Puro Sabor, the Nicaraguan cigar festival has been a fascinating saga to watch unfold these last few years. Nicaragua, more specifically the city of Estelí, is the country that has seen more growth, more new cigars, more new factories and probably more cigar tourism than any other place in the last few years, and yet, the festival is still very much in its infancy largely because of how poorly the first two renditions went–the locally-oriented Puro Humo in March 2013 and last year’s third edition of Puro Sabor–both of which seemed more like test events rather than the main event. But this year, the Nicaraguan Association of Tobacco Producers (ANT) invited consumers from the around world to attend its cigar festival, and upon stepping foot off the plane, it was clear things were going to be quite a bit different. Yes, it was the same airport, the same VIP lounge customs process, the same organizers as last year—but the guests were very different. On my bus to the Crown Plaza in Managua, Nicaragua’s capital, there were no manufacturers, no one from a support business like cigar bands—and honestly—no retailers. With the exception of the Cigar Vixen crew, it was all consumers. ...
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