Hello from Miami, FL - Little Habana to be exact

[Pinareno]

Hello all. Obviously this is my first post although like many newbs, I've been lurking for a while.

Cigars have been a part of my life as far back as I can remember. My father along with his many brothers and sisters were born in Pinar Del Rio, Cuba. This is were my handle comes in. Pinareño as most of you know is the term used for people from the Pinar Del Rio province of Cuba. 

My father, aunts and uncles worked in the tabaco fields of Vuelta Abajo just as my grandfather did for many years. After the revolution most of them left Cuba to establish new opportunities for themselves here in the USA. In my hometown of Miami, FL. 

Although I couldn't tell you what my first cigar was, I remember the day clearly. I was about 8 years old and my cousin put a cigar to my mouth while jokingly teasing my mother. My cousin, known to the world as Ernesto Perez-Carillo owned a small cigar factory about two blocks from our house in the Miami neighborhood known as Little Havana. The factory called El Credito back then was were I'd spend my summers while I was on break from school. My cousin Ernie would watch my brother and I while my parents worked during the day. I'll never forget the strong odor of tabaco that would infest our clothes, hair and skin while we were there. I loved every bit of it. Those Summer's hanging out at my cousins cigar factory are some of my fondest childhood memories. Talking to the cigar rollers, watching them create these works of art harvested an incredible mystique towards cigars for me. Once I saw guys like Don Matingly, and the infamous Sharon Stone walking in to the factory I began to realize my cousins cigar factory was not as small as I thought it was. EPC or Ernie as we call him was the first person to ever put a cigar in my mouth! And I'm proud of that lol 

Fast forward 30 years and I am still in love with the leaf. The smell of tabaco brings back memories of my childhood, and more important memories of my family. This is one of the things  I love about smoking cigars. The good times shared between friends and the everlasting memories created while doing so. 

Outside of cigars, I enjoy fly fishing the shallow waters of south Florida and spending time with my family. I have an 8 years old girl  and a one month old baby girl whom is sleeping on my chest as I type this long winded intro.

Anyway, enough about me. This is a great forum and I look forward to getting to know you all. 

Saludos!

Carlos aka Pinareño

[lafabrica]

bienvenidos!  we're twins... not only are our post times similar, but we're in the same area.  enjoy the site!

[Pinareno]

6 minutes ago, lafabrica said:

bienvenidos!  we're twins... not only are our post times similar, but we're in the same area.  enjoy the site!

Sounds like we need to link up brother! 

[madandana]

 

Welcome and thanks for sharing your story.

[Pinareno]

Thank you Madandana. 

[JY0]

Great intro, welcome!

[Danimalia]

Welcome, brother! I'm a new guy myself, and am really enjoying all the people and info here.

 

BTW, I've enjoyed a lot of your cousin's cigars! LGC and EPC have some great smokes!

[Pinareno]

Thank you, Dani! So far I have been busy reading all the good info on here and getting to know some of the more interesting personalities I also placed my first 24:24 order yesterday! I plan on being here for a while. 

EPC's smokes are my favorite NC's....not just because he is my cousin either lol. but they truly are great. 

 

Thanks again.

 

1 hour ago, Danimalia said:

Welcome, brother! I'm a new guy myself, and am really enjoying all the people and info here.

 

BTW, I've enjoyed a lot of your cousin's cigars! LGC and EPC have some great smokes!

 

[TheMonk]

Welcome to FOH, Carlos!

[Ethernut]

On August 1, 2016 at 11:26 PM, Pinareno said:

Hello all. Obviously this is my first post although like many newbs, I've been lurking for a while.

Cigars have been a part of my life as far back as I can remember. My father along with his many brothers and sisters were born in Pinar Del Rio, Cuba. This is were my handle comes in. Pinareño as most of you know is the term used for people from the Pinar Del Rio province of Cuba. 

My father, aunts and uncles worked in the tabaco fields of Vuelta Abajo just as my grandfather did for many years. After the revolution most of them left Cuba to establish new opportunities for themselves here in the USA. In my hometown of Miami, FL. 

Although I couldn't tell you what my first cigar was, I remember the day clearly. I was about 8 years old and my cousin put a cigar to my mouth while jokingly teasing my mother. My cousin, known to the world as Ernesto Perez-Carillo owned a small cigar factory about two blocks from our house in the Miami neighborhood known as Little Havana. The factory called El Credito back then was were I'd spend my summers while I was on break from school. My cousin Ernie would watch my brother and I while my parents worked during the day. I'll never forget the strong odor of tabaco that would infest our clothes, hair and skin while we were there. I loved every bit of it. Those Summer's hanging out at my cousins cigar factory are some of my fondest childhood memories. Talking to the cigar rollers, watching them create these works of art harvested an incredible mystique towards cigars for me. Once I saw guys like Don Matingly, and the infamous Sharon Stone walking in to the factory I began to realize my cousins cigar factory was not as small as I thought it was. EPC or Ernie as we call him was the first person to ever put a cigar in my mouth! And I'm proud of that lol 

Fast forward 30 years and I am still in love with the leaf. The smell of tabaco brings back memories of my childhood, and more important memories of my family. This is one of the things  I love about smoking cigars. The good times shared between friends and the everlasting memories created while doing so. 

Outside of cigars, I enjoy fly fishing the shallow waters of south Florida and spending time with my family. I have an 8 years old girl  and a one month old baby girl whom is sleeping on my chest as I type this long winded intro.

Anyway, enough about me. This is a great forum and I look forward to getting to know you all. 

Saludos!

Carlos aka Pinareño

Muchas gracias for the the story! And welcome home! Familia aqui!