I am sure some of you have seen or heard of the Press Release that Padilla Cigars will no longer be making cigars with Pepin Garcia. As you know, as many of you are aware Pepin's operations have grown tremendously and many different brands have been brought into his fold.
Over 3 years ago, I had the opportunity to begin producing cigars with a Cuban-roller few if any in the cigar industry had heard of at the time. I remember walking in and seeing about six rollers going about creating cigars in a manner which I have not seen in any other factory at the time. I met with Pepin and his son and was very impressed with the quality and craftsmanship of their cigars. All the heads on their cigars were triple-capped, the cigars were created with to binders unlike the traditional one and there was no use of any machines to assist in the bunching of the cigars like the majority of cigar factories and of course, all the rollers had been trained in Cuba.
At the time there were a few private labels being produced at that factory, I came to Pepin and in about 6 months we had created a great blend which was called the Padilla Miami 8&11, which was named Cigar Aficionado's Top 25 Cigars in 2005.
I mention this information to give people an understanding of how small Pepin's operation was just 2 short years ago.During that time, we created other award-winning blends such as, the Padilla Miami, Signature 1932 and 1948 and at the time Pepin did not have a cigar factory in Nicaragua and I wanted to come out with a more accessible cigar at a lower price point and at the time our cigars were at a high price point due to the labor costs in Miami and how the cigars were manufactured. I looked for another cigar company over 2 years ago that could compliment what I was doing with Pepin, which offered a lower price point which could only be achieved in another country, such as Nicaragua. I spoke with Jose Oliva, of the Oliva Cigar Family and worked out a great blend that we soon called the Padilla Habano (named after its wrapper). Both the Oliva Cigar Company and Pepin Garcia were instrumental in Padilla Cigar Companies success and remain close friends to this day. I had mentioned to Jose Oliva, several months back the idea of opening up my own Padilla cigar factory and he was very supportive along with his brothers in this new venture. At that time, I saw that many new brands in higher volumes were beginning to be produced in Pepin's factory. One of my main goals at Padilla Cigars was to create limited, premium boutique cigars and in order to better achieve this goal I feel that the time has come to create my own cigar factory that will be able to produce high-end premium cigars, similar to what we created earlier with Pepin. I am very excited about this new project and will bring better quality control and production control along with creating more unique cigar blends in the Cuban tradition.
Working with Pepin Garcia has been a great learning experience, and he has a great passion and dedication to his craft. I know the reason many of you visit internet forums is to get more insight into our small industry and at times gossip and rumors can run astray but the simple fact is, I wanted to have more control over the premium cigars that Padilla manufactures year out.
Many friends within the industry that I have mentioned the new factory to have already offered us a hand with our new premium Miami factory. And as some of you may know, we currently produce 2 brands in Honduras and Nicragua; the Padilla Habano and the Serie'68 which just received a 93 rating along with a exclusive interview on Padilla Cigars and myself in the latest April issue of Cigar Aficionado.
We hope to have the factory up and running in several months, as the location, tobacco and rollers have been established.
Padilla Cigars will continue to manufacture 3 brands in the Miami Factory: the Padilla Miami, Signature 1932 and 1948 and will also create exclusive blends only available at the Miami factory. We look forward to your comments and welcome your opinions as we continue to create limited award-winning boutique cigars. When the factory does commence its operations, we welcome all cigars smokers to visit us on Miami's historic Calle Ocho (8th street).
We wish Pepin Garcia and his family continued success and look forward to our new challenges as we bring the Padilla Miami Cigar Factory to life.
I would like to thank everyone for their continued support and wish everyone the best.
Sincerely,
Ernesto Padilla
President
Padilla Cigar Company
