What began 50 years ago as a hobby for Francisco, Don Chico Barreda, a visionary man who discovered the pleasure of smoking with the first Cubans to arrive in Nicaragua, is today a family legacy spanning four generations of passion and dedication to tobacco.
Based on the technique of trial and error, Don Chico began cultivating tobacco, refining his artisan method and marking the first step for a surname that now resonates in the premium industry under the guidance of Don Óscar Barreda, founder of Barreda Cigars; a one hundred percent Nicaraguan company that not only elevates the country’s tradition but also positions itself globally thanks to its commitment to quality.
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Francisco Barreda, Don Chico, was a native of Estelí and throughout his life was involved in the development of various agricultural projects, while also maintaining businesses in food distribution and transportation.
During the 70s, being a sociable and easily likable person, he formed a great friendship with a group of Cubans who had arrived in Nicaragua. They transmitted to him the taste and pleasure of smoking, in addition to the desire to plant tobacco, which he finally did on a small plot of land in the north of the country.
“He was a visionary; he wanted to learn and decided to run tests and start planting, but not as a business. He knew that part of his family name’s future was in tobacco, so he also learned to make his own blends and roll his cigars, which were very artisanal, and he loved smoking them,” recalls Don Óscar, his grandson.
This family business, in which his wife, Doña Karla Rodríguez, participates as general manager, and his children, Jennifer and Óscar, are in charge of marketing and image, and production processes, respectively, uses the techniques developed by Don Chico, who started with the sale of raw tobacco leaf; a business model they maintain, along with the cigar manufacturing.
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Don Óscar Barreda studied Electrical Engineering and founded the company Barreda Constructora Eléctrica, a successful business that came to cover 60 percent of the national territory, securing contracts from state-owned companies for 18 consecutive years.
Although disconnected from tobacco as an economic activity, he continued learning from his grandfather, Don Chico, who taught him about the land, planting, processes, and tobacco blends; a closeness that also provided them with the opportunity to bond and share cigars.
By 2013, when Don Óscar finally felt he needed to grow beyond the electrical industry, his grandfather’s teachings led him back to the fields, and accompanied by his family –including Camilo, Don Chico’s son, he says– he undertook the construction of a factory on the outskirts of Estelí, utilizing the facilities of his previous company.
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In line with his background as an engineer and entrepreneur, Don Óscar’s first step was to focus on optimizing processes and resources within the new company, hiring and training highly qualified personnel: “a workforce that would support the fulfillment of our greatest commitment to the public –quality.”
So, from the seedbed, the plantation, the curing barn, the fermentation, and the cigar rolling, every process at Barreda Cigars must guarantee confidence in their products, which is the foundation of recognition for a formal, serious, and committed company dedicated to smokers. “Part of our success and our quality comes from the responsibility and seriousness that this industry requires,” he states.
At one point, his dream was to employ his entire family within the tobacco sector, and he has achieved it. Besides counting on his wife, he has taken it upon himself to pass down to his children “the knowledge I have acquired about tobacco, just as my grandfather Chico once did with me.”
Today, the facilities that once housed his electrical company have been transformed and grown as the headquarters of a four-generation legacy, with new equipment that now allows his employees the artisan manufacturing that brings to life every cigar leaving the factory.
He recalls that in the beginning, there were no customers or market, only a dream and an inspiration in homage to the life of a person like Don Chico –who passed away in 2017–, a nickname that is now globally known thanks to a line that is part of the catalog of Barreda Cigars.
“Some might think that combining such different worlds is crazy, but when the passion for what you do runs in your veins and is shared by family, it stops being madness and becomes purpose,” says Don Óscar.
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CATALOG
Don Chico
Wrappers:
Maduro, Mexico San Andrés.
Habano, Ecuador.
Connecticut, Ecuador.
Sizes:
Robusto, 5 inches, 54 ring gauge.
Toro, 6 inches, 54 ring gauge.
Chairman, 6 inches, 60 ring gauge.
O21
Wrapper: Habano Ecuador.
Sizes:
Robusto, 5 inches, 50 ring gauge.
Toro, 6 inches, 54 ring gauge.
Chairman, 6 inches, 60 ring gauge.
Barreda Vega Suprema Oro
Wrapper: Habano Ecuador.
Sizes:
Gran Cañón, 4.5 inches, 60 ring gauge.
