Trinidad Espiritu Series No. 2 Toro

For nearly a century the name Trinidad has conjured up the richest, boldest flavor you could find in a cigar. The brand harks back to 1905 and Santa Clara, Cuba where two brothers, hardware traders Diego and Ramón Trinidad, bought their wares. They then travelled to remote villages on the outskirts of the city to sell them. One day, as they hauled their empty wagons back home, they noticed—truly noticed—the magnificent tobacco crops around them. Apparently, it was a eureka moment from which we cigar fans are still benefiting. They filled their wagons with the bountiful crop and, upon their return to Santa Clara, began selling this lush commodity. Suddenly they were in the tobacco business.

In 2019, Altadis USA released the incredibly popular Espiritu Series No. 1, a direct reference to some of the fantastic blends that were coming out of the Caribbean around the ‘60s and ‘70s. The Espiritu Series No. 2 in your shipment today captures the spirit of South American Carnival and was created by famed cigar legends AJ Fernández and Rafael Nodal. The Trinidad Espiritu Series No. 2 is handcrafted using a bold mix of Brazilian and Nicaraguan fillers, a Nicaraguan binder, and a stunning Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper to finish it off. Medium to full in body, this smoke will lend complex notes of earth and spices that will bring your palate straight to Carnival in Rio! Grab a well-aged rum and drift off to Carnival.

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.