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Passing the Torch
David Savona
From the Print Edition:
Air Sick, Jul/Aug 02
(continued from page 5)
"Their ligero is like ligero from Cuba," says Nick Perdomo Jr., speaking of the most powerful type of filler tobacco. "The strongest Dominican tobacco is like their weakest tobacco." Perdomo, owner of Tabacalera Perdomo, makes many cigars in Nicaragua using Perez's tobacco, including Perdomo Reserve and the C.A.O. L'Anniversaire line. "Their tobacco is a real powerhouse."
The Perezes share several similarities with the Olivas. Both companies lost farms in Cuba, both lost everything again in Nicaragua. Each spreads its assets over several nations to limit the risk of another catastrophe.
The two struggled in 1997, when El Niño turned the steady mists of Ecuador into a perpetual rain, making tobacco fields look like rice paddies and toppling young plants into the primordial muck. Both growers are awaiting the new El Niño effect. Neither is afraid.
"What can I do about worrying? I can't change nature. You gotta be like the United States Marine Corps -- you gotta be able to adapt and overcome," says Oliva Sr. "You gotta improvise."
Says Perez: "I'm concerned, I'm not worried. This is one of the years you have to suffer through."
His father's passing still sits heavily on David's shoulders. "It's been very hard," he says. Around his neck, he wears a gold tobacco leaf, decorated with a gold cigar and a few diamonds. His mother designed it for his father, and one was cast for David and for his grandfather Silvio as well, the jeweler breaking the cast each time to keep the piece unique. David's brother Joe now wears Alfredo's leaf. "My father is with us every day," David says.
"We lost everything in Cuba. We lost everything in Nicaragua. We'll probably lose everything again. Who knows?" says Perez. "We came in the world naked, and we'll leave here naked."
Click here to read Angel Oliva's final words.
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