Every so often I am reminded of how little I know when it comes to cigar brands out in the world, particularly when I am introduced to a new, for me, cigar. My latest “discovery” is Esteban Carreras Cigars, a boutique manufacturer that has its headquarters in California.
Its origins are a little mysterious in that the brand is said to have been started by a Cuban cigar maker — name unknown — in the 1990s and gets its name from a Cuban (or Esteli) “freedom fighter” who helped people flee Cuba after the revolution there. There is no information on this individual or the Cuban cigar maker.
What is known is that since the early to mid 2000s the company has been owned and run by American entrepreneur Craig Cunningham, who established the Tabacalera Carreras factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, from where the growing or sourcing of tobacco, and blending and rolling of all Esteban Carreras cigars takes place.
Cunningham has built Esteban Carreras Cigars into a respected brand, primarily in the US market. At the 2024 InterTabac Fair in Dortmund, Germany, Cunningham, partnering with Kopp Tobaccos, a German tobacco distribution company, announced the expansion of Esteban Carreras cigars to the global market. Fortunately, through my cigar plug, this is how I have been able to get my hands on a couple of their cigars, which I am still working my way through.
They have about 13 lines of cigars, including Cashmere, Dictator’s Hand, Hellcat, Chupacabra, Unforsaken, Black Cross, Brown Cross, Bloodline and Mr Brownstone. The cigars are mainly Nicaraguan Puro, with blends that give you the best of Nicaraguan tobacco. The Chupacabra Natural 5 x 54 Robusto, with a twisted pigtail cap, is where I started. It has a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler. Medium to full-bodied, it has hints of coffee, white pepper, cedar and a subtle sweetness that make it a great everyday smoke that delivers consistently.
There is also a Maduro version, with a Nicaraguan Maduro wrapper, and a Chupacabra 10yr, wrapped in Mexican San Andres tobacco. The Natural and the Maduro come in five vitolas: 4 x 42 Chupitas, 6 x 50 Toro, 6 x 60 Sixty, 5 x 56 Gordito and the aforementioned Robusto. The 10Yr comes in 4¾ x 46 Boolit and 5½ x 54 Robusto Grande as well as a Toro and Sixty.
I have also been enjoying the Dictator’s Hand Corojo, a Nicaraguan Puro with a Corojo wrapper, a dark leaf known for its spiciness. According to Klaro Cigars, following an interview with Cunningham at the 2024 Total Product Expo, the legend around the name is tied to Fidel Castro and the smuggling of a particularly resilient strain of Corojo seeds out of Cuba to be grown in places such as Nicaragua. The name is derived from “Taken from the dictator’s hand”.
Nicaraguan Corojo tobacco is traditionally spicy with notes of pepper, cedar and earth. In the Dictator’s Hand, I also got subtle cocoa and caramel notes, making it another gentle yet flavourful smoke that is smooth and, in a way, elegant. It comes in Boolit, Toro and Sixty vitolas and the Maduro version uses an Ecuadoran Corojo wrapper, which makes it a bit more complex in flavours than a standard Corojo wrapper.
Esteban Carreras Cigars also produces cigars for other brands and positions its factory as focusing on “quality over quantity.” I am just glad to have a whole new brand to explore as I continue my quest to both enjoy and learn about cigars.
