Sosa Belicoso

In the Taguasco region of Cuba, Juan Sosa was a small tobacco farmer around the turn of the 20th century. By the 1920’s, Mr. Sosa’s farm was one of the largest tobacco producing estates in Cuba. Mr. Sosa’s son Arturo and grandson Juan started manufacturing cigars for retail in Cuba and abroad, but the family left the island due to political unrest. Mr. Sosa spent several years looking for soils as rich as those in Cuba to restart his tobacco and cigar business and eventually settled in an area near Santiago, Dominican Republic. Once there he set up his factory in his new home and then operations in Miami, Florida. Today, his grandson Juan, along with his family, continues the legacy of handcrafting traditional Cuban cigars. The Sosa Belicoso is a simple, elegant cigar that is full with flavor and yet extremely smooth. It starts with a tantalizing combination of Dominican and Honduran long-fillers that’s held together by a Honduran binder and finished off with a dark Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper that’s dripping with oily goodness. Once lit, the medium-bodied bouquet of cocoa, earth, and pepper are met with a tobacco core. Since it’s warming up, try it at your next barbeque with a cool sangria.

The Nicaraguan cigar industry originated when Cuban cigar makers escaped the revolution and re-established their livelihood in Nicaragua with Cuban-seed tobacco. Blessed with dark, rich soil, their new home was ideal for tobacco cultivation and Nicaragua quickly became known for cigars that rivaled Cuban quality. Unfortunately, revolution and war came to Nicaragua in the 1980s and devastated the industry, but it’s rebounded dramatically and is once again producing tobacco considered by many to be the finest in the world.

The Esteli Valley is in many ways the heart of Nicaraguan production and is known for its very powerful and spicy tobacco. The Jalapa Valley produces arguably the finest tobacco in the country: somewhat sweeter and less intense than Esteli, but extremely complex. The tobacco of the Condega Valley is often described as a blend of the other two regions.