Our catalog lists 1,456 Nicaraguan cigars with both a price and a rating, from 203 brands, at a median of $9.64 a stick. Below: the top-rated cigar from each of 12 brands, how strong Nicaraguan cigars really run, the four growing regions, and the factories in Estelí behind the biggest names.
Price of 12 Nicaraguan cigars, one per brand
The top rating, 4.90, starts at $13.30 with the My Father The Judge Grand Robusto. The cheapest of the 12 is the Flor de las Antillas Belicoso at $7.50. Ratings span only 0.15 of a point.
top rating (4.90) — $13.30the other 11 picks
- Flor de las Antillas Belicoso$7.50
- CAO Flathead V660 Carb$8.39
- La Mission L'Atelier 1959$8.50
- Tatuaje Black Petite Lancero$8.50
- Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro$10.95
- My Father The Judge Grand Robusto$13.30
- Oliva Serie V Melanio Figurado$14.00
- Rocky Patel A.L.R. Second Edition Toro$16.25
- Montecristo 1935 Anniversary Nicaragua Espeso$18.00
- Liga Privada No. 9 Flying Pig$20.83
- Dunbarton Sin Compromiso Seleccion No. 7 Toro$25.00
- Padron Family Reserve No. 46 Maduro$40.00
The 12 highest-rated Nicaraguan cigars, one per brand
Four Nicaraguan records in our catalog rate 4.9, the pool's top score. Two of them are Liga Privada, so one-per-brand keeps three. Ties at the same rating go to the cheaper cigar.
| Cigar | Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|
| My Father The Judge Grand Robusto | 4.9 | $13.30 |
| Liga Privada No. 9 Flying Pig | 4.9 | $20.83 |
| Padron Family Reserve No. 46 Maduro | 4.9 | $40.00 |
| Montecristo 1935 Anniversary Nicaragua Espeso | 4.85 | $18.00 |
| La Mission L'Atelier 1959 | 4.8 | $8.50 |
| Tatuaje Black Petite Lancero | 4.8 | $8.50 |
| Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro | 4.8 | $10.95 |
| Oliva Serie V Melanio Figurado | 4.8 | $14.00 |
| Rocky Patel A.L.R. Second Edition Toro | 4.8 | $16.25 |
| Dunbarton Sin Compromiso Seleccion No. 7 Toro | 4.8 | $25.00 |
| Flor de las Antillas Belicoso | 4.75 | $7.50 |
| CAO Flathead V660 Carb | 4.75 | $8.39 |
Size, wrapper and strength decide whether a pick suits you, so here is each one as our catalog lists it:
- My Father The Judge Grand Robusto: 5 x 60 robusto, Ecuadorian wrapper, medium-full. The cheapest of the three 4.9s.
- Liga Privada No. 9 Flying Pig: 4 x 60 torpedo, Connecticut Broadleaf Oscuro wrapper, full.
- Padron Family Reserve No. 46 Maduro: 5.5 x 56, Nicaraguan maduro wrapper, full. The dearest of the 12 because Family Reserve is Padrón's top line.
- Montecristo 1935 Anniversary Nicaragua Espeso: 5.5 x 60, Nicaraguan wrapper, medium-full. Our catalog lists its origin as Nicaragua, so this is not a Cuban Montecristo.
- La Mission L'Atelier 1959: 4.75 x 52 robusto, Mexican wrapper, medium-full.
- Tatuaje Black Petite Lancero: 6 x 38 lancero, Nicaraguan wrapper, medium. The only medium-strength cigar on the list.
- Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro: 6 x 52 figurado, Nicaraguan wrapper, medium-full.
- Oliva Serie V Melanio Figurado: 6.5 x 52 figurado, Ecuadorian wrapper, full.
- Rocky Patel A.L.R. Second Edition Toro: 6.5 x 52 toro, Mexican wrapper, medium-full.
- Dunbarton Sin Compromiso Seleccion No. 7 Toro: 6 x 52 toro, Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper, full. The second-dearest pick.
- Flor de las Antillas Belicoso: 5.5 x 52 figurado, Nicaraguan wrapper, medium-full. The cheapest of the 12.
- CAO Flathead V660 Carb: 6 x 60, U.S. Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, full. The second-cheapest pick.
Five of the 12 are full, six are medium-full and one is medium. The top-rated picks run stronger than Nicaraguan cigars as a whole, as the next section shows.
Interactive
Pick a Nicaraguan cigar
The 12 one-per-brand picks from 1456 Nicaraguan catalog cigars. Set a ceiling; it returns the best-rated pick you can buy.
Best pick at or under $9.50: La Mission L'Atelier 1959, rated 4.80 at $8.50.
How strong Nicaraguan cigars really are
Only 187 of the 1,456 Nicaraguan cigars in our catalog are listed as full strength, 12.8%. Almost half are medium-full, and a quarter are medium.
| Strength | Cigars | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Medium-Full | 716 | 49.2% |
| Medium | 364 | 25.0% |
| Full | 187 | 12.8% |
| Mild-Medium | 52 | 3.6% |
| Mild | 30 | 2.1% |
| Not disclosed | 107 | 7.3% |
Against the other big origins: full-strength cigars are 10.9% of the Dominican pool (95 of 871), 8.9% of the Honduran pool (42 of 472) and 5.3% of the Cuban pool (17 of 321).
So Nicaragua does carry the most full-strength cigars of the four. But a full cigar is still the exception there, not the rule. If one strong Nicaraguan put you off the whole country, try a medium. (Back when I was starting out, I made that mistake with a full-strength stick on an empty stomach.)
The median rating is 4.55 for Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Honduras alike. Cuba's median is 4.6. The four-origin comparison sets those countries side by side, and flavor identities by country covers taste.
Nicaragua's four tobacco regions
Holt's names four main growing regions: Estelí, Condega, Jalapa and Ometepe. Cigar Aficionado's Under the Volcanoes sums up what each soil gives the leaf.
| Region | Where | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| Estelí | North; the cigar-factory city | Black soil, strong and spicy leaf |
| Condega | North of Estelí | Rocky soil, middle-range flavor |
| Jalapa | Far north, near Honduras | Red clay, smooth wrapper leaf |
| Ometepe | Volcanic island in Lake Nicaragua | Sweet, earthy leaf, small crops |
- Estelí: Holt's says most of Nicaragua's cigar manufacturers are in the city of Estelí. It calls the region's tobacco "dark, rich, and hugely aromatic."
- Condega: Holt's reports that roughly 70 percent of Condega tobacco is used as filler, and that it "tends to be full-bodied and earthy."
- Jalapa: Nestor Andrés Plasencia told Cigar Aficionado in Land of the Wrapper Leaf: "Jalapa's tobacco is sweet, creamy and aromatic." The cooler, wetter climate gives even wrapper color.
- Ometepe: Holt's warns that some makers reject Ometepe leaf because it can taste metallic if not blended precisely. Plasencia's Alma del Fuego uses it.
Holt's also flags a newer region, Namanji in Jinotega, where the García family of My Father began planting tobacco.
The major factories behind Nicaraguan cigars
Most big Nicaraguan names roll in or around Estelí. Each fact below comes from the named source.
- Padrón: founded in Miami in 1964. Cigar Aficionado reports José O. Padrón opened his Tabacos Cubanica factory in Estelí in 1970.
- Joya de Nicaragua: Joya's own history says it was established in 1968 in Estelí, "the very first premium handmade cigar manufacturer in Nicaragua."
- My Father: My Father Cigars says the García family moved to a factory and farm in Estelí in 2009.
- Oliva: Cigar Aficionado's A New Era of Oliva names Tabolisa I in Estelí as Oliva's primary factory, where Serie V is rolled.
- AJ Fernandez: Cigar Journal reports Abdel Fernández opened his first Estelí "factory" in a garage with six rollers.
- Drew Estate: Cigar Aficionado's walking tour says Liga Privada, Undercrown and Herrera Estelí are made at La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate in Estelí.
- Plasencia: Cigar Aficionado's factory tour found Alma Fuerte and Alma del Fuego rolled at the Plasencia factory in Estelí.
Nicaraguan cigar brands in our catalog
These are the 12 brands with the most priced and rated Nicaraguan cigars in our catalog, with each brand's median rating.
| Brand | Cigars | Median rating |
|---|---|---|
| Padron | 93 | 4.65 |
| Rocky Patel | 59 | 4.6 |
| Oliva | 52 | 4.55 |
| Tatuaje | 47 | 4.55 |
| Illusione | 43 | 4.55 |
| My Father | 39 | 4.6 |
| La Aroma de Cuba | 37 | 4.55 |
| Joya de Nicaragua | 34 | 4.55 |
| Perdomo | 32 | 4.5 |
| CAO | 30 | 4.5 |
| Montecristo | 29 | 4.55 |
| Espinosa | 24 | 4.55 |
Other factory brands named above: Liga Privada has 20 Nicaraguan cigars in our catalog at a 4.6 median rating, Plasencia 20 at 4.55, AJ Fernandez 12 at 4.5.
Padrón is the only brand here with a median rating above 4.6. It also costs the most: its Nicaraguan cigars have a median price of $17.40, against $8.81 for Oliva and $8.56 for Joya de Nicaragua.
Browse the full lineups on the Padron, Oliva, My Father, Joya de Nicaragua and Liga Privada brand pages. For reviews, see Padrón, Oliva, My Father and Plasencia.
The Cuban roots of Nicaraguan cigars
Many Nicaraguan houses were built by Cuban exiles. My grandfather used to call Nicaragua "Cuba's wild cousin," and the factory histories back him up.
- Padrón: Cigar Aficionado reports José O. Padrón left Cuba after Castro confiscated his family's tobacco farms. Estelí's climate and soil reminded him of Pinar del Río.
- My Father: the company says José "Pepín" García was born in Cuba in 1950 and rolled his first cigar at 11.
- Plasencia: Cigar Aficionado says Nestor Plasencia Senior relocated from Cuba to Nicaragua in 1965.
- AJ Fernandez: Cigar Journal describes Abdel Fernández as a Cuban exile from San Luis. San Lotano was his grandfather's house brand in Cuba.
It was not a smooth ride. Cigar Aficionado reports mobs burned Padrón's Estelí factory in the late 1970s, and a 1985 U.S. embargo pushed production to Honduras until 1990. For the Cuban side, read Cuban vs. non-Cuban cigars.
How we built this list
We took every Nicaraguan-origin cigar in our catalog that has both a price and a rating. We ranked them by rating, then by lower price, and kept only the top cigar from each brand until we had 12. That stops the list from being a dozen Padróns.
Prices are single-cigar catalog prices, not box prices. Brand-level rankings live in best cigar brands ranked.
What is the best Nicaraguan cigar?
By our catalog ratings, the best-value top scorer is My Father The Judge Grand Robusto: rated 4.9 at $13.30. Liga Privada No. 9 Flying Pig and Padron Family Reserve No. 46 Maduro also rate 4.9 but cost more.
Are all Nicaraguan cigars full-bodied?
No. Only 187 of 1,456 Nicaraguan cigars in our catalog are listed as full strength, 12.8%. Medium-full is the most common at 716 (49.2%), and medium is next at 364 (25.0%).
Where are most Nicaraguan cigars made?
In Estelí. Holt's says most of Nicaragua's cigar manufacturers are in that city, and Padrón, Joya de Nicaragua, My Father, Oliva, AJ Fernandez, Drew Estate and Plasencia all roll cigars there.
Why isn't the Padrón 1926 on this list?
We keep one cigar per brand. Padrón's slot went to Family Reserve No. 46 Maduro at 4.9. The Padron Serie 1926 No. 9 rates 4.85 in our catalog; our Padrón 1926 No. 9 review covers it.
Is Liga Privada Nicaraguan?
Yes. Our catalog lists the Flying Pig's origin as Nicaragua, and Cigar Aficionado reports Liga Privada is made at La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate in Estelí. Its wrapper is Connecticut Broadleaf. More on the Liga Privada guide.