Affordable Alternatives to Plasencia Cigars
The Plasencia portfolio has gained plenty of admirers in recent years, but cigarmaker Nestor Plasencia Jr. and his family hail from a long lineage of tobacco farmers that dates back to 1865 in Cuba. Today, the Plasencias are massive growers of premium tobacco in Nicaragua and Honduras, where they operate multiple farms and cigar factories. They’ve been making premium cigars for decades for some of today’s biggest brands, including Rocky Patel and Alec Bradley. When they launched their eponymous brand in 2016, they wanted to do something special. Plasencia-branded cigars are blended from the family’s oldest reserves of tobacco, and they’re known for their robust, Cubanesque taste. They’re also expensive, hovering near $20 apiece or more for the popular Plasencia Alma Fuerte Natural and 1865 Alma Fuerte blends. If you’re a fan of Plasencia but consider the brand more of a special occasion cigar, we’ve got the perfect recommendations you can add to your regular rotation without breaking the bank.
Plasencia Cigar Alternatives
Here are some excellent but more affordable alternatives to Plasencia cigars. There are plenty of strong and refined cigars to explore that offer the complex taste and unerring consistency of Plasencia’s finest. These are some of our favorites.
1. La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor
The 95-rated La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor is blended and produced by Pepin and Jaime Garcia in Estelí, Nicaragua. When it debuted, this iconic blend was ranked as the ‘#2 Cigar of the Year’ by the critics in Cigar Aficionado. Medium-bodied notes of cocoa, cedar, molasses, and coffee bean layer the palate with luscious spices in nine traditional sizes. An oily Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper embraces premium Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos, grown on select Garcia family estates. Savor a versatile and immensely popular smoke from one of today’s best-known cigar-making families for an unrivaled value.
2. Flor de las Antillas
The Garcia family scored their first ‘#1 Cigar of the Year’ title with their 96-rated Flor de las Antillas in 2012. This Nicaraguan Puro is drawn from a mature blend of Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos tucked beneath an attractive Nicaraguan Sun Grown wrapper leaf. Savory notes of cedar, cocoa, nutmeg, and cinnamon mingle with hints of cayenne pepper in a series of soft box-pressed sizes. Like the Plasencias, the Garcias hail from a deep Cuban heritage, and they also own and operate their own farms and factory in Nicaragua, where they produce many of today’s highest-rated brands, including My Father, La Aroma de Cuba, San Cristobal, and Tatuaje.
3. San Cristobal
The original 93-rated San Cristobal blend is drawn from a dark and oily Ecuador Habano Oscuro wrapper leaf and a bold blend of vintage Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos. Intense but smooth notes of dark chocolate, black pepper, espresso bean, black cherry, and walnut unfold throughout a strong and succulent after-dinner cigar. Choose from seven popular sizes that go for a solid value when you’re craving a top-shelf Nicaraguan gem with a long, lingering finish.
4. Oliva Serie V
One of the first blends to put Oliva cigars on the map for most aficionados was Oliva Serie V after it scored a 95-point rating from the critics in Cigar Aficionado. This hearty profile comes in several classic sizes drafted from a well-aged core of Nicaraguan long-fillers finished in an oily, reddish-brown Ecuador Habano wrapper leaf. Robust notes of leather, wood, earth, anise, and spice come together throughout a big, toasty finish. Oliva Serie V has been a testament to making high-quality Nicaraguan cigars on a large scale for a reasonable price since the blend debuted in 2007.
5. AJ Fernandez Belles Artes Maduro
Cuban-born cigarmaker AJ Fernandez makes dozens of popular cigars on his growing network of tobacco farms and factories in Nicaragua. Bellas Artes Maduro is a dark and succulent specimen drawn from a Brazilian Maduro wrapper leaf and well-aged Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos. This medium to full-bodied smoke layers the palate with notes of roasted espresso bean, dark cocoa powder, and wood with a good amount of spice.
