Hand Rolled: Julio R. Eiroa, the third installment of the Hand Rolled docuseries, will be previewed to attendees of the 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show. The viewing will occur on Friday, April 11th, at 1:00 pm during the PCA education session at New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
This installment of the Hand Rolled Docuseries tells the story of Mr. Eiroa, a legendary figure in the cigar industry.
Julio R. Eiroa was born in Cuba on January 11, 1938, in San Juan y Martinez, Cuba, located in the Pinar del Rio region. He actually emigrated from Cuba on two separate occasions. The first time was in 1957 for being considered a “troublemaker” by the Batista government. After returning to Cuba, he was forced to leave again following the aftermath of the Cuban revolution. He served in the U.S. military, spending time in Korea and being a part of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.
Following the Cuban Embargo, many cigar factories in the U.S. had to look for new sources of tobacco. Mr. Eiroa would collaborate with Angel Oliva in Honduras to grow Cuban-seed tobacco to replace the embargoed Cuban tobacco. Eventually, Mr. Eiroa would set out on his own, buy up some farms, and build a growing operation.
He would face challenges – including some partnerships that went bad and being seriously injured in a plane crash. When left with tobacco surpluses before the cigar boom of the 1990s, he moved into the production side of the business. He eventually acquired Camacho Cigars from Simon Camacho. In 2008, Camacho sold to Davidoff. However, the farms were not a part of that sale.
After the completion of Julio Eiroa’s non-compete agreement, he re-entered the cigar manufacturing industry by establishing JRE Tobacco. He collaborated with his son, Justo Eiroa, to assist with the overall operations of the company, combining their expertise to produce high-quality cigars.
Hand Rolled is a film project developed by Steve Gherebean and Jesse Mariut. In 2018, Hand Rolled: A Film About Cigars was released. In 2023, the duo launched the Hand Rolled docuseries, which focused on specific people and companies in the cigar business. Other installments in the Hand Rolled docuseries include J.C. Newman Cigar Company and Tatuaje (Preproduction).
