The FDA has forced the hand of Jose Blanco. Citing the uncertainty of the FDA Ruling, Jose Blanco has accepted a role with the company owned by Ernesto Perez Carrillo. That role is Senior Vice President.
According to Jose Blanco the brands under his company Las Cumbres which was formed in 2014 will be handled by his wife Emma Viktorsson. Blanco stated exclusively to The Cigar Authority, “Emma will manage it all – we have known this for a while and she is very well prepared. Remember Emma was marketing manager Eastern Europe for Swedish Match and she was the one who created Las Cumbres Tabaco except for the Senorial blend (but she created the Freyja blend)… So now it’s all her and it is right.” His wife will return to her European roots and operate out of the Balkan nation of Macedonia, moving the focus of the company to Europe.
The move is an interesting one as EPC wasn’t formed until 2009. This would make its brands not old enough to avoid FDA regulation and they would need to get FDA approval to continue selling their cigars on the US market.
