What goes better together than a perfect cigar to a beautiful humidor? Jorge Padrón’s visit was therefore a unique meeting of two family dynasties. The Padrón family has been a specialist in the finest American cigars for over 100 years – the Gerber family has been a specialist in high-quality, handcrafted furniture, especially cigar cabinets, for over 140 years.
The Little Hammer
The meeting is framed particularly beautifully by the story of the „little hammer“ of the Padrón family from the United States. The quote from José Padrón is as follows: „My dream was to save enough money to open a factory to make great cigars, like the ones we used to smoke in Cuba. Through a lot of sacrifice and hard work, I managed to save $600 – money I made working with the hammer.“
The founder of the cigar dynasty was given the hammer by a friend. This classic tool, used thousands of times in woodworking, laid the foundation for the cigar company’s start-up capital in the USA. Also in the manufacture of cigar cabinets and humidors of the family business Gerber in Germany there were many firsts of the craft: the first carpenter in the 19th century, the first own workbench, the first own hall – up to the first own CNC machine. The first electronically controlled humidor was built more than 25years ago. Today, the family business Gerber Humidor exports all over the world: from the USA to Canada, to HongKong and Australia.
The best cigar storage
The planned short detour in Duisburg turned into a long afternoon of lively exchange. With so many common passions, from the most exclusive tobacco to the most exclusive woods, the topics of conversation did not run out so quickly. Jorge Padrón and Karl-Heinz Gerber jun have laid the foundation of an intercontinental friendship in the name of the best cigars and the best storage. Let’s hope that in 100 years we can look back on a long, shared history.
