State of the Brand: Padilla

No manufacturer has been more open than Ernesto Padilla of the company he founded, regarding new products, social media and customer interaction. Since the show when he first announced the idea regarding the Padilla Dominus, the past month with Padilla Legacies and his TwitPic account turning into a portfolio of test media – Ernesto has been talking.

Updated February 7, 2011 – Added La Terraza images.

Updated February 21, 2011 – La Terraza release date updated.

Padilla 1948
The Corojo/Criollo creation will be discontinued.

Padilla Artemis
Ernesto announced this back in August at the show. It’s a box-pressed medium-full creation using the famed Aganorsa leaf at Raices Cubanas. Padilla would like the price point to be at $8, when it’s released – which should be no later than May. The initial batch will only be five-hundred boxes to retailers around the country, but this is not a limited release.

Padilla Cazadores
Bring on the Maduro. There’s no decision on what wrapper, but a Maduro will be coming.

Padilla Habano
Made by A.J. Fernandez, no longer – it’s been discontinued to make room for the newer blends.

Padilla La Terraza
Ernesto told me that the he sees a large growth in the sub $5 market with demands for quality cigars, as such, he created a cigar named after a beach in Cuba where Hemingway took his boat. (There’s actually a good story here.) These will be offered in boxes of twenty in both Habano and Maduro with the price points around $4.50. The plan is to release these in the second week of February March. (Updated February 21, 2011)

Padilla Legacies
This is the newest project, with little information until now. Ernesto told me it’s similar to the original Padilla Hybrid, made in the Dominican Republic in a factory where Padilla started. It uses a hybrid Ecuadorian wrapper with Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. As you can see above, it’s a modern looking design. Ernesto describes these as more medium, with a departure from his norm of usually all Nicaragua leaf. Expect these out in the spring. (Note, those are the cigars, obviously not the bands)

Padilla Series ’68
Also discontinued to make way for the new lines.

First off, thanks to Ernesto for his time despite the constant phone tag. It was a fun and interesting conversation with Mr. Padilla, as it always is. The quote from the conversation is, “I want the brand to have character and depth.” Last year, enemy of the site Brian Hewitt gave Padilla “Best Survival Of The Year Despite Repeated Prediction Of Failure” in his 2009 “Tarries Cigar Award Show.” He ends the short description stating that Padilla continues to make quality and award-winning cigars. One year later, the story is still true and questions still remain. It seems ever more apparent that in today’s cigar world, having a devoted fan base is simply a necessity to survival. I don’t think Padilla has that, at least from what I can tell. He’s got everything else: good cigars, a great story, persona and creativity – which leaves me wondering, is 2011 the year of Padilla? – el niño diablo

(All images via Padilla Cigars’ Twitter)

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.