Nicarague

[Niela]

Hey Everybody,

Given that we have a new member living in Nicaragua, I have to ask a question that I'm sure was asked in the past.

A friend of mine is going to Nicaragua once or twice a year. (family) I asked him to bring me some cigars last time and all he seemed to have found was Joya de Nicaragua. Some of them were sort of OK, but generally they are not very good or pleasant smokes. I think I've heard that you can't buy Padrons or other Nicaraguan puros in Nicaragua itself as they are produced in an economic special zone.

Does anybody have any information how to get your hand on high quality Nicaraguan cigars in Nicaragua?

[mcdee]

I think the economic special zone is called Miami!

[james.uk]

You could get them in Costa Rica, I was there all summer. If all else fails take the Tica bus!

[Niela]

Oh, my mate will also be in Costa Rica... Where abouts can you recommend and how are the prices?

[james.uk]

To be honest you will pick up local cigars for pennies but anything decent will be the same as usual 'duty free' prices. There are some good CR cigars but again they ain't cheap. I ended up buying some CR rolled cigars made from Nicaraguan tobacco. It's also hard to smoke... As the usual US rules have been adopted and you can't smoke anywhere except outside. I also went to Panama City which is much better for shopping in general.... Huge selection of non Cuban and Cuban. ( again you can't smoke anywhere though!)

[Niela]

I won't be going myself... A colleague from work is with a women from Nicaragua and they go twice a year. Last time he brought me a box of Joya de Nicaragua Red. They were 6$ each and kind of alright.

[dannymombacho]

Hi Niela,

Thank you very much for your enquiry. I apologise for the late reply but as you can appreciate, now is a very busy period to be a cigar retailer and we are just starting the high season for tourism in Nicaragua also.

It is true that most cigar factories based in Esteli are duty-free zones and one cannot simply show up at the factory in order to purchase cigars directly or visit the factories without prior arrangements.

There are some factories which will give tours and which will sell you some cigars if they are not too busy. A good example of this is the Plasencia factory. If the right person is available at the time, they are happy to give tours and will sell you cigars but these cigars will be unbanded and usually factory seconds or lines of cigars which they have in stock from unsold orders and things like that, one can't choose to purchase a particular cigar.

Some tour operators will offer cigar tours to Esteli, they usually take you to smaller or medium sized factories where you may also have the chance to purchase cheap bundles.

With regards to the airport Duty-Free lounge in Managua. There is a Dufry shop which has a small walk-in humidor which only sells Joya de Nicaragua. Some other shops sell Padron and a few other boutique brands like 1502. There are also a few small booths which sell Padron and Don Kiki (a boutique brand owned by Cuban Crafters from Miami, they have a small factory in Esteli).

Another option is Nostalgia de Nicaragua. This is a small but very nice cigar bar located in Managua, on the Carretera a Masaya, opposite Pharaoes Casino and TGI Fridays. They have a decent selection of various brands, all Nicaraguan, ranging from Drew Estate, Oliva, Padron, Perdomo, AJ Fernandez etc and of course Mombacho Cigars.


Nostalgia (or simply ?Cigars? as most Nicaraguans refer to it) has comfortable leather sofas, wide-screen TVs where they show sports, a bar with good selection of rums and spirits which can be consumed in the lounge and they also serve food such as burgers and chicken-wings - so you can smoke, eat and drink in an air-conditioned lounge with a functioning air-extration system, whilst you watch the big game.


There is also a cigar lounge in the Galerias de Santo Domingo shopping mall which I have not been to but have heard is usually closed and doesn't have a very wide selection, I would like to check it out though.

In Granada, you have 2 main options, Ciudad Lounge and Mombacho Cigars.

Ciudad Lounge is a fine dining restaurant which also serves as a cigar lounge. They don't have a humidor as such, rather a large shelf with a selection of cigars - many from Plasencia and Don Kiki. The owners are cigar smokers and very friendly, it's a nice place to hang out for a drink and smoke.

Mombacho Cigars, where I work, is a boutique cigar factory which is housed in a mansion built in 1925.

The company was established in 2006 by 2 Canandian investors. The cigars are made with 100% Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos and made totally by hand in Granada.

Initially the cigars were only available in Canada and Granada, later China and Italy. We have built up a strong following in Italy, especially with the Liga Maestro line, as our Master Blender, Claudio Srgoi, is a Sicilian by birth and was an apprentice of Henki Kelner whilst working for Davidoff in Dominican Republic, he was also stock manager at the Davidoff shop in Geneva.

Last year we launched in the US market under the name 'Tierra Volcan' and have been building up a good reputation within the boutique segment of the industry. Our 'Corto' cigar was awarded 92 by Cigar Aficionado and our 'Mombachito' was just named in CA's Top 25 'Best Buys' of 2015.

We are planning further expantion into Europe next year.

Casa Favilli, Mombacho's factory, was built in 1925 by renowned Italian arquitect Mario Favilli as his family home. We offer a tour which lasts from 45 minutes to an hour and includes an in-depth explanation of the cigar making process from seed to smoke along with the history of tobacco and the cigar industry in Nicaragua.

We have a walk-in humidor with an air-conditioned lounge, and as we are not a duty-free zone, we are able to sell our cigars at retail prices directly to consumers. We are also building a bar and smoking area on our roof-terrace.

We have been mentioned by Bloomberg as number 4 of ?5 reasons to travel to Nicaragua now' and by Forbes in a recent article. Simon Chase wrote an excellent article for Virtuozity Magazine about his recent travles to Nicaragua and his visit to Mombacho Cigars. I have this on PDF if anyone wants to read it - I'm not sure if this can be uploaded here.

We look forward to welcoming your friend and any member of this form who wishes to visit!

Regards,

Daniel

[PeeJay]

Well I for one enjoyed reading that Daniel, thank you

[Streetfighter]

Nice write up dannymombacho, enjoyable to read about another countries cigar culture/production and history

[Niela]

Thanks Daniel. My friend is as straight edge as one can be. He wouldn't go on a tour, but if I ever make it to Nicaragua, I will definitely stop by.

I overslept my what's app appointment with him, so he just got me a mix of recommendations by the shop. Quite happy with the results, though the prices are similar to Germany. Buy the 1502 aren't available here, so looking forward to try them.

[Niela]

[Bob123]

I will go with my girlfriend to Nicaragua in February.
Plan is to stay one week in Esteli, then few days in Granada and Ometepe and then week by the sea in San Juan del Sur. Is there any cigars shops in San Juan? Or it is better to buy cigars in Esteli?
I have already booked Cigar Safari in Drew Estate, Factory Tour in Oliva and in progress is AJ Fernandez factory.

Not sure with San Juan so far, but at least one week by the sea is demand from Petra :-)
is it safe to travel there?
I tried to find some info about Nicaragua, but there is not much info on web.
Thanks for reply