03-02-2009, 11:19 AM
We started our trip off flying into Tampa Bay on Sunday February 22nd. Micah and I had been looking forward to visiting Ybor city. Let me say that we were underwhelmed by Ybor city. We did not even get out of the car. Plan B was to get some dinner in Tampa but being in the Bible belt, the only thing we could find was an average Thai place. Monday morning we met with Joe Cusano, JT, and Jeff. The Cusano operation is by far the most efficient I have seen in the industry with bar-coded sales orders, shipping boxes and cigars. Its companies like Cusano that streamline costs to bring you a quality cigar at the cheapest price possible. If anyone hasn't tried their LXI Sun grown, youâre really missing out.
After lunch with Cusano we headed down to Bonita Springs to see Nish Patel. We were not expecting Rocky to be there but he was. There was also some other visitors from China and South America. Lilly from China is opening up China through her version of CA as well as cigar bars. Rocky and Nish treated everyone to dinner and took us to a very cool cigar bar in Bonita Springs called the World Famous Cigar Bar. Micah and I reluctantly called it a night at around 1 AM to drive to Miami in the morning.
Tuesday started at 5AM with about 4 hours sleep driving through alligator alley arriving at La Flor Dominicana by 10AM. We chatted with Morgan Jones and the ladies of the office. We even got to meet Ines Littoâs wife. The newly 95 rated Solomones should be arriving soon.
After a tip from John Gonzalez we headed over to El Rey de Los Habanos to hopefully see Don Pepin and Jaime Garcia. When we got there Oquel Guerra was there to greet us. Pepins daughter Janny was not there and I was disappointed because I missed her in Vegas because she was pregnant. Oquel made some phone calls and before we knew it, in walked Jaime and Don Pepin. We talked for about an hour. Jaime's English is about as good as my Spanish; it was good that we had Oquel there to translate. They showed us pictures of their new factory and we showed them pictures of our store. It is refreshing to see how passionate they were and how much fun they are having. It was just a few years ago when they were still in Cuba. The Garcias are truly living the American dream. After about an hour Micah and I realized that they had to leave the next day for Nicaragua. We took some pictures with them and walked next door to see Ernesto Perez Carrillo.
Ernesto greeted me and Micah at the La Gloria Cubana store and asked us if we had eaten yet. Ernesto took us to my favorite Cuban Restaurant; La Carreta on 8th street and about 34th AVE. Ernesto asked if we wanted real Cuban food or Americanized Cuban food. Of course we said real Cuban food. Ernesto ordered for us; Lechon (roasted pork), yuca with onions, tostones (fried plantains) and flan with coconut for dessert. We talked about SCHIP and the state of the industry as well as his plans for the future. We retired back to his office on Calle Ocho to coffee and some prototype cigars he is working on. I can't say exactly what we had but let's just say I can't wait until they hit the market. Ernesto is a class act and we really enjoyed the time we spent with him. The knowledge this man has is mindboggling.
After we left Ernesto, we drove about a mile to see Orlando Padron. We caught Orlando late in the day but we were able to sit down with him for about 45 minutes to discuss some business. The Padron offices are immaculate with hand carved doors and high ceilings. Padron doesn't do anything half way. Everything is top notch.
The last stop for our busy day was Ernesto Padilla's new factory on 8th street and 15th AVE, a must see when visiting Miami. Claudia who works there was devastatingly beautiful and fun to hang out with.
Micah and I headed to South Beach to check in and relax at the hotel. I came across a couple of guys smoking cigars at the cafe in front of our hotel. Karim was a larger than life Puerto Rican from the east coast and Matt was his best friend from Rhode Island. We sat with them for a while and drank Mojitos and had a good time. Micah and I had to call it a night; they would have kept us out all night if they could.
Wednesday started out with a phenomenal breakfast at Cafe Versailles, a Cuban bakery. We were in heaven. Micah and I had been dreaming of Papa Rellena for the last year. Anyone going to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale should go to Calle Ocho to see the cigar companies and get some Cuban food; just remember your cholesterol meds. After breakfast we headed over to Perdomo.
