08 February 2024

Nicaragua and its very good, excellent cigars

There's an ongoing question among cigar aficionados as to whether Nicaraguan cigars are now the best the world has.  The country's cigars are known to rival, if not exceed, the quality of Cuban cigars in large part because of the rich volcanic soil in which most of Nicaragua's tobacco grows.   

As outlined in a couple of previous posts, Nicaragua has more than 20 volcanoes stretching north along its Pacific coast so it stands to reason the country has a lot of rich volcanic soil.  (I climbed to the top of one of these volcanoes in December.)  The tobacco that makes Mayflower Cigars is mostly grown in or near Esteli, a city north of Nicaragua's capital of Managua.  In the October 2, post there is a picture of the country's volcanos and Esteli is shown right where the good tobacco-growing soil is.  

A recent news story touts a positive Nicaraguan/USA cigar partnership.  A premium handmade cigar was introduced in the United States in the fall of 2023, a new line called 'Mayflower Cigars' and was the newest release of the Daily Wire news site (part of Bentkey Ventures).

The man who came up with the cigar's blend of different tobacco varieties.  And he worked closely - from both the US and in Nicaragua - with the Oliva Cigar Co in Esteli to make these cigars a reality.     

When the cigars were ready for the market, a supply was set aside that was estimated to be enough for sales during the 2023 holiday season.  But that total inventory sold out almost immediately, prompting the headline below...a credit to Daily Wire/Bentkey products and to Nicaraguan cigars:

"Daily Wire Sells 4 Months’ Inventory Of ‘Mayflower Cigars’ In 24 Hours In ‘Astonishing’ Market Debut"


The Oliva family has been making cigars since 1886.  The link below introduces one of their factories in Esteli.  There's much more information available about Oliva but this story has some good pictures:

  https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/touring-the-factory-and-fields-of-oliva-cigar-co