Cigar Weekly

Miami, FL-Only 100 tobacconists nationwide will be selected to join Cigar Master Ernesto Perez-Carrillo in celebrating the success of the El Credito Cigar Factory with La Gloria Cubana® Artesanos de Miami®, a rarefied collection of five new frontmarks handcrafted exclusively at his Little Havana rolling gallery.

In the 1960s, Ernesto's family expatriated to the U.S. from Cuba and established the El Credito Cigar Factory in Miami's now-celebrated Little Havana district. Even during the lean years when Little Havana suffered from economic instability, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo continued to supply fellow Cuban exiles with the taste of home that came in the form of La Gloria Cubana® cigars.

Over the past six years, Ernesto has toiled to make a rare cigar to celebrate his intrinsic link to Miami and to honor the city and his tabacalera which together have catapulted to international stardom.  The fruit of his labor is Artesanos de Miami, a bespoke blend handcrafted by only ten Cuban expatriate rollers personally selected by Ernesto to culminate his most exclusive offering to date.  In fact, only 250,000 Artesanos de Miami cigars will be released this year.

According to Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, "Creating Artesanos de Miami has been a labor of love. After much experimentation, I arrived at a blend that is reminiscent of La Gloria Cubana, with a vastly different taste that pays tribute to the heritage of the brand that brought prominence to the El Credito Cigar Factory.  I am very proud of Artesanos and am grateful for the opportunity to share it with the very people who have supported me and my cigars throughout the years."

Meticulously handcrafted of a proprietary Nicaraguan and Dominican blend, Artesanos de Miami is bound with a rich Ecuadoran Sumatra leaf and is dressed in an elegant, reddish Nicaraguan Havana wrapper.

Distinctive in its medium-to-full bodied flavor, Artesanos de Miami boasts spicy nuances that are evident with the first draw. The unique flavor is prevalent throughout, and its burn is slow and even.

Dictated by the relatively diminutive size of Nicaraguan Havana leaves, each of the five Artesanos de Miami frontmarks are made in smaller lengths. The meticulously constructed collection begins with Campana Chica Torpedo, a 5 " x 58 figurado that will come with a suggested retail price of $12.50 per cigar. A box of the collection's torpedos will cost $312.50.  Sabrosos (5 1/2" x 52) will cost $10.00 apiece, or $250.00 per box.  Artesanitos (5" x 46) will sell for $8.00 per cigar and will have a box price of $200.  Gran Corona Especiale

(6" x 54) will have an SRP of $13.00 per cigar and $325 per box. Rounding out the collection is the sleek Elegante frontmark (6 7/8" x 49) that will retail for $11.00 per cigar or $275 per box.

Each of the new Artesanos cigars will be protected in handsome wooden boxes containing 25 cigars.