My Favorite Cigar
Bill Terlato • Wine Executive
Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2
Bill Terlato, the president and CEO of Terlato Wines, has been smoking cigars since he was young, following in the footsteps of his father, Tony. “He always had good cigars,” says Terlato, who keeps an enviable stash of smokes in his home. He smokes Montecristo No. 2, Cohiba and Partagás, but his go-to is the Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2, or No. 1. He prefers his cigars with some age, so he has built an inventory. “I’m smoking cigars from ’04 and ’05 now,” he says. “I’m trying to leave them for at least 10 years or so.”
Terlato, 62, normally smokes about three cigars a week, but he steps up his cigar smoking when he’s taking a break from work. “On vacation, I might smoke two or three a day,” he says. While he enjoys a cigar on his patio or on the golf course, he smokes indoors too. “I smoke in the house. My wife Debbie, her dad smokes cigars as well . . . she doesn’t mind at all.” When a friend came over to visit, Terlato lit up and told his buddy that he has a cigar room. “Where?” asked the curious friend. “Wherever I’m standing in the house,” Terlato said.