Doble Robusto, 5 inches, 56 ring gauge.
Gran Toro Box Pressed, 6 inches, 54 ring gauge.
Lotes Reservados
Wrapper: Habano Nicaragua
Sizes:
Petit Cañón, 4 inches, 56 ring gauge.
Doble Robusto, 5 inches, 54 ring gauge.
Gran Toro, 6 inches, 54 ring gauge.
Cocktail
100 percent Nicaragua Tobaccos.
Sizes:
Puntica, 4.37 inches, 46 ring gauge.
Petit Corona, 4 inches, 48 ring gauge.
Robusto, 5 inches, 50 ring gauge.
Toro, 6 inches, 52 ring gauge.
Sublime, 6.5 inches, 54 ring gauge.
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In its early years, tobacco production was modest and came mainly from Estelí, which led the company to seek leaves from other regions to sustain the cigar rolling. Thus, Barreda Cigars began acquiring tobacco from Jalapa, Condega, and Ometepe, collaborating with renowned growers and companies. That stage marked the beginning of a journey of learning, growth, and consolidation in the industry.
Don Óscar and his team dedicated the first year of operations to defining their own identity and designing their blends. In that process, he became deeply involved, investing much of his time in tasting and analyzing each type of leaf in its pure grade, until he could recognize its characteristics with precision.
This learning not only allowed him to perfect his knowledge but also to expand his understanding of tobacco from new regions of the country, beyond the traditional areas with which they were already working. This entire process was supported by the teachings and legacy of Don Chico, who was the first to transmit to him the passion and respect for the art of selecting and blending the leaves.
He maintains that, according to his experience, a brand’s identity gains greater backing when it is involved in every part of the process, so by 2015 they ventured into the pre-industry, achieving total control of every process.
Initially, planting was done on a single manzana (0.7 hectares) owned by the family, yielding an average of 40 quintales (approx. 4,600 pounds); nothing compared to the 1,000 quintales of tobacco that they currently store in their facilities for their own production and private labels; cigars that –a testament to the family’s aspirations– are born from the hands of 40 pairs of bunchers and rollers in a room with capacity for 70 pairs, crafting vitolas from more than 60 blends with tobaccos sourced from lands planted in Jalapa, Estelí, Condega, and Pueblo Nuevo, where leaves are obtained for binder and filler of the varieties Corojo 99, Habano 2000, Habano 2006, and a bit of Criollo 98, reserved for limited editions.
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Jennifer Barreda, as the head of marketing and brand image, explains that the difference between Barreda Cigars and other companies lies in their dedication to harvesting and fermentation, as they have invested to be present in all vertically integrated processes and moments, where the evolution of the plant is closely monitored, from seed to cigar.
In this family, the method of fermentation is special and is kept as a secret and a differentiating point, since time is essential and process care is precise. This dedication allows them to offer consumers distinct and clean flavors, without bitter notes in the aftertaste, which she describes as friendly and appropriate for any moment.
“Fermentation is time, heat, and humidity; there aren’t many variables… but time is a changing factor, and we let the tobacco dictate its time, without rushing, as it depends on the type of leaf, the cut, and its area of origin,” details Don Óscar.
Thus, demanding of their processes, at Barreda Cigars, drying is done naturally, controlling the humidity of the curing barns with ventilation and providing heat with specially sourced charcoal, “so that it is not just heat for the sake of heat, but something that ultimately contributes to the leaves when it is necessary to use it.”
He also specifies that regarding moisture percentages and the visual aesthetics of the leaves, they use purified water to avoid adding unnecessary minerals, and when the raw tobacco leaf has the desired characteristics, it is sent to the destemming department to continue its path within the factory and finally become a premium cigar, after more than four years from the harvest.
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With a start marked by entrepreneurial passion and effort, Barreda Cigars faced the challenges typical of a changing industry, especially during the 2020 period. However, after the pandemic, the company experienced a solid recovery and today continues its international expansion, strengthening its presence and loyalty in the markets.
In this regard, Jennifer states that the family business has grown in production and commercialization, supported by their participation in trade shows, as well as their presence within the Nicaraguan Chamber of Tobacconists (Cámara Nicaragüense de Tabacaleros). But this is a long process in which the goal is ambitious: for the Barreda surname to be an important part of the national and international industry and to be permanently linked to the excellence of Nicