Inside Nicaragua's Cigar Country: My Week on the TOR Tour 2026
By Michel Besson, Fine Cigars Club | January 2026
There are trips that educate you, and trips that change you. My week in Nicaragua with TOR Imports on the 2026 Tor Tour did both. As someone who sells premium cigars for a living, I thought I understood what went into the leaf in the box. I was wrong — or at least, I had no idea of the scale, the craft, the family pride, and the sheer human effort involved. This is the story of that trip.
Before Nicaragua: Little Havana, Miami
The adventure started before we even boarded a plane to Central America. The TOR Tour participants gathered in Miami, and our first evening was spent at the Red Phone Booth — a Prohibition-era speakeasy and cigar bar that, with its wood panelling, leather booths and clouds of smoke drifting over cocktails, felt like the perfect prologue to what awaited us.
Joining us that evening was Ricardo Ortiz, Senior Account Manager for International Sales and Operations at Drew Estate — one of the brands we'd be visiting later in the week. Ricardo's passion for his craft was immediately obvious, and over Liga Privadas and rum he set the tone: this wasn't going to be a sales trip. It was going to be school.
Day 1 — Touchdown in Nicaragua: Managua to Estelí
We flew into Managua, Nicaragua's capital, and boarded what I can only describe as our mobile cigar lounge — a bus that, to the amusement of everyone, seemed to generate as much smoke inside as the volcanoes outside. The road north to Estelí took us through dramatically beautiful countryside, but the first major stop was unmissable: Volcán Masaya, one of Nicaragua's seven active volcanoes. Standing at the rim of that crater is the kind of moment that recalibrates your sense of perspective.
Before arriving in Estelí — at night, the city glowing against the hills — we stopped for dinner at a spectacular hilltop restaurant with sweeping panoramic views and a Mariachi band serenading the table. Nicaragua, it turned out, does not do things quietly.
Day 2 — Padrón: Where Tradition Becomes Legend
If you work in premium cigars, the name Padrón carries the same weight as a great Bordeaux château. Founded by José Orlando Padrón, a Cuban exile, the family's story is one of perseverance and uncompromising quality — starting with tobacco growing in Cuba, continuing in Nicaragua after the revolution, and ultimately building what many consider the greatest cigar-making dynasty in history.
We began the day at their fermentation rooms and tobacco plantation, where the process that gives Nicaraguan tobacco its distinctive depth begins — slow, monitored, and governed by decades of institutional knowledge. The curing barn visit that followed showed us how green leaf is coaxed, over weeks and months, into the mahogany-coloured wrapper a connoisseur pulls from a cellophane sleeve.
The highlight, though, was lunch with Jorge Padrón, President of Padrón Cigars, and the wider Padrón family. Jorge speaks about tobacco the way an Old World winemaker speaks about terroir — with reverence, without pretension. And then, the gift: each of us received one Padrón 60th Anniversary Perfecto — awarded Cigar of the Year 2025 by Cigar Aficionado, making Padrón the only brand in history to have claimed that accolade four times — along with one 80th Anniversary. Both are still sitting in my humidor. Some things you don't rush.
The afternoon brought a complete change of gear. Drew Estate in Estelí is, in every sense, a different world. This is the largest hand-made cigar manufacturer on the planet — producing roughly 80 million cigars per year. For context: Cuba as a country produces approximately 60 million. Drew Estate deliberately chose not to grow their own tobacco, instead sourcing the finest leaves from growers across Nicaragua and beyond to fuel their production. Their in-house creative arm, Subculture Studio, covers the factory walls in murals that look like they belong in a Brooklyn gallery. The energy is rock and roll.
Before dinner, we made a stop that quietly stole the day: a rum tasting at the Tisey Estanzuela Natural Reserve, perched high above the valley with staggering views across the landscape — a chain of volcanoes stretching to the horizon, the iconic Momtombo rising in the distance. Rum, volcanic panoramas, and the smell of cigar smoke on the mountain air. Hard to top.
That evening, Drew Estate's team hosted us for dinner and a live concert — sampling Liga Privada No. 9, Blackened, and others, washed down with pours of the Blackened whiskey developed in partnership with Metallica. Quite a Tuesday.
Day 3 — Giving Back, Then Going Back in Time: Joya de Nicaragua
The morning was the most moving of the trip. Before any tobacco, we visited Colegio Belen, a school in Estelí that TOR Imports supports — providing infrastructure, resources and better conditions for the children. The kids had organised a performance for us. I challenge anyone in that room not to have been floored by it.
Joya de Nicaragua then gave us a full-day masterclass. Founded in 1968, JDN is the oldest cigar factory in Nicaragua — comparable in prestige to what Cohiba was in Cuba. In 1970, it was the official cigar of the Nixon White House. Today, under Executive President Juan Ignacio Martínez and Factory Manager Mario Perez, it remains one of the most respected operations in the world.
The factory tour was extraordinarily thorough: wrapper sorting by shade and texture, binder and filler preparation, the humidity rooms where leaves are hydrated before rolling, the drying rooms for fillers, deveining stations — every step explained and demonstrated with obvious pride.
After an amazing lunch in their courtyard, we were handed blending materials from multiple Nicaraguan terroirs and asked to create our own blend. Mine was, diplomatically, interesting.
The evening introduced us to Steve Saka, founder and CEO of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, whose highly sought-after lines — Sin Compromiso, Sobremesa — are rolled by Joya de Nicaragua's torcedores. A remarkable conversation between a craftsman and a visionary. We ended the night at the Tisey Estanzuela Natural Reserve, perched high above the valley with staggering views across the landscape — a chain of volcanoes stretching to the horizon, the iconic Momtombo rising in the distance. Rum, volcanic panoramas, and the smell of cigar smoke on the mountain air. The perfect close to an extraordinary day.
Day 4 — The Farm: Oliva in Condega
We left Estelí for Condega to spend the morning with Ernesto Milanese, who oversees Oliva's entire tobacco growing operation. The Oliva story — a Cuban family that began growing tobacco in 1886, moved to Nicaragua through the generations, and is now owned by Belgium's Vandermarliere family — is as much about agricultural heritage as cigar-making.
The R&D laboratory was genuinely fascinating: seed genetics, disease prevention protocols, soil science. Ernesto's team made clear that the cigar in your hand begins not on the factory floor but in a lab, years before — we also visited their tobacco nursery greenhouse, watching the journey from seed to the seedlings that are eventually transplanted into the open fields.
In the afternoon we visited Oliva's pre-production facilities, seeing how harvested leaf — including the tobacco destined for the award-winning Oliva Serie V Melanio — is processed, fermented and prepared before it ever reaches a roller's hands.
Day 5 — My Father Cigars: Cuban Roots, Nicaraguan Soul
My Father Cigars is a family affair in every sense. Don Jaime "Pepín" García and his family have earned three Cigar of the Year accolades from Cigar Aficionado — Le Bijou 1922, Flor de las Antillas, and The Judge. We were hosted throughout the day by Jandy García, and spent significant time in the fermentation facilities — one of the most technically detailed parts of the entire trip.
The García team walked us through how different parts of the tobacco plant are fermented differently: filler, binder and wrapper each follow distinct processes, governed by temperature, humidity and time. Some leaves go through a second fermentation after deveining, an additional step that adds layers of complexity to the final blend. It is painstaking, methodical work — and it explains why My Father cigars smoke the way they do.
The evening was pure joy: a BBQ party at My Father HQ, hosted by Jandy, with dancing, remarkable cigars, and the kind of warmth that makes you feel like family rather than trade guests.
Day 6 — AJ Fernandez: Fields, Finesse and Precision
The final factory day began in AJ Fernandez's fields — all 15 of them around Estelí — before heading to the main production facility, Tabacalera AJ Fernandez, where we were hosted by factory manager Mario Ruiz. Cuban heritage meets Nicaraguan terroir here in blends of remarkable complexity. AJF has claimed Cigar Journal's No. 1 Cigar of the Year twice (2014 and 2019) and is a repeat winner of UK Cigar Producer of the Year.
After the blending session we'd done at Joya de Nicaragua, today we had the chance to go one step further: rolling our own cigars. It was my first attempt, and I'm pleased to report it wasn't a disaster — in fact, I've kept it, aging in my humidor. Whether it will smoke well is another question entirely, but it gave me a profound new respect for what a master torcedor does ten thousand times a week.
The afternoon was deliberately unhurried: the AJF guest house, a pool, and honest, generous Nicaraguan cooking for lunch and dinner. After six days of intensity, it was exactly right.
The Finale — Nicaraguan Cigar Master
On our final day — after a detour to Granada, the oldest colonial city in Central America, and a boat trip on Lake Nicaragua the evening before — we made one last stop in Managua: Flor de Caña, Nicaragua's legendary rum distillery, where I had the extraordinary chance to create my own rum blend. From cigar blending at JDN to cigar rolling at AJF to rum blending at Flor de Caña — the trip had become one long masterclass in the art of the blend.
Then came the moment that closed the week: our Nicaraguan Cigar Master certificates, presented by Scott Vines of TOR Imports.
It was, genuinely, an immense honour. Not because of the certificate itself, but because of what it represented: eight days of extraordinary access to the people who make the cigars we sell, rolled by hand in a city in northern Nicaragua that most of our customers will never visit.
What I Brought Home
The knowledge I gained on this trip will shape how Fine Cigars Club talks about Nicaraguan cigars indefinitely. The terroir of Estelí and Condega. Why fermentation time matters more than any single process. The difference between a torcedor who has rolled for six months and one who has rolled for sixteen years.
But more than the knowledge, I brought home a deeper respect — for the families, the workers, the agronomists, and the blenders who make this possible. The cigar in your humidor is not just tobacco. It is a year of farming, months of fermentation, generations of knowledge, and the hands of a craftsman who has spent their life perfecting a single motion.
That is what Nicaragua tastes like.
Browse our full collection of Nicaraguan cigars — including selections from Padrón, Drew Estate, Joya de Nicaragua, Oliva, My Father, and AJ Fernandez.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Estelí considered the world capital of cigars? Estelí sits in a highland valley surrounded by volcanoes whose mineral ash has created some of the world's most fertile tobacco soil. Around a third of its 110,000 residents work in the tobacco industry. Its altitude, climate and skilled workforce make it unrivalled for premium hand-made cigar production.
What is the TOR Tour? The TOR Tour is an annual immersive trade trip run by TOR Imports, the UK's leading New World cigar importer. It takes specialist retailers to Nicaragua to visit the factories and fields of partner brands for first-hand seed-to-smoke education.
How many cigars does Drew Estate produce per year? Drew Estate produces approximately 80 million cigars annually from its Estelí factory — more than Cuba produces as an entire country (roughly 60 million per year). It is considered the world's largest hand-made cigar manufacturing operation.
What cigars are made in Nicaragua? Nicaragua is home to many of the world's top cigar brands, including Padrón, Joya de Nicaragua, Drew Estate, Oliva, My Father Cigars, and AJ Fernandez. Nicaraguan tobacco is prized for its strength, complexity and distinctive volcanic terroir.
Where can I buy Nicaraguan cigars in the UK? Fine Cigars Club stocks a curated range of premium Nicaraguan cigars online, including selections from all the brands visited on the TOR Tour 2026, distributed in the UK by TOR Imports.