Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/550325
60 tobaccoasia / Issue 3, 2015 (July/August) Credit photo Luc Monnet Credit photo Luc Monnet ered as one of the finest brands in the world in the 70's, and is now returning to its glory days. One of the best-known names from Nicaragua is Padrón, whose history closely follows that of the country, from its creation in 1964 by Jose O. Pa- drón through several bombs during the civil war, relocation in Honduras during the US embargo, and the destruction of their Paso Real farm by typhoon Mitch. It is now thriving and enjoying a strong recognition of quality and consistency. Today, though, the founder Jose O. Padrón is still involved in the business, his scion Jorge Padrón runs the company, which is very much a family affair involving all of Jorge's siblings and numerous family members. Padrón is frequently voted Best Cigar of the Year by Cigar Aficionado Magazine, and has recently launched a very special 50 th Anniversary Limited Edition: limited to 1,000 individually numbered humidors, with each humi- dor containing 50 cigars and a certificate loosely modelled after the title of a car, giving its owner the right to refill the humidor. Another of the Nicaraguan pioneers is Plasen- cia, rolling about 35 millions cigars by hand every year, half of this coming from Nicaragua. The Plasencias have been growing tobacco for decades and have helped pioneer the vision of other cigar brands including Rocky Patel and Alec Bradley. Cumpay, created in 1999, was one of the first to offer aficionados a taste of the volcanic tobacco leaves grown in Ometepe. This cigar was also one of the first being composed of 100% Nicaraguan tobacco, blending tobacco from the three main regions of Jalapa, Estelí, and Ometepe. Cumpay is part of Maya Selva Cigars, a collection of three brands that is gaining extensive popularity world- wide and is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. In the native language of the Tawakha tribe, which used to live on the land, "cumpay" was the word for the rolled tobacco leaf. Showing a strong character with cocoa notes, it profited from the knowledge held by the Plasencia family as tobacco grower and of Maya Selva as blender. Nicarao is another great expression of the Ni- caraguan tobacco: its owner Didier Houvenagel holds a degree in agricultural engineering with a specialty in black tobacco and has studied in Cuba. He visited Nicaragua during the first steps of the reconstruction after the civil war and, amazed by the country's rich cigar tradition and geological di- versity, decided to launch a brand of cigars from Nicaragua, at the time when Nicaraguan cigars were almost unknown and not recognized. It was a challenge at first but he is now the proud owner and master blender of two successful boutique brands, Nicarao and La Ley. Based in Estelí, Fabrica Nicatabaco is a boutique factory run by a team of Cuban experts with years of experience in leaf processing and factory operations. Nicaragua and tobacco are now inseparable: the tobacco industry is one of the largest employers in the country ing Joya de Nicaragua, Padrón's Cubanica, and Plasencia's Segovia. Estelí produces corpulent and tasty tobacco leaves with spicy, strong, and rustic notes. North of Estelí, Condega's tasting specifici- ties are quite similar to those of the former but with a slightly different leaf texture partly due to the difference of altitude. Far north, on the Honduran border, lies Ja- lapa. Often compared with Vuelto Abajo in Cuba and Jamastrán in Honduras, Jalapa is world-re- nowned for its production of high quality wrap- pers. Further south, Ometepe is an island formed on the Lake Nicaragua by volcanoes. A unique place in the world for tobacco, it produces leaves expressing sweet and chocolate scents and a typi- cally Nicaraguan aromatic strength. Joya de Nicaragua was established in 1968, mak- ing it one of the first premium hand-made cigar manufacturers in Nicaragua. With a rich tumultu- ous past linked to that of Nicaragua, it was consid-