We arrived at Perdomo and sat down with Arthur Kemper and Jeff. Perdomo has a nice smoking lounge and retail showroom with a walk in humidor. Perdomo is coming out with some new stuff that we can't talk about yet but it will hit the store soon.
After our visit with Perdomo we made our way over to Oliva. Unfortunately our contact at Oliva was under the weather and Jose Oliva was not in the office so we drove around Miami trying to find someplace to eat. We ended up settling for Burger King.
Miami Cigar was the next stop and we were lucky to find that Nestor Miranda was there. We enjoyed a Don Lino Africa and Cuban coffee. It turns out that Nestor and I share a common interest, hunting. I hunt deer and he hunts everything. Nestor's stories of hunting in Africa were fun and interesting to hear about. Wakaaah, Wakaaah Nester's says while pulling an air trigger telling the stories of his shots on big game. Miami has recently taken over distribution for EO brands Cubao and 601.
We left Miami Cigar and met my friend Nick Nanavichit (the Asian assassin) for a drink and then went to dinner with Dylan Austin from Camacho and his beautiful wife Dulce. Itâs always fun hanging out with Nick and Dylan but you have to be careful because they can keep you out late. I actually started to fall asleep at dinner. When we got back to our hotel I passed out on my bed. I was wiped out.
Thursday morning we drove out to see Dylan and the new Camacho offices. We sat with Dylan and talked about their recent events over cigars and coffee. We were about to leave when Christian showed up. We continued our conversation with Christian and Dylan for another hour or so.
Our last stop on the trip was EO Brands (601). Eddie Ortega is one of the good guys. I always enjoy hanging with Eddie. We laughed and talked in his office with Raul. The first thing Eddie said is "we are not going to talk about SCHIP". Well for the next 20 minutes SCHIP is all we talked about. We laughed about it and decided to go to dinner. We went to dinner at great Chinese restaurant called the Golden Pond in Ft. Lauderdale. We stuffed ourselves and my sides hurt from laughing so hard. Eddie and Erik might be the biggest ball busters I have ever met. Thanks Cracker!
Well that's our trip to south Florida. All of our conversations centered on SCHIP and how the industry will move forward. Some companies are taking drastic measures to ensure survival and keep cigars affordable. Our industry is at a crucial moment. Most customers have no idea what's coming. Itâs scary and we just don't know what the future holds for cigars.
After lunch with Cusano we headed down to Bonita Springs to see Nish Patel. We were not expecting Rocky to be there but he was. There was also some other visitors from China and South America. Lilly from China is opening up China through her version of CA as well as cigar bars. Rocky and Nish treated everyone to dinner and took us to a very cool cigar bar in Bonita Springs called the World Famous Cigar Bar. Micah and I reluctantly called it a night at around 1 AM to drive to Miami in the morning.
Tuesday started at 5AM with about 4 hours sleep driving through alligator alley arriving at La Flor Dominicana by 10AM. We chatted with Morgan Jones and the ladies of the office. We even got to meet Ines Littoâs wife. The newly 95 rated Solomones should be arriving soon.
After a tip from John Gonzalez we headed over to El Rey de Los Habanos to hopefully see Don Pepin and Jaime Garcia. When we got there Oquel Guerra was there to greet us. Pepins daughter Janny was not there and I was disappointed because I missed her in Vegas because she was pregnant. Oquel made some phone calls and before we knew it, in walked Jaime and Don Pepin. We talked for about an hour. Jaime's English is about as good as my Spanish; it was good that we had Oquel there to translate. They showed us pictures of their new factory and we showed them pictures of our store. It is refreshing to see how passionate they were and how much fun they are having. It was just a few years ago when they were still in Cuba. The Garcias are truly living the American dream. After about an hour Micah and I realized that they had to leave the next day for Nicaragua. We took some pictures with them and walked next door to see Ernesto Perez Carrillo.
