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Cigar Co. gives Nicaragua sexy image  

Five years ago, two Canadian friends taking Spanish classes at Casa Xalteva decided to wander across the street during recess break to check out Doña Elba Cigars, a landmark family-run business credited with producing the world’s first organic cigars.

Cameron Heaps says he and his friend Markus Raty, both of Toronto, were by no means cigar aficionados at that time. But they recognized quality when they tasted it.

“We were recreational smokers; we had smoked cigars on golf courses before. But this product clearly stood out as world class,” Heaps said of his first Doña Elba cigar.

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Swedish Match and the Plasencia Group Join Forces to Form a New Tobacco Operation  

Swedish Match AB announced today it has signed an agreement with the Plasencia Group (PG) to form a new tobacco growing/procurement operation for its Swedish Match International (SMI) cigar business. Swedish Match will acquire a 20% interest in the newly formed Caribbean Cigar Holdings. This follows the strategic goal of Swedish Match in developing its global cigar business to be best in class. The Plasencia Group will remain in charge of operations.

PG is a family owned tobacco growing and premium cigar production operation located in Honduras and Nicaragua. The company is highly regarded within the cigar industry for its leaf growing, processing, and cigar making expertise.

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Drew Estate: A Cigar Company's Take on Corporate Social Responsibility 

While I was walking the Drew Estate factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, though, I began to hear the cues that signal an effort to be a valuable member of the community. The company - which produces the Acid and Java cigar lines, along with newer products such as the T9 and T52 - pays twice the region's prevailing wage for its positions. There are healthcare facilities on the premises. . . .

Jonathan Drew, one of the company's owners, spoke with me at length about Drew Estate's commitment to the surrounding community . . .

The efforts of Drew Estate may not reach the heights of those at Whole Foods or Starbucks, but they do stand out in the cigar industry. Every time you cut and light a T52, you're making the world a better place.

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• PHOTOS: Obama presidential cigars from Nicaragua 

--A box of Obama Presidential Series 44 cigars, made in honor of President Barack Obama, lays on a table at the Segovia Cigars tobacco company in Esteli, Nicaragua, Feb. 4. The Corona, California, based-Granada 1524 Cigars company hired Nicaragua's Segovia Cigars to produce the Obama series which retails for between $15 and $20 a cigar, depending on the size.

--Tobacco workers pack boxes with Obama Presidential Series 44 cigars, made in honor of President Barack Obama, at the Segovia Cigars tobacco company in Esteli, Nicaragua. . . .

--Miguel Ramirez, a partner of the tobacco company Granada 1524 and a descendant of African slaves, smokes an "Obama Presidential Series 44 cigar" made in honor of President Barack Obama in Esteli, Nicaragua.

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Obama refuses to light up, fans name cigar after him 

US President Barack Obama has spawned a host of commercial spin-offs from t-shirts and headbands to toilet seat covers But now here's one that may make the former chain smoker himself see red.

It's a line of cigars manufactured in Nicaragua for an US based company.

The company has shipped 20,000 Obama Presidential Series 44 cigars into the US after Obama's historic win.

It's already a hit among smokers.

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Cigar firm cashes in on Obamania 

While U.S. President Barack Obama tries to kick an old smoking habit, a Nicaraguan company has produced the latest in a flood of merchandise trying to cash in on his popularity -- "Obama" cigars.

Granada Cigars, a small outfit based in Nicaragua's tobacco-growing north, is using local and Cuban leaves to hand-roll cigars wrapped with a gold band that says "Obama 44," to commemorate the 44th U.S. president.

The cigars come in various sizes and strengths and the company says some 13,000 have been ordered so far across the United States.

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Scandinavian Tobacco buys C. American cigar plants 

Europe's largest cigar manufacturer, Scandinavian Tobacco Group, said on Thursday it had bought two family-owned cigar factories in Central America for an undisclosed sum to expand its global footprint.

The factories are in Danli, in Honduras, and Esteli, in Nicaragua

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Smoking foes in huff over GVSU's noncompliance  

Anti-smoking advocates are burning mad at Grand Valley State University administrators' disregard of an Ottawa County law that puts puffers 25 feet away from building doors.

