Stuck for a gift idea? – We do gift vouchers! Call us on 0115 911 0555 for more details or email eann@gauntleys.com
Stuck for a gift idea? – We do gift vouchers! Call us on 0115 911 0555 for more details or email eann@gauntleys.com
Joya de Nicaragua are certainly one of the more famous New World cigar producers and one of the oldest of the Nicaraguan brands. Joya were one of the first producers to move in to Esteli, now considered to be the cigar producing capital of Nicaragua.
Founded as a joint venture between Daniel Rodriguez and Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1968, but the history of the company is quite chequered. Daniel lived and worked in US whilst Anastasio run the Nicaraguan operation. By the mid 1970’s though, the Communist Sandinistas rebels were taking control of parts of Nicaragua including businesses, which also included Joya.
To further confound issues, President Reagan also put in place an embargo of Nicaraguan exports to thwart the rebels further. To try and keep the business going, production of the brand was moved to Honduras where Plasencia produced the cigars. Unfortunately the business started to fall into disarray and was eventually sold off.
It was 1994 that Dr. Alejandro Ernesto Martínez Cuenca purchased the Joya De Nicaragua brand, re-hired rollers and got to work re-establishing the brand. The timing couldn’t have been better as the 1990’s cigar boom was just taking flight and, with the embargo lifted, Joya really benifitted.
Although the boom would quickly turn to bust, Joya were able to bank reserves and be ready when the next boom time happened. Today Joya is one of the biggest Nicaraguan brands, producing mainly Puros (Cigars made from 100% Nicaraguan tobacco). Now sold around the around the world, Joya De Nicaragua are considered to be one of the most innovative cigar producers around.
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