price. $1.85.” And he says, “No, no, you don’t understand. If you sell it to me for $1.85, I can’t sell it for $1.85. I have to double the price.” So I’m standing there, I’m thinking, “Well, I didn’t know that.” So then I learned. At that time, I remember looking at the biggest booth Five Questions Ernesto Perez-Carrillo CO-FOUNDER & MASTER BLENDER, EP CARRILLO CIGAR COMPANY 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 1 . 80 PCA The Magazine | VOLUME 2 2022 PREMIUMCIGARS.ORG