| h the first country many of us think of when it comes | | | | among smokers as solid, everyday cigars if not yet |
| to great cigars is, of course, Cuba, the fact is that | | | | world-class ones. |
| great tobacco, skilled rollers and serious craftsmanship | | | | Nicaragua |
| can be found all over the world. So here, whether | | | | Along with the Dominican Republic and Honduras, |
| you're a newer smoker ready to move on from the | | | | Nicaragua creates many of the highest-ranked |
| few you've tried or a cigar aficionado, who'd like to | | | | non-Cuban cigars in the world—indeed, some |
| change it up a little, is a guide to the some of the best | | | | observers say the best offerings of these countries |
| cigars in several cigar-producing regions, both | | | | have come to rival those of Cuba. There's a reason |
| well-known and lesser-known. | | | | for that: the cigar industries of all three countries |
| Of course, if you're like many smokers, you'll know that | | | | benefited mightily from the Cuban revolution of 1959. |
| often the best smoking experiences come from | | | | Fearing that their belongings would be "nationalized" (i.e. |
| scouring shops for yourself, looking for that gem of a | | | | seized by the incoming Castro government, which did |
| cigar you've never read of in a cigar magazine, and | | | | not look kindly on accumulations of wealth, however |
| never had recommended to you by a fellow | | | | earned), many of the island's most prominent and |
| enthusiast. As book-store browsers, record-store | | | | knowledgeable cigar makers fled for nearby countries. |
| hangers-on, antique finders, and other collectors all | | | | Some came to the United States, some went further |
| attest, nothing's as fun as an original find—and | | | | afield, but quite a few ended up in neighboring Latin |
| you can make new discoveries by visiting your nearby | | | | American nations. With the support of the |
| cigar store or creating a choose-your-own-sampler | | | | economically shrewd but barbaric Somoza dictatorship, |
| online. Just follow your instincts. But sometimes, | | | | Nicaragua's cigar makers prospered. Then, in 1979, the |
| suggestions are helpful too—hence this piece. | | | | Somozas' strongman tactics caught up with them, as |
| Italy | | | | over seventy-nine percent of voters rejected the ruling |
| "The principal glory of the Italian landscape is its | | | | junta in Nicaragua's first free election in decades. The |
| extreme melancholy," wrote nineteenth-century | | | | winning, socialist Sandinista party temporarily disabled |
| polymath John Ruskin, whose life (like that of so many | | | | the country's cigar industry, directing tobacco growers |
| other artists and writers) was forever changed by his | | | | to concentrate on making inferior cigarette tobacco. |
| sojourn in that country. From Henry James (see his | | | | After several years of civil conflict between the |
| novel Roderick Hudson) to E.M. Forster (check out | | | | Sandinistas and the right-wing Contras, with the |
| Where Angels Fear to Tread) to the innumerable | | | | country's general population caught in the middle, tired |
| college students or honeymooning couples who visit | | | | Nicaraguans returned to the polls and elected Violeta |
| every year, everyone who visits this capital of world | | | | Chamorro, who changed the government's tobacco |
| culture seems to find the experience captivating and | | | | policy. Hurricane Mitch, in 1998, wreaked further havoc |
| unique. Its romantic and emotive associations are | | | | on the country's economy. In addition to claiming |
| legion—from melancholy, as Ruskin points out, to | | | | thousands of lives, it destroyed nearly seventy percent |
| splendor, celebration, and excess, as everyone who | | | | of the country's infrastructure. |
| has ever seen an Italian opera already knows. And, of | | | | With a history so painful, it's all the more impressive |
| course, it's associated with sublime tastes: the finest | | | | that Nicaragua continues to grow the tobacco used in |
| wines, the most extravagant dishes. | | | | some of the most-loved cigars from around the world, |
| Surprising, then, that this capital of food and wine is not | | | | while manufacturing cigars that rival even those of the |
| better known for its cigars—especially when | | | | Dominican Republic in popularity. Some of the |
| nearly twenty-five percent of Italians smoke. Two | | | | best-regarded Nicaraguan cigar companies include |
| smaller companies, Toscano and Romano, are trying | | | | CAO, Perdomo, Padron, and the various cigars of Don |
| to rectify this oversight; they've earned a reputation | | | | Pepin Garcia and of Drew Estate. |