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Cigar Aficionado executive editor Gordon Mott introduced the first speaker, Marvin R. Shanken, the magazine's editor and publisher. Shanken, although born and raised in Connecticut, described how Cuba touched him as a cigar smoker, like many of the cigarmakers in attendance. In his freshman year at the University of Miami, Shanken related, he had an English teacher with a Cuban background. Shanken had a slight knowledge of cigars then, at the time smoking Hav-a-Tampas, but did not develop a true passion for cigars until he went to his teacher's home and talked with her and her husband about the history and tradition of the Cuban cigar trade. He thought of the couple from Miami when he made a trip to Cuba before creating Cigar Aficionado magazine in 1992. "If not for this woman, I'm not sure I would be here right now," he said.
Toraño looked back on the 40 years since cigarmakers spread out from Cuba in the wake of Castro's seizure of the Cuban cigar industry, and expressed pride at what cigars have become since that time. "We are at a time when cigars are better made, with many different brands and companies," he said. "It's a great time. There are cigars for breakfast, lunch and dinner."
Coming to the United States with nothing, his father was determined to rebuild. He was able to get started again based on trust and a $250,000 loan from the Royal Bank in New York City, with which his family had worked with since 1907. When his father asked for the money, Quesada recalled the bankers asking, "Is that all you need?"
He described his initial skepticism when hearing the idea for a cigar magazine when Shanken described the idea to him at his Miami factory in 1992. The 90-point score he received in the first issue made him happy, but its power would not be felt until later, at the annual industry trade show. He had long considered orders for 600 cigars for the weekend to be a great response. Following the release of the premiere issue, Carrillo received orders for 25,000 cigars in one day. "You wouldn't realize the impact of the magazine," said Carrillo. "It changed my life, changed the life of many manufacturers, and made it a better world for cigar smokers." Filed by Michael Moretti |
Many of the speakers at the Sharing Cigar History panel at the Saturday Big Smoke trace their roots to Cuba, and the memory of their past is bittersweet. A number of them were ousted by the Castro regime, and they left for new countries to try to rebuild their shattered businesses. They lamented the days before Castro, but also saw the bright side of the Cuban Revolution, which resulted in the expansion of the cigar business to countries that it might not have found otherwise.
Carlos Toraño, president of Central American Tobacco Corp. and maker of Toraño cigars, walked onto the stage. "It's nice to smoke cigars without having to worry about people or the state," he said, to the applause of the crowd.
The exodus from Cuba was also the starting point for Manuel Quesada, owner of Manufactura de Tabacos S.A., the maker of Fonseca cigars. Manuel drew his passion for cigars from the risks his family took to get the business back on its feet. The Quesada family business was flourishing in Cuba when Castro's troops walked into the company's warehouse and seized it. Quesada recalled his father quickly stuffing the deed to the company in his shirt as they departed.
The final speaker was Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, president of El Credito Cigars Inc., the maker of La Gloria Cubana. Carrillo described the impact that the launch of Cigar Aficionado magazine had on the cigar industry as a whole, and his business in particular.