Villiger Cigars Hires Former Habanos S.A. VP Manuel García
Villiger Cigars has hired former Habanos S.A. commercial vice president Manuel García to serve as an advisor to the company’s international handmade cigar division, according to a press release issued by the company today.
García spent more than 15 years as the head of sales and marketing for the Cuban cigar company, including traveling to more than 100 countries to promote the island’s famed cigars. However, his tenure was marred by a stint in jail for corruption charges, specifically selling genuine Habanos products “at a fraction of their normal price to black-market distributors in the Caribbean in return for bribes” according to a report by The Economist.
Prior to his time with Habanos, he was the general manager of 5th Avenue Products Trading, the exclusive distributor for Habanos products in Germany from 1991-1995, which is where he worked alongside Heinrich Villiger.
“I feel this to be an overdue reunion,” said Villiger in a press release. “We look forward to Manuel contributing immediately, as we continue to forge ahead with delivering the best possible products to our consumers.”
Garcia will begin working in his new role immediately, and will operate out of the ABAM Factory in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the factory where all of Villiger’s Dominican-made cigars are produced.
Image courtesy of Villiger Cigars.
Patrick Lagreid
I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.
Related Posts
-
March 10, 2016 -
May 17, 2018
