Best Honduran Cigar Brands
Although Honduras produces fewer cigars than Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, the country is a vibrant region for growing tobacco and making cigars. You’ll find Honduran tobacco in many of today’s premium blends, but there are certain brands that are also produced in Honduran cigar factories.
Cigar production in Honduras has fluctuated considerably over the past thirty to forty years, often due to political unrest in neighboring Nicaragua. Cigar-makers have turned to Honduras during periods of political and economic turmoil in Nicaragua. They’ve set up factories and farms in Honduras where the soil and tobacco-growing landscape is similar to that of Nicaragua. Then, when tensions cool, they return to Nicaragua for cigar production. Nonetheless, there are some well-known companies that have consistently operated in Honduras, or they have their brands made at well-known Honduran cigar factories, such as the Raices Cubanas factory or the Plasencia Cigars factory. Honduran cigars are known for their rich and zesty taste as well as their affordable prices. Below, we’ve put together the top five Honduran cigar brands worth smoking today.
#1 - Rocky Patel
Rocky Patel cigars are made in either Nicaragua or Honduras. A substantial chunk of Rocky’s portfolio hails from Honduras. The most popular Rocky Patel cigars made in Honduras include the 95-rated Decade and most of the Rocky Patel Vintage line, including the 92-rated Vintage 1990, 92-rated Vintage 1992, 92-rated Vintage 2003 Cameroon, and the creamy and nutty Vintage 1999.
Much of Rocky’s well-known value franchise, The Edge, is also made in Honduras along with the bestselling Rocky Patel Velvet Edition and Ocean Club cigars that Rocky produces exclusively for Holt’s. Rocky Patel offers one of the best portfolios for exploring Honduran cigars because you can smoke a wide range of blends and wrapper varietals, including Ecuador Sumatra, Connecticut Shade, Connecticut Broadleaf, and Cameroon. Spicy, nutty, and earthy cigars comprise Rocky’s extensive collection of quality Honduran smokes. There’s something for virtually every palate here.
#2 - Punch
Punch is an iconic Cuban-legacy brand. Although Cuban aficionados like to fawn over Punch cigars made in Cuba, today’s Honduran-made Punch is every bit as popular. The brand’s medium to full-bodied portfolio is full of spicy and robust cigars that not only sell well but have taken home some impressive ratings over the years. Cigar lovers dig the flavor and value of the bestselling Punch Vintage and the original Punch blend. Both are handmade in several iconic sizes, and they’re available in your choice of Natural and Maduro wrapper options. Sample them together in the Punch ‘Haymaker’ Monster Deal. Every year, a limited quantity of Punch Rare Corojo cigars are released, and certain sizes sell out fast. They’re prized for their peppery flavors of mesquite, spice, and leather. You’ve also got Punch Gran Puro, Punch Gran Cru and Punch Signature to consider when you’re looking for a reputable Honduran brand to add to your rotation.
#3 - Alec Bradley
Alec Bradley brand founder Alan Rubin entered the cigar industry toward the end of the Cigar Boom of the 1990s. He unveiled Alec Bradley (named for his two sons) in the early 2000s. The brand skyrocketed to the top of the radar for many cigar lovers thanks to a series of high ratings in Cigar Aficionado and a ‘#1 Cigar of the Year’ title in 2011 for the 96-rated Alec Bradley Prensado. The brand’s growing portfolio features plenty of popular Honduran-drafted smokes like the 94-rated Alec Bradley Family Blend, 94-rated Alec Bradley Tempus, and 94-rated Alec Bradley Black Market. Alec Bradley cigars are often characterized by as having meaty notes of cayenne, earth, cedar, leather, and spice. And you can always score your favorite Alec Bradley cigars for a reliable discount when you buy them by the box at Holt’s.
#4 - Camacho
Camacho is a boutique Honduran brand originally created by Christian Eiroa that was acquired by Davidoff of Geneva in 2008. All Camacho cigars are made to the exacting standards of the Davidoff brand and feature an ample variety of peppery, medium to full-bodied blends. A host of spicy wrapper varietals like Corojo, Cuban-seed, and Connecticut Broadleaf are available. Camacho Corojo, Camacho Connecticut, and Camacho Triple Maduro make up the brand’s core lines. After purchasing Camacho, Davidoff rebranded the entire portfolio with bright, colorful boxes and a scorpion logo to underscore the bold, distinctive flavors Camacho cigars are known for. Camacho is a popular cigar for connoisseurs in search of budget-friendly premiums thanks to the big discounts you can score on Camacho boxes.
#5 - CAO
CAO is named for brand founder Cano A. Ozgener who transitioned from working as an engineer to designing pipes in 1968. He entered the premium cigar industry in the 1990s and established his brand during the Cigar Boom. Today, CAO is owned by tobacco conglomerate General Cigar Company. While many great CAO cigars are produced in Nicaragua, the brand’s distinctive “World Series” releases are handmade in Honduras. CAO America, CAO Brazilia, and CAO Italia are blended with Connecticut Broadleaf, Brazilian, and Honduran wrapper varietals, respectively. Each blend is handcrafted in a collection of thicker shapes, each drawn from a complex array of multinational tobaccos. CAO cigars unfold with medium to full-bodied notes of leather, cocoa, espresso bean, and spices, and they’re hard to miss on store shelves thanks to the brand’s eye-catching bands and packaging. Taste the terroir of Honduras with CAO’s World cigars today.
