Expanding Mombacho’s boutique philosophy
With Sgroi creating the blends, purchasing the tobacco and overseeing production, Mombacho has slowly grown in the last few years. Sgroi estimates that Casa Favilli is large enough to make close to 2.5 million cigars per year, but he’s comfortable producing the current level of about 600,000 cigars. With the Nicaraguan cigar industry booming, finding available trained workers is difficult, especially in Granada, about a three hour drive from the country’s cigarmaking capital, Esteli, where cigar companies have employed nearly all available workers. Sgroi views the difficulty of expanding production as an opportunity to keep on improving Mombacho’s production techniques thus guaranteeing Mombacho’s reputation of excellence. The smaller production numbers also allow Sgroi to present different taste expressions to Mombacho consumers through regular production blends such as Tierra Volcan and Liga Maestro, and the limited edition Consecha line.
“My blending philosophy is based on three main things–aroma, balance and persistency,” Sgroi explains. “A cigar has to have a nice aroma that you feel comfortable about. It has to be balanced–it cannot have too much flavor and not enough strength or too much strength and not enough flavor. You can feel the taste of a Mombacho cigar for a long time after you smoke it. So I am very happy when someone says that our cigars are very balanced because it means that I did a good job on that. My goal is to make Mombacho so good and so memorable that people will remember the name.”
Later this year, Mombacho Cigars will release Casa Favilli, yet another Nicaraguan puro that promises to be the strongest Mombacho cigar yet. Casa Favilli will be one of the first cigars available to feature a Nicaraguan-grown broadleaf wrapper.
“Casa Favilli Serie cigars will be available in four sizes and we estimate that it will be available by early September,” Sgroi comments. “It will be a full-bodied cigar with earthy and woody notes and with a hint of dry fruit flavors.”
Conceived as a way to share a memorable experience among friends, Mombacho Cigars is slowly expanding its reach in both the number of lines available and where the cigars can be purchased. Originally available only in Canada, consumers may now buy a Mombacho cigar in the U.S. and nine other countries. Mombacho Cigars serves as a sort of passport that promotes Granada through cigars and welcomes people from around the world. If they visit the city and tour Mombacho’s Casa Favilli factory, they’ll witness a truly unique cigarmaking operation—and perhaps, they’ll expand their definition of what boutique means too.
This story first appeared in the March/April 2018 issue of Tobacco Business magazine. Members of the tobacco industry are eligible for a complimentary subscription to our magazine. Click here for details.
– Story by Stephen A. Ross, senior editor of Tobacco Business Magazine
