Plasencia 1865 has announced that industry legend Jim Young has joined their company as an advisor and board member. Mr. Young has been in the premium cigar industry since 2011 with Oettinger Davidoff AG, first as President – Davidoff North America based in Pinellas Park, FL and then as Davidoff’s Global Chief Commercial Officer based in Basel, Switzerland. He left Davidoff in 2022 and relocated back to the United States. Prior to his experience in the cigar industry, Mr. Young spent 24 years in the premium beverage alcohol industry with Seagram and eventually with Diageo. His experience includes extensive overseas assignments including Europe and Asia and he has a functional background in finance while also holding a number of leadership roles in the commercial area and leading business units.
Plasencia 1865 has enjoyed a very strong growth trajectory since their launch in 2017 and is now at a point where they have decided that it is vital to add structure, experience, and leadership to take the business to the next level. The company has made the decision to recruit a CEO and Mr. Young will play an important role in that effort. In the meantime, he will take on the additional role of “Interim CEO” until a successful CEO candidate has been identified and on-boarded.
According to Nestor Andres Plasencia, “We are super excited to bring Jim onto the board and into the interim CEO position. Jim brings many years of experience and proven results and we are confident that, together with the extraordinary team we have, we can achieve our goal of keep lighting up many souls around the world with our cigars.” Jim Young went on to say, “I am delighted to join Nestor Andres and the team at Plasencia 1865. This is a company that has tremendous potential and is an organization that is highly values-driven and is deeply committed to quality, consistency and sustainability. I am proud to become part of what I truly believe will be a very successful journey.”
