Drew Estate's master cigar blender Willy Herrera on tobacco, Nicaragua, and following the recipe

Drew Estate is one of the biggest names in premium cigars. And Willy Herrera, the company’s master blender, is the man responsible not only for developing new cigar blends, but also for ensuring that the blends in the company’s portfolio maintain consistency year over year. In this conversation with chef Michael Beltran on Pan Con Podcast, Willy talks about how he got into the cigar business at his family’s Little Havana factory, El Titán de Bronze, his experience moving to Estelí, Nicaragua when he made the transition to Drew Estate, and how his work producing cigars compares to Mike’s work as the chef partner at Ariete Hospitality Group. In the Patreon-only extended cut of this episode, Mike has five extra food-related questions for Willy.

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Production and editing: Nicolás Antonio Jiménez

Theme music: Carlos "Carluba" Rodríguez (instangram.com/carluba)

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