$100 Plasencia Cigar Made With Wrapper From Ometepe
The Nicaraguan island of Ometepe is shaped like a barbell, with two volcanoes (one of them active) joined by a thinner strip of verdant land. The island teems with life, and is the source of a small amount of cigar tobacco. Ometepe appears in blends here and there, typically as a filler component, but Plasencia Cigars is taking the unusual step of using it as wrapper tobacco on a new, $100 cigar that just started arriving in stores last week.
Plasencia Alma del Fuego Ometepe Edición Limitada is a limited edition, one-size brand. The cigar is a torpedo measuring six inches by 54. There are 20 cigars in each box, all packed in hand-blown glass tubes, and they retail for $100 cigar, or $2,000 for a box of 20. The company says the box can be used as a humidor.
Like other Alma del Fuegos, the rest of the blend is entirely Nicaraguan, and is rolled at Plasencia Cigars S.A. in Estelí, Nicaragua.
Cigars with suggested retail prices of $100 or more were once unheard of in the cigar industry, but they are becoming increasingly common. Cuba has several Cohibas that sell for more than $100, and Altadis, Davidoff, Oliva and Rocky Patel are among the non-Cuban producers with cigars retailing for $100 or more.
