Puro Sabor Festival 2025: Day 4

Thursday morning begins at the Fabrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño S.A. warehouse. Here, tobaccos for cigar maker Skip Martin’s RoMa Craft Tobac cigars arrive. He’s been here since 2020 and has a small yet mighty craft operation in Estelí. 

Having visited Plasencia yesterday, I’m excited to see an operation on a much, much smaller and more intimate level. I soon realize that though there may be a sacrifice on operation size, there is no sacrifice on quality to be found anywhere – certainly not on Skip’s watch.

I’m provided with an Intemperance EC Toro, a cigar that is dressed in a smooth Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper cigar that cloaks Indonesian Besuki, Dominican, and Nicaraguan tobaccos. It’s a very characterful Connecticut with a pleasant sweetness and seems to be the perfect first cigar for the day.

In the factory, Nica Sueño has 24 rollers that typically generate between three to four thousand cigars a day, which include standouts Cromagnon and Maestranza. Early on in the tour, it becomes apparent that Skip’s a passionate, wellspring of knowledge about tobacco The visitors for the tour are deeply appreciative of the knowledge he’s shared today.

Later in the day, I choose to skip the assigned festival itinerary and go off the beaten path to visit Esteban Carreras Cigars, who like RoMaCraft, are a unique, smaller-scale operation in Estelì.

I’m greeted by Christopher Mey who spent over 2 decades working for Rocky Patel before Joining Esteban, as well as Hector and Luis Valladares (who are brothers to famed cigar maker Oscar Valladares), and Cuban-born Gonzalo Puentes, who once worked for the Cuban government and has a long, storied history in tobacco that guides him in his many creations at Esteban Carreras.

According to Christoper, Esteban Carreras makes “a cigar for everyone”, as they feature a dizzy array of releases that span from the mellow Cashmere, to the full-bodied Chupa Cabra, an oily Nicaraguan puro wrapped in the a near charcoal-colored Habano Oscuro leaf.

After the morning Connecticut wrapper cigar at RoMa, I’m ready for the Chupa Cabra. In Latin American cultures, a Chupa Cabra is a monstrous creature that attacks animals and consumes their blood. Like the myth, the Chupa Cabra cigar is a dark and imposing. It explodes with coffee and black pepper and accompanies me as I tour the factory with the group.

Like Nica Sueño, the faces at Esteban Carreras are smiling and seem almost giddy that their artisanal skills are being put on display for visitors like myself.

For me, it’s an afternoon well spent.

For the evening, it’s white party time, where once again Nicaragua’s rich heritage, culture, and cigars are put on display.

I withdraw an Oliva Serie V Toro from the sampler pack provided. Practically everyone has worn white tonight, and the outfits really light up under the colourful lights beneath the large tent structure that shields us from a light rain that falls during dinner.

Pulsating dance music plays throughout the night – even during dinner – which admittedly, makes conversation challenging at times.

Both Fred Vandermarliere of Oliva and Nick Perdomo address the crowd to talk about their cigars that have been handed out tonight, and their deep appreciation for the people of Nicaragua who make all of this possible.

Though tomorrow’s Gala will no doubt be a grand affair, the white party is where the Puro Sabor evening events have really hit their stride.