In the very centre of the American continent lies Nicaragua, the very present of the cigar world. Flanked by Honduras and Costa Rica, this country has managed to carve out a place of honour among the world's cigar producers, alongside the Dominican Republic, Honduras and, of course, Cuba.
Estelí, the so-called "Diamond of the Segovias", Condega, Jalapa and Ometepe Island are the national tobacco flagship of this tropical, volcanic and mineral-rich country, which in my humble opinion makes it one of the best tobaccos in the world, characterised by its potency and flavour.
How these four regions can produce such different tobacco, with so much personality and character, can only be explained by the fact that we are in a country blessed by its climatic conditions as well as by the excellent terroir of its soil. Despite all this, it struggles daily against the economic crisis, climate change and hurricanes such as Mitch, which hit the country at the end of the 1990s, causing great human and material losses.
Nicaragua is not only the country of "The Molotov Man", it is not only the country of the dictator Somoza, of whom it was said in the media, but has never been confirmed, that Franklin Delano Roosevelt would have defined as the "samasanbich" or the Sandinista liberators.
With almost 10 months of rainy season per year, Nicaraguan tobacco leaves no one indifferent. Flavours of black peppers, leather, cocoa, nuts, salty tips and wood, which undoubtedly make their premium cigars an excellent choice for cigar lovers.
Let's not fool ourselves, if you are starting with the best, this is not the best denomination to start with, because if there is something that identifies Nicaraguan cigars, it is, as I said, their power, intensity, flavour, but above all their versatility, placing them at the forefront of high intensity cigars.
The Premium Cigar industry finds in Nicaragua one of the largest current tobacco producers, with more than 60 companies established and dedicated to it, representing 95% of the exports of this Central American country, which have catapulted it, especially in recent years, to lead the non Havana block. Today, Nicaraguan tobacco plays a very important role in the American market, along with the Dominican Republic and Honduras, as the blockade against Cuba is still in place.
In our humidors we can never be without brands such as Joya de Nicaragua, Oliva, My Father, etc., the best "diplomats" that a country can have.
In short, Nicaragua is a present, very present.
