Plasencia

The Plasencia brand has only been on the market since 2017, however, they have been making your favourite cigars for many years without you even realising it.

In 1865, Don Eduardo Plasencia emigrated from the Canary Islands to start growing tobacco in Vuelta Abajo, Cuba, where he operated a small farm that would get the ball rolling for his family. His son Sixto Plasencia, otherwise known as Don Sixto, would take over and lead the family through decades of enormous success, opening a second farm and in 1920 exporting tobacco to foreign cigar companies. It is thanks to him that the Plasencia family farms became one of the largest growing operations in the world, that is until the Castro government seized their farm in 1963.

The family fled to Mexico and eventually made their way to Nicaragua with only clothes and precious seeds, but he wouldn’t let this setback stop him from succeeding! Two years after fleeing Cuba, Don Sixto planted his seeds at the family’s new farm in Nicaragua. Over the next decade, he began to rebuild his family’s reputation and aimed to be one of Nicaragua’s largest tobacco farmers. 

But another setback occurred in 1978! The political turmoil in Nicaragua caused rebels to burn the Plasencia farm to the ground. The Plasencia’s once again had to start over with nothing, fleeing this time to Honduras. It was there when Don Sixto re established his farming operation and continued to build contacts globally. In 1986 Nestor Plasencia took over the Plasencia tobacco operations from his uncle Herminio, who had taken over from Don Sixto previously.

Nestor was the first Plasencia to start manufacturing cigars on a large scale for other brands. While the family was still in exile in Honduras, he was producing over 1 million cigars a year. After four years, Nestor made the decision to return to Nicaragua and reclaim his family’s land. He got straight to work, expanding operations to an incredible new level. As the cigar boom kicked off, Nestor was producing 33 million cigars a year! This increase was unheard of in tobacco production.

As brands sprung up to meet the growing demand for handmade premium cigars in the US, they turned to Nestor Plasencia to produce their cigars. His incredible tobacco reserves and deep knowledge helped launch some of the most loved cigar brands to date including: Oliva, Rocky Patel, Alec Bradley and Casa Magna. 

Today, the Plasencia company is the largest grower of tobacco in the world. Nestor Plasencia oversees thousands of employees across four factories and eight plantations. Altogether they produce over 40 million cigars each year and contribute premium tobacco to countless other brands. He is considered a living legend within the cigar industry and now Nestor’s sons are continuing the family’s legacy. They launched Plasencia cigars in 2017 with the brilliant and award winning Alma series. Their blends have always gotten attention from connoisseurs and the future is looking even brighter.

The Alma Fuerte range is an award winning range from many different cigar magazines with the most recent being the Robusto which won 2020 Cigar Journal cigar of the year.
The Reserva Original range uses 100% organic tobacco from Esteli and Jalapa and it is believed to be the only cigar range that is certified organic.

Click here to view our range of Plasencia Cigars

Written by Oliver Partington