Less than a month after departing Quesada Cigars, Terence Reilly has found a new home. Today we’ve been told that Reilly will become the new Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Casa Fernandez. Casa Fernandez has somewhat quietly become a major force in the cigar industry. The company is well-known for its Aganorsa […]
Cigar News: LaToya Cantrell Elected Mayor of New Orleans
William Cooper Cigar News 2 Comments News, People
The City of New Orleans has elected its first female Mayor – and it’s a name that might be familiar to many cigar enthusiasts – LaToya Cantrell. On November 18th, Cantrell won a run-off elected defeating her opponent Judge Desiree Charbonnet by getting 60% of the vote. As a member of the New Orleans City […]
Cigar News: Dan Carr to Become CEO and President of ITG Brands
William Cooper Cigar News No Comments ITG Brands, News, People
Early next year, ITG Brands LLC will have a new CEO and President in Dan Carr. For the past year, Carr had been serving as President of ITG Brands. Carr is best known for his tenure at General Cigar Company where he served as its President for over five years. Carr succeeds David Taylor who […]
Cigar News: President Trump Nominates Alex Azar to be Next Secretary of Health and Human Services
William Cooper Cigar News No Comments FDA, News, People
Today U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that Alex Azar is his choice to replace Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on his cabinet. Azar comes from the pharmaceutical industry where from 2012 to 2017, he served as President of Lilly USA, LLC, the largest affiliate of global biopharmaceutical leader Eli […]
Cigar News: Fernando Zacarias Departs Espinosa Cigars
William Cooper Cigar News 1 Comment Espinosa, News, People
The Fernando Zacarias era at Espinosa Cigars has come to an end. Today Espinosa Cigars announced that Zacarias, who served as the company’s national sales manager is leaving the company. The move is effective immediately. Zacarias had served as the company’s National Sales Manager since late in 2014. During his tenure, the company credited him […]
Cigar News: Michael Giannini Joins Ventura Cigar Company
William Cooper Cigar News 1 Comment News, People, Ventura Cigar Company
After a year out of the cigar industry, Michael Giannini is back. Giannini, best known for his tenure at General Cigar Company where he served in a variety of roles including Director of Innovation, has been named the Creative Director at Ventura Cigar Company. Throughout the past few weeks, Giannini had been making appearances at […]
Cigar News: Terence Reilly Departs Quesada Cigars
William Cooper Cigar News 2 Comments News, People, Quesada
The Terence Reilly era at Quesada Cigars has come to an end. Reilly has announced he is departing the company effective November 1st, 2017. Reilly had been with Quesada Cigars since 2009. He is the de-facto nephew of company patriarch Manuel “Manolo” Quesada (while a member of the family he is actually a cousin of […]
Cigar News: Manuel Garcia Joins Villiger Cigars
William Cooper Cigar News No Comments News, People, Villiger
Manuel Garcia, best known for his tenure as Vice President at Habanos S.A., has joined Villiger Cigars. The company has announced Garcia will join the Villiger International Handmade Cigar division. He will be based in Santo Domingo at the ABAM factory where all Dominican-made Villager products are produced. Garcia spent 15 years as the Commercial […]
Cigar News: John Miller to Succeed Retiring Peter Ghiloni as Swisher International President and CEO
William Cooper Cigar News 1 Comment Drew Estate, News, People, Swisher International
On Thursday October 12th, 2017 Swisher International announced that its CEO and President Peter Ghiloni will be retiring at the end of the year. Ghiloni’s retirement caps off a 34-year tenure at Swisher International. Concurrently, the company also announced Ghiloni’s successor will be John Miller, Swisher International’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing. To premium cigar […]
Cigar News: José Oliva Named Florida Speaker of the House Designee
William Cooper Cigar News 2 Comments J. Cortés, Oliva, People
José Oliva, best known as CEO of Oliva Cigar Company, has been designated the Speaker of the House for the State of Florida for 2019-2020. This means if Oliva’s party (Republican) holds the majority in the Florida House of Representatives in the 2018 elections, he will become Speaker of the House beginning in 2019. Oliva was first […]