Joya De Nicaragua Takes Distribution In-House
It’s the end of an era, but not of a friendship. Joya de Nicaragua has tasked Drew Estate with its cigar distribution since 2008, but as of next year, that agreement will conclude. Joya—Nicaragua’s oldest manufacturer of premium cigars—intends to handle its own U.S. distribution starting on the first of January. Dr. Alejandro Martínez Cuenca, chairman of Joya de Nicaragua, says that the two companies remain on good terms.
“This transition is not the end of a relationship; it is the natural evolution of one,” he said in a press release. “We are standing on the shoulders of a friendship that has helped shape who we are today . . . I thank Jonathan [Drew], Glenn [Wolfson] and the whole Drew Estate team for being part of our story.”
For nearly 20 years, Drew Estate has distributed Joya’s brands, including Joya de Nicaragua Antaño 1970, Cinco de Cinco and the much-heralded Número Uno L’Ambassadeur.
“Joya de Nicaragua has played a meaningful role in my life since 1998, far earlier than the beginning of our distribution arrangement 17 years ago,” said Jonathan Drew, founder and president of Drew Estate. “When the entire Drew Estate factory was a mere, homegrown group of just six of us in Estelí Central, we looked up to Joya de Nicaragua as a bright light of conviction, principle and individuality . . . The admiration that each of us at Drew Estate feel for the Martínez and our Joya family is extraordinary and will never change.”
Drew Estate is owned by Swisher International and produces its own handmade cigars in Nicaragua such as Liga Privada, Herrera Esteli and Blackened Cigars “M81” By Drew Estate.