Ernesto greeted me and Micah at the La Gloria Cubana store and asked us if we had eaten yet. Ernesto took us to my favorite Cuban Restaurant; La Carreta on 8th street and about 34th AVE. Ernesto asked if we wanted real Cuban food or Americanized Cuban food. Of course we said real Cuban food. Ernesto ordered for us; Lechon (roasted pork), yuca with onions, tostones (fried plantains) and flan with coconut for dessert. We talked about SCHIP and the state of the industry as well as his plans for the future. We retired back to his office on Calle Ocho to coffee and some prototype cigars he is working on. I can't say exactly what we had but let's just say I can't wait until they hit the market. Ernesto is a class act and we really enjoyed the time we spent with him. The knowledge this man has is mindboggling.
After we left Ernesto, we drove about a mile to see Orlando Padron. We caught Orlando late in the day but we were able to sit down with him for about 45 minutes to discuss some business. The Padron offices are immaculate with hand carved doors and high ceilings. Padron doesn't do anything half way. Everything is top notch.
The last stop for our busy day was Ernesto Padilla's new factory on 8th street and 15th AVE, a must see when visiting Miami. Claudia who works there was devastatingly beautiful and fun to hang out with.
Micah and I headed to South Beach to check in and relax at the hotel. I came across a couple of guys smoking cigars at the cafe in front of our hotel. Karim was a larger than life Puerto Rican from the east coast and Matt was his best friend from Rhode Island. We sat with them for a while and drank Mojitos and had a good time. Micah and I had to call it a night; they would have kept us out all night if they could.
Wednesday started out with a phenomenal breakfast at Cafe Versailles, a Cuban bakery. We were in heaven. Micah and I had been dreaming of Papa Rellena for the last year. Anyone going to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale should go to Calle Ocho to see the cigar companies and get some Cuban food; just remember your cholesterol meds. After breakfast we headed over to Perdomo.
We arrived at Perdomo and sat down with Arthur Kemper and Jeff. Perdomo has a nice smoking lounge and retail showroom with a walk in humidor. Perdomo is coming out with some new stuff that we can't talk about yet but it will hit the store soon.
After our visit with Perdomo we made our way over to Oliva. Unfortunately our contact at Oliva was under the weather and Jose Oliva was not in the office so we drove around Miami trying to find someplace to eat. We ended up settling for Burger King.
Miami Cigar was the next stop and we were lucky to find that Nestor Miranda was there. We enjoyed a Don Lino Africa and Cuban coffee. It turns out that Nestor and I share a common interest, hunting. I hunt deer and he hunts everything. Nestor's stories of hunting in Africa were fun and interesting to hear about. Wakaaah, Wakaaah Nester's says while pulling an air trigger telling the stories of his shots on big game. Miami has recently taken over distribution for EO brands Cubao and 601.
We left Miami Cigar and met my friend Nick Nanavichit (the Asian assassin) for a drink and then went to dinner with Dylan Austin from Camacho and his beautiful wife Dulce. Itâs always fun hanging out with Nick and Dylan but you have to be careful because they can keep you out late. I actually started to fall asleep at dinner. When we got back to our hotel I passed out on my bed. I was wiped out.
Thursday morning we drove out to see Dylan and the new Camacho offices. We sat with Dylan and talked about their recent events over cigars and coffee. We were about to leave when Christian showed up. We continued our conversation with Christian and Dylan for another hour or so.
Our last stop on the trip was EO Brands (601). Eddie Ortega is one of the good guys. I always enjoy hanging with Eddie. We laughed and talked in his office with Raul. The first thing Eddie said is "we are not going to talk about SCHIP". Well for the next 20 minutes SCHIP is all we talked about. We laughed about it and decided to go to dinner. We went to dinner at great Chinese restaurant called the Golden Pond in Ft. Lauderdale. We stuffed ourselves and my sides hurt from laughing so hard. Eddie and Erik might be the biggest ball busters I have ever met. Thanks Cracker!
Well that's our trip to south Florida. All of our conversations centered on SCHIP and how the industry will move forward. Some companies are taking drastic measures to ensure survival and keep cigars affordable. Our industry is at a crucial moment. Most customers have no idea what's coming. Itâs scary and we just don't know what the future holds for cigars.
Eric B