Buying cigars in Nicaragua

[Cojonu]

Ok, 1st off I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I looked around and couldn't find anything that seemed to perfectly fit my question. Please let me know if it doesnt belong. My wife and son are taking a trip to Nicaragua June/July of this year and there are a lot of cigars that I love made there. So my questions are these. 1) can you buy directly at the factories? 2) are the prices substantially better? 3) Any cigar shops any botl or sotl can recommend to visit or to stay away from?

Thanks

Cojonu

 

[ENV]

My uncle lives there. The smokes tend to be more expensive there. Im not sure why.

 

[Cojonu]

My uncle lives there. The smokes tend to be more expensive there. Im not sure why.

Wow, I wouldn't have thought that.

 

[Craig Mac]

None of the factories I went to sold cigars (drew estate, My Father, JdN) and others like Padron, Oliva and Perdomo don't sell locally. From what I understand cigars aren't any cheaper there as they are all produced for export. The Padron stand at the airport was inline with what you pay in the States.

Also, the cigar factories, for the most part, are several hours away from Managua. Not sure where they will be staying but Esteli is one long ass bus ride from the airport.

 

[Cojonu]

None of the factories I went to sold cigars (drew estate, My Father, JdN) and others like Padron, Oliva and Perdomo don't sell locally. From what I understand cigars aren't any cheaper there as they are all produced for export. The Padron stand at the airport was inline with what you pay in the States.

Also, the cigar factories, for the most part, are several hours away from Managua. Not sure where they will be staying but Esteli is one long ass bus ride from the airport.

Not sure where they will be yet, will find out more in the weeks to come. Are any of the "local" cigars any good? I would imagine some of those factories or rollers would possibly make some good sticks for the local b&m or is that just crazy talk because theirs more money in the export business?

 

[SmokinNukie]

I picked up about 6 sticks from some lady rollers on Roatan during a cruise ship stop. Supposedly the cigars contained Nicaraguan and Cuban (doubtful) tobaccos. I've smoked 4 of them and they were pretty decent. One of them was so plugged that it was impossible to get any draw. The other is still in my box. I paid less than $14 for all of them after a bit of haggling.

While certainly no comparison to the HdM epicure #2's that I picked up on Grand Cayman, I can honestly say that they were a lot better (and more affordable) than some of my earlier purchased from Thompson's. I would do it again if I make it back to Roatan.

 

[Hendy]

Funny story. Brother in law calls from DR and tells my other BIL "I got you some Cubans. Guy outside the airport was rolling them so I bought them for you". Remember he's in the DR. I told him they're not Cubans. He is asked by customs what they are and he says Cubans. They made him cut them up on the spot and trash them. Still makes me chuckle.

 

[K Williams]

My uncle lives there. The smokes tend to be more expensive there. Im not sure why.

Same in DR. More expensive than NYC prices and some are fakes. It's ridiculous...

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[BradMc]

Only place I saw in Nica to buy cigar Managua airport ...... Good luck

 

[hdroadglide]

What cmac said. Plus, de cigars are produced in a tax free area so they can't be sold in Nicaragua. The one spot we were in esteli that sold cigars was pretty poor. And there was a kiosk at the airport for padrons

 

[AlohaStyle]

I saw 2 places selling cigars in Nicaragua... one store on the small island of Ometepe was selling some nasty ass local cigars and a shop in Esteli were selling these great Nicaraguan Cohibas.

Local Ometepe cigars:

And these smelled worse than they look!?!

 

[Cojonu]

I saw 2 places selling cigars in Nicaragua... one store on the small island of Ometepe was selling some nasty ass local cigars and a shop in Esteli were selling these great Nicaraguan Cohibas.

Local Ometepe cigars:

And these smelled worse than they look!?!

I dont believe those Nicaraguan cigars are actually "cigars". Im sooo deflated. I was really excited about my family returning with some great Nicaraguan cigars for me. I guess I will have them get me some coffee.

 

[shadowcam]

^wow. Looking at those custom rolls make me physically ill. I cannot look at this thread again... Thanks Ryan...

 

[hdroadglide]

note to self. do NOT ask ryan for cigars...

 

[AlohaStyle]

^wow. Looking at those custom rolls make me physically ill. I cannot look at this thread again... Thanks Ryan...

Seriously man, I literally am queasy looking at the picture too. I bought a handful of those cigars mainly as a joke to mail to the people I went on the trip with and put them inside a baggie, inside my backpack for a few hours until I got to my next destination. When I got to the next place and opened my backpack, I literally almost threw up it smelled so bad! It didn't take me long to find a garbage... LOL

But, there is some good tobacco grown on this small island so I would be interested in looking out for some decent looking local rolled ones or other commercial cigars. Punch makes the Uppercut with a picture of Ometepe Island on the band. While driving a motorcycle around the island, I did see a few fields and a couple small curing barns with tobacco hanging inside.

 

[Cigary43]

Consumers are so much better off if they just buy their cigars from home or online instead of buying cigars in the DR or Nicaragua and other places. The Islands are notorious for selling fake cigars and if they are selling indigenous cigars they are usually higher because everybody knows that Touristas have money falling out of their pockets.