Honduran Cigars

Roatan, and San Pedro Sula have one thing in common. They all belong to a Central American country, Honduras that was badly beaten by its political history, economic plight and sometimes the havoc that brought by hurricane in the past years. Roatan is a vacationer’s paradise especially those who are on a cruise, San Pedro Sula is the home of the tobacco growers of Honduras.

Honduras is considered as one of the poorest countries in Central America, one of the many countries that are indebted from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The country may seem to be synonymous with poverty, crime and political unrest, which brought probably make the people of Honduras divided, however if there is one thing that can unite the people of Honduras that would be their cigars.

Honduran cigars are fast becoming a household name in all homes on the U.S. since cigars from Cuba are banned from entering the country, an offspring of the U.S.’ sanctioned trade embargo against Cuba. In some European countries, Honduran cigars are slowly gaining prominence among cigar aficionados.

Some Honduran cigars found its roots from Cuba. When Fidel Castro dictated that all businesses in Cuba, including the tobacco industry shall be under the government’s rein, many Cuban and American tobacco growers were stripped off their rights to operate their businesses under the communist rule. Some of the tobacco farmers from Cuba chose to settle this neighboring country in this side of the Caribbean, thus the Honduran cigars were born.

One of the pioneers of Honduran cigars is Frank Llaneze, the proud owner and President of Honduras’ pillar in tobacco industry, the Honduran-American Tobacco S.A. (H.A.T.S.A.). Llaneze was responsible for giving the tobacco industry a new name to reckon with. He sought ways in coming a new mix of Havana tobacco by experimenting it with other tobacco species from other Caribbean countries, just before Cuba ran out of tobacco at the height of the Cuban revolution. After numerous attempts he successfully blended tobacco seeds from Cuba and Connecticut and grew them in the fertile soil of Honduras. Today, H.A.T.S.A. is the producer of famous cigar brands like Excalibur, Hoyo de Monterrey and Punch which American cigar connoisseurs love.

Honduran cigars are famous for their full-bodied flavor, which is a combination of nuts and wood, topped with its aroma of spicy and woody finish. A toast of red wine will never be without a stick of Honduran cigar. Honduran cigars are at par with their Havana predecessor. Now that those Cuban cigars are sold in black market, making it harder to purchase the goods, Honduran cigars give as much enjoyment that American tobacco lovers get from their Havana.

There is no denying that Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the world, but it has one of the riches that not too many nations of the world own. In the near future Honduras will redeem itself as the tobacco capital of the world and will erase its name as one of the world’s poorest.