Thursday, March 19 2009
Miami, FL—Matthew Swick, 30, a service coordinator for Washington State's Sylvania Lighting, clinched the top spot in the seventh annual La Gloria Cubana® Super Roll® cigar rolling championship which took place on March 13-15, 2009 in Miami.
Swick's winning cigar beat out those submitted by four other finalists during two days of the amateur cigar rolling competition, created to celebrate the artistry inherent to the critically-acclaimed La Gloria Cubana brand of cigars.
In order to compete in the Super Roll, Swick beat out thousands of other first-time cigar rollers at qualifying events held across the U.S. in 2008. Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, the world-renowned cigar master of La Gloria Cubana selected the winning cigars, with input from Leo Peraza (the brand's lead cigar roller in Miami, who has been handcrafting cigars for more than 50 years) and Roberto Ferriero (supervisor of the El Credito Cigar Factory rolling gallery in Miami).
Matthew Swick, 2009 Super Roll champion commented, "Just getting to be a contestant in the La Gloria Cubana Super Roll was thrilling by itself, but being the winner was awesome. I came away from the event with a newfound appreciation for the art of cigar rolling. One thing's for sure, I'll be a devoted fan of La Gloria Cubana cigars for life."
In being crowned the ultimate rolero (cigar roller), Matthew was inducted by Cigar Master Ernesto Perez-Carrillo into the El Credito Cigar Factory Hall of Fame, and received a custom-made humidor filled with 100 hand-crafted La Gloria Cubana cigars, each boasting its own secondary band emblazoned with the title "Super Roll Champion 2008."
Matthew also walked away with an authentic El Credito cigar mold from the 1960s which Ernesto autographed during the awards ceremony.
Michael Giannini, director of marketing for La Gloria Cubana cigars remarked, "It is truly a pleasure to have the opportunity to share the artistry and passion of La Gloria Cubana cigars with premium cigar smokers from across the U.S. As an amateur roller, Matthew Swick did a tremendous job of learning to handcraft our cigars. Considering that most of our rollers are Cuban expatriates who have been rolling cigars for decades, I would suggest that he keep his day job."
Media coverage of the event blanketed South Florida. The handiwork of Matthew and his fellow contestants was featured multiple times throughout the weekend on WFOR-TV (CBS), WTVJ-TV (NBC), WLTV (Univision) and was publicized in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Miami New Times, About.com, Havana Journal, Cigarcyclopedia.com, City Link/MetroMix.com (South Florida) and WQAM-AM (Sports). The Super Roll is also scheduled to be included in the Miami Herald.
Swick was accompanied by Chelsea MacMahon, who helped to cheer him to victory. The couple resides in Puyallup, a suburb of Seattle.
Above photo (L-R): Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Matthew Swick, Chelsea MacMahon, Michael Giannini
