Oliva · LongestAsh
The house traces its heritage to 1886, when Melanio Oliva first grew tobacco in Cuba, though the modern operation was established in Nicaragua in 1995. Based at Tabacalera Oliva in Estelí, the marque
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The Oliva family's tobacco roots go back to 1886, when Melanio Oliva first grew tobacco in Pinar del Río, Cuba. His son Facundo took over the fields in the early 1920s. Facundo's son Gilberto shifted to brokering tobacco and, after leaving Cuba, searched Central America and beyond for the Cuban taste before settling on Nicaragua. Today the family is one of Nicaragua's largest growers of Cuban-seed tobacco.
In 1995, Gilberto and his son Gilberto Jr. founded Oliva Cigar Co., first rolling in Nestor Plasencia's factory in Nicaragua before opening their own in Estelí. The company began with well-made, approachable cigars and changed its reputation with the full-bodied Serie V in 2007. In 2016, the Belgian family company J. Cortès acquired the cigar business, while the Oliva family kept its tobacco farms, and family members continued to run the company. Oliva Cigar Co. is not related to the Oliva Tobacco Co. of Tampa.
The lineup climbs gently in strength, from the Connecticut Reserve to the Cameroon-wrapped Serie G, the sun-grown Serie O, and the powerful Serie V, with NUb and Cain alongside. The house style is smooth, balanced Nicaraguan tobacco.