And with public pressure mounting from students and county leaders, it may be a short-lived dispute, even as the university maintains it is not bound by the smoking prohibition.

The school began taking heat Wednesday after the student newspaper, The Lanthorn, reported GVSU maintained it did not have to follow the county's workplace smoking ban, which took effect Jan. 1.

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Hurricane has Minimal Impact on Cigar in Nicaragua and Honduras 

Hurricane Felix struck Nicaragua as a Category 5 storm yesterday . . .

Despite the power of the storm, its impact on Nicaragua's cigar industry appears to be minimal. Cigar production in the country is concentrated in Estelí, much farther south, where little of the storm's strength was felt.

The biggest concern for the Nicaraguan cigar industry were the tobacco fields of Jalapa, which were close to the storm's impact zone in the north, near the border of Honduras.

"Jalapa's OK -- no problems," said Jorge Padrón, president of Padrón Cigars Inc., which uses tobacco from across Nicaragua.

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• Makers of cigars fear bill's burn 

Government officials and industry leaders say thousands of jobs are at risk in Nicaragua, Honduras and the Dominican Republic because of U.S. legislation that would hike taxes on cigars to help fund an expansion of children's health insurance.

A $10 cigar, for example, would go from incurring a few pennies in U.S. excise taxes to $3 under a Senate bill. Price hikes for the cigars of 30 to 40 percent would be devastating, industry officials argue, because many consumers will simply stop buying cigars.

Far-reaching effects

The worry has spread to the small towns of Nicaragua's tobacco country, which exported 56 million cigars to the U.S. last year. Employees quiz their bosses daily on the U.S. proposal and make plans if their jobs disappear.

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• Nicaragua objects to U.S. cigar tax 

Nicaragua's legislature, the National Assembly, on Thursday issued a declaration objecting to a planned U.S. tax on premium cigars.

The measure would raise the price of cigars from five cents to 10 U.S. dollars for each puro; hitting the tobacco industry in Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.

Freddy Torres, a member of the assembly's economic commission, said that the declaration calls on the U.S. legislature to reconsider the measure.

"This measure will prejudice thousands of workers in the tobacco growing and cigar making industry," Torres said. "The U.S. Congress and Senate should recognize the damage this measure does to Nicaragua in its fight against poverty," he added.

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A Career Seasoned With Cigar Smoke and Revolution  

While cigar rollers work in his factory in Estelí, José Orlando Padrón checks the aroma of a sample of tobacco. He is credited with helping to put Nicaragua on the map when it comes to tobacco, though his business has suffered from hurricanes and politics. . . .

Mr. Padrón’s company has grown steadily over the years, as has its reputation. Industry experts regularly give his full-bodied cigars some of their highest ratings. In Cigar Aficionado magazine’s latest ranking of the 25 best cigars in the world, the Padrón 1964 Anniversary Series Exclusivo was No. 3, behind a Dominican and a Cuban.

“It teems with flavor from the first puff, and the carefully cured tobaccos remain tasty and elegant until the very last,” the magazine said.

Mr. Padrón is credited with helping to put Nicaragua on the map when it comes to tobacco. With the United States trade embargo on Cuba restricting access to its cigars, the hunt for other quality locales has been fierce. . . .

Mr. Padrón scoffs at the health notices he is now required to put on the boxes warning that cigars carry the same cancer risks as cigarettes.

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Nicaragua peaceful haven for tourists 

One warning: There is no such thing as a no-smoking section in Nicaragua. Ashtrays sit on every table, counter and desk while children roam everywhere carrying baskets full of cigarettes for 1 cordoba, or about 7 cents. [This graph only]

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Nicaragua's Oldest Brand Revamped 

Nicaragua's oldest cigar company has an entirely new taste. Joya de Nicaragua was created in Nicaragua's first cigar factory, which opened in 1964. In the glory days of the 1970s, the brand was arguably the finest in the world, smoked in the White House and prized for its rich flavor. After war decimated Nicaragua, however, and the original factory burned to the ground, Joya de Nicaragua struggled to regain its former glory. In recent years, the brand has taken on a mild, easygoing flavor. Responding to the trend toward full-flavored cigars and looking at its own heritage as a producer of powerful smokes, the brand's makers have created a new version called Joya de Nicaragua Antaño 1970.

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