I just got back from Nicaragua yesterday on a trip with Cigar Tourism ran by Colin Ganely, editor of Cigar Journal (formerly European Cigar Cult Journal). It was a great trip and I highly siggest you try to get on it if you are interested in going to Nicaragua. You can find his site at www.cigartourism.com. We visited Leon, Estelli, and Matagalpa. In Leon we had a guided tour of an important colonial city for Nica and also important to the Sadanista Revolution. In Matagalpa we visited some of the most beautiful land and a coffee plantation. We got to pick coffee, see how it is processed, and experience a tasting process known as "cupping". In Estelli we got to visit Oliva, Plasencia, Drew Estate, My Father, Perdomo, Padron, and AJ Fernandez. Plasencia let us pick our own blends and rolled us 10 of them to take home. I went with Penn Broadleaf Maduro wrapper, Criollo binder, and for the filler I went with Jalapa ligero, Estelli Ligero, Ometepe Viso, and Cameroon.
Nicaragua Trip
- Thread starter CAJoe
- Start date
It had a smokey, charred meat taste with a lot of salt. Originally I just had the 2 ligeros and the ometepe but the ometepe was so salty that I took it down a lot and added the cameroon to balance it out.
BradMc
<b>Charity Liaison</b><br>BoM September 07
Outstanding Joe,Glad u had a great time , sounds like a busy time u were there ....... Need to chat with u more about ur trip . I'm going to the Cigar Safari in Feb, Gawd I can't wait .....
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You will have a good time a Drew's pad. It was my second time there and one of my favorite places to visit.
thejavaman
BoM December 2012
I'd love to do this someday. I could kill two birds like you did in visiting coffee & tobacco farms.
Zedman05
Fiend4theLeaf
I did that trip in Jan of 2010. It was fantastic ! We never got to do the coffee plantation thing, that is new, but the trip itself all around can't be beat. Colin is very knowledgeable, and knows the factories. He is helpful, and patient as well, which is nice. The blending at Plasencia is great ! I love how we had the opportunity to change the blend after we lit the initial one up. I tried changing a filler leaf in my first blend, but found that only one leaf made the smoke a lot more bitter, and therefore went back to my original blend, which I loved !
I too cannot recommend these trips enough, they are very insightful, and so much fun. I just wish I could get back to Nica again for another trip....sigh....
I am still trying to convince Colin on getting a Cuba trip together, I need more support from the brothers though haha.
I too cannot recommend these trips enough, they are very insightful, and so much fun. I just wish I could get back to Nica again for another trip....sigh....
I am still trying to convince Colin on getting a Cuba trip together, I need more support from the brothers though haha.
I was thinking the same thing... I keep trying to get my cousin (who is a coffee buyer, and roaster, for a large commercial outfit) to take me on trips but "no dice."
javajunkie
BoM July '12
very cool experience, smokes and java both, and thanks for sharing!
you got any pix for us poor landlocked schlebs? o)
you got any pix for us poor landlocked schlebs? o)
I'm not really a shutterbug but my buddy took lots of pics. He is supposed to be making a CD and when he does I will share some or upload them all somewhere and post a link.
Zedman05
Fiend4theLeaf
I am not trying to steal your post, just wanted to post up some pics that I never did get around to when I went...too lazy sheesh!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58685075@N02/sets/72157632268729153/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58685075@N02/sets/72157632268729153/
Glad you enjoyed the trip. Hope my chef made you something good to eat and Pedro had some specialty sticks for you to bring home. JD
Your chef put out some killer BBQ! The sticks Pedro gave us blew me away. All the rare sticks including an Undercrown Pig was awesome. I love going to your pad in Nica, such a great setup. Saka was a lot of fun as well. I had my buddies all excited to see your place and they were not disapointed at all. Thanks for letting us visit!
ciggy
"TommyBoy"
In the same boat. Really wanted to do the DE trip next year but since my wife lost her job in the summer "She is working now" were still having a very tight budget as she makes less and we have to pay for family health ins on top of it. I really hope to make a trip like this someday but I know it will be a ways down the road. Until then I love reading about it and seeing all the pics you guys post. Pretty cool you get to roll your own blend too. Thanks for sharing!