Tag Archives: Cigar Safari

Videos from Cigar Safari in Nicaragua (Part 3)

5 Jun 2012

Today we are sharing the fourth and fifth installments in our series of videos from our recent trip to Estelí, Nicaragua, with Drew Estate’s Cigar Safari.

In today’s first video, Steve Saka, president of Drew Estate, talks about some of the things that make his company and factory different from other cigar operations in Nicaragua and around the world. “Do you know how to become a millionaire in the cigar business?” he asks. “Start with $10 million.” The moral of the story: Producing cigars successfully is incredibly difficult.

In today’s second video, Steve Saka discusses Drew Estate’s business practices and how the company is socially conscious about its workforce. What other cigar factory provides life insurance to all of its employees?

We’ll resume the video coverage of our Nicaraguan adventure tomorrow. Meanwhile, you can check out our previously published coverage of the trip at your convenience. Photos are here. And for videos, please see Part 1 and Part 2.

The Stogie Guys

video credit: Stogie Guys

Videos from Cigar Safari in Nicaragua (Part 2)

31 May 2012

Today we are sharing the second and third installments in our series of videos from our recent trip to Estelí, Nicaragua, with Drew Estate’s Cigar Safari.

In the first video, Mario Perez of Joya de Nicaragua shows us how seco, ligero, and viso filler tobaccos are bunched together in a binder leaf. This is, according to Perez, one of those “very special moments” in the creation of a cigar. We also see how a criollo Nicaraguan wrapper is applied to a cigar and why it is important to stretch the leaf during this process. Finally, Perez gives us a tour of the Joya’s aging room and shipping preparation room.

Wrapping up our Joya de Nicaragua coverage, this video shows the blending seminar we attended, which was hosted by Mario Perez and José Blanco. Of note are the haphazardly rolled “cigars” Patrick A and Patrick S bunched together to taste their respective blends. Let’s just say we’re thankful we didn’t actually have to roll the blends ourselves.

We’ll resume the video coverage of our Nicaraguan adventure on Monday. Meanwhile, you can check out our previously published coverage of the trip here and here.

The Stogie Guys

video credit: Stogie Guys

Videos from Cigar Safari in Nicaragua (Part 1)

30 May 2012

In yesterday’s post, we explained that we had plenty of highly informative video content to share with you from our recent trip to Estelí with Drew Estate’s Cigar Safari.

Today we are proud to share the first in a series of videos that highlight the best and most interesting parts of our Nicaraguan adventure. In today’s segment, Mario Perez of Joya de Nicaragua gives us a tour of the Joya factory in Estelí. Included is a discussion of why Joya only ferments a select few wrapper leaves after receiving them, an illustration of wrapper preparation, info on why certain leaves need to be sprayed with water, and a demonstration of tobacco de-veining and classification.

Tomorrow we’ll provide the second half of Mario’s Joya de Nicaragua tour, including bunching, rolling, and video of the cigars being readied for shipping.

The Stogie Guys

video credit: Stogie Guys

Postcards from Cigar Safari in Nicaragua

29 May 2012

As you’ve no doubt seen if you’ve been following us on Facebook or Twitter over the past week, Patrick A and Patrick S participated in Drew Estate’s Cigar Safari in Estelí, Nicaragua.

First and foremost, we’d like to thank all the fine folks at Drew Estate and Joya de Nicaragua for showing us an amazing time on the incredible trip, especially Jonathan Drew, Steve Saka, Jose Blanco, Mario Perez, Pedro Gomez, and Johnny Brooke. We learned a ton and our passion for fine cigars was reinforced four-fold—as was our understanding that we have so much more to learn about tobacco. But that’s a learning process we embrace.

We know you embrace learning about premium cigars as well, and in that spirit we have a plethora of photos, videos, and other content to share with you from our recently concluded adventure. The video content is forthcoming shortly. In the meantime, we thought we’d share some of our favorite photos from the trip.

We had a tremendous group of guys for this trip, pictured here. Included are such notables as Jonathan Drew (red shirt and cap), Steve Saka (lower right), Doc Stogie (black CroMagnon shirt), and Brian Berman and Mark Brownlee of CRA.

The Drew Estate factory has a sense of style all its own, including this beautiful mural painted along the back of the factory and near the entrance to Subculture Studios, the nerve center of the company’s artistic creations.

As you might imagine, there were plenty of smokes available to us during the trip, and we weren’t shy about taking advantage of this awesome luxury. From Liga Privada No. 9 and Undercrown to Liga Privada T52 and Unico Serie, Cigar Safari was a great way to sample (and re-sample) all of the finest offerings from Drew Estate. The MUWAT Bait Fish, for example, was a favorite of ours as a potent post-lunch smoke with some dark coffee.

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