The Plasencia family's journey in tobacco begins in 1865, when Don Eduardo Plasencia emigrated from the Canary Islands to Cuba and planted his first tobacco seeds in the legendary Vuelta Abajo growing region — the same soil that would eventually produce the finest cigars the world had ever known. His nephew Sixto Plasencia Juarez began working alongside him in 1890 and eventually established his own farm in 1898, building a reputation across generations as one of Cuba's most respected tobacco-growing families. Then came the first blow: Fidel Castro seized all the farms in 1963, and Sixto Plasencia and his family fled to Mexico — and then Nicaragua — with nothing in their pockets. They rebuilt their operations from scratch in Nicaragua's fertile valleys — only for the Sandinista rebels to burn Don Sixto's farms to the ground in 1978, forcing the family to flee once more, this time to Honduras. Most families would have walked away. The Plasencias planted again.
For decades, Nestor Plasencia Sr. was the cigar industry's greatest secret weapon — the master grower and manufacturer behind dozens of famous brands, including Rocky Patel, Alec Bradley, and Gurkha, producing millions of premium handmade cigars annually while his own family name appeared on none of the bands. By 1997, operating two factories each in Nicaragua and Honduras, the family was debt-free and had become the largest tobacco growing operation in Central America — an empire built entirely on a reputation for flawless leaf and unmatched manufacturing consistency. It wasn't until 2017 that the Plasencias finally stepped out from behind the curtain, launching their own label and introducing the world to critically acclaimed lines like Alma Fuerte, Alma del Campo, and the vintage-dated Cosecha series. Today, between their fields and factories in Nicaragua and Honduras, the Plasencias produce 45 million cigars per year — both for their own brand and for 30 other companies — making them the largest producer of tobacco in the world. Five generations. One hundred and sixty years. And they're just getting started.
