Padrón Growing First Crop On New Tobacco Farm
The van struggles on the steep incline of a mountain in Estelí, Nicaragua, groaning and sometimes slowing to a near stop. Just when it seems the aging vehicle is going to roll backwards it makes it to some level ground. Waiting for us is Jorge Padrón, owner of Padrón Cigars Inc., and behind him is the sweeping panorama of his new tobacco farm.
He's kept it pretty quiet, but in October, Padrón purchased 90 manzanas (about 153 acres) of farmland on a high-elevation plot here in Nicaragua. According to Padrón, the new farm is 1,200 meters above sea level.
“This is a beast of a farm,” he says. “It’s been five years in the making. We were looking to acquire new land in Estelí for a while, but it was never any good. It usually looked like that.” Padrón points to some of the craggy, rocky hills in the distance.
Called La Florinda after Padrón’s mother, the farm is in the midst of its maiden crop. After the transaction was complete, planting started in December. Most of the acreage is intended to grow filler, but Padrón allows that he might be able to grow some wrapper here as well. At this point, he’s still testing the potential of his land. Previously, the farm was a cattle ranch.
Padrón says La Florinda is as large as his other three tobacco farms in Estelí put together. Because of this, he’s decided to give one of his farms, Villa Vieja, the year off. There will be no planting there until next season.
Padrón is growing the same Cuban-seed tobacco at La Florinda that he grows on his other farms in Estelí, but don’t expect to smoke any of it for another few years, as it has to go through proper fermentation and aging. Currently, Padrón is only farming 75 manzanas of the land here, or about 128 acres.
When asked if he thinks the high altitude will yield different tobacco, Padrón puffs his cigar and shrugs his shoulders. “We don’t know. It’s all new.”
