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In 1991, Nick, Jr. and his two mentors began their cigar making endeavor in earnest. They first leased a small factory in Little Havana and later moved to a larger facility on Flagler Street. With the business growing, 1996 became a landmark year for Tabacalera Perdomo. First, the company moved its manufacturing operations from Miami to Esteli, Nicaragua. And then tragically, six months later, Silvio Perdomo quietly passed away in his sleep on November 11th. "He wasn't in the best of health for some time," Nick, Jr. said solemnly. "He insisted on coming down to see our Nicaraguan factory, even from his hospital bed." Nick, Sr. continued, "He was our leader, our spiritual guide. He taught us everything we know. His legacy is showing us the pride and passion one must have to create a work to be enjoyed and admired by others. He was a true artist." Nick, Jr. and his father finally moved production to its present site, a prodigious 88,000 square foot factory referred to as "El Monstro" by the Esteli townspeople. The state-of-the-art facility is the final destination in the long and circuitous journey of the Perdomo family. "This is the place where we make cigars the only way we know how, the Cuban Way," insists Nick, Jr. It is also where modern technology and the deeply rooted traditions of Cuban cigar making converge. The factory employs a cryogenic system to freeze tobacco at sub-freezing temperature to eliminate the possibility of tobacco infestation. Cavernous aging chambers lined with Spanish cedar store raw tobacco and freshly rolled cigars for up to three years before being released. These chambers are monitored round-the-clock by a computerized system that ensures the desired temperature and humidity levels never deviate from Perdomo's strict guidelines. A centralized draw testing station, designed exclusively for the Perdomo family, assures each and every cigar that leaves the factory draws effortlessly. "When communism ends in Cuba, we will grow, harvest, age, blend and produce cigars there and restore its once great reputation for cigar making," Nick, Jr. asserts. "But even when that time comes, I will always continue to make cigars here. This factory is a sacred place for my family and I. It is the realization of a dream that has lasted through three generations. A dream to make the best cigars in the world." |