Aganorsa Tobacco Facility In Nicaragua Consumed In Blaze
A tobacco processing facility owned by Aganorsa Leaf in Estelí, Nicaragua, caught fire yesterday afternoon and burned into the night, destroying thousands of pounds of raw leaf intended for premium cigars. The building was located on the Pan-American Highway some miles away from the Aganorsa Leaf factory, which produces cigar lines such as Aganorsa Leaf, in addition to well-known brands under contract including Illusione and Warped.
Video from the scene showed a fire raging out of control, smoke billowing high into the air. Even if the blaze could have been contained, smoke from the flames and water from those fighting the fire would have damaged the tobacco inside.
Known casually as a “preindustria,” the facility that burned down was used for sorting, fermenting and aging raw, barn-cured tobacco. While the loss is certainly significant, Aganorsa says that its other tobacco-processing facilities in Nicaragua should guarantee that its operations continue smoothly.
“Yesterday one of our preindustrias caught fire,” says Terence Reilly of Aganorsa Leaf. “No one was hurt, and although this is a great loss, we are fortunate to have other facilities with plenty of tobacco to minimize the impact on our operations.”
Aganorsa Leaf is one of the largest growers of premium cigar tobacco in Nicaragua. Owned by Eduardo Fernández, the vertically-integrated company produces tobacco all over Nicaragua’s major growing regions, primarily in Estelí, Condega and Jalapa. It not only supplies its own factory with premium tobacco, but brokers leaf to major companies throughout the cigar industry.
Read Next: Handmade Cigar Imports Through May Keeping Pace With 2023
