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Chapter VII
Countries and regions
A cigar’s “nationality” can mean the leaf, the factory, or the company on the band. They need not match. Serious boxes say where the cigar was made. The chapters below follow the regions readers meet most often.
Cuba
Vuelta Abajo and the Havana system.
Dominican Republic
Santiago factories and the Cibao.
Nicaragua
Estelí, Jalapa, Condega.
Honduras
Jamastrán, Copán, Corojo.
Other lands
Mexico, Ecuador, the U.S., Cameroon, Indonesia, Brazil.
“New World” is a habit of speech opposite Cuba, not an insult. In the last three decades Nicaragua and Honduras have made a full-bodied classic of their own; the Dominican Republic has made both mild and heavy blends.
Related chapters
Cuba
Cuban growing districts, the state industry after 1959, and the usual character of Havana brands.
Dominican Republic
How the Dominican Republic became a center of premium production: Cibao leaf, Santiago factories, mild and full styles.
Nicaragua
Estelí, Jalapa, and Condega, the 1990s revival, and why Nicaragua became shorthand for a fuller cigar.
Honduras
Jamastrán, Copán, Honduran Corojo, and how Honduran leaf is often blended with Nicaraguan tobacco.
Other growing countries
Mexico, Ecuador, Connecticut, Cameroon, Indonesia, Brazil, and other lands that mainly supply wrapper or special leaf.