Nicaragua became a center of the cigar industry after the embargo because the soil in places such as Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa grows cuban seed tobacco well. A Nicaraguan cigar may be a puro (Padrón’s usual practice) or a blend that uses Nicaraguan filler with an imported wrapper. Check the band.
Estelí is the factory town most smokers know by name, but tobacco is grown in several valleys, not only around the city. The civil war and a U.S. embargo on Nicaragua in the 1980s interrupted production, and it later recovered. Factory details: factories · padron esteli.
Nicaraguan cigars have a reputation for strength, but a reputation is not a measurement. Some Nicaraguan cigars are full-bodied and some are not. The country tells you only where the cigar comes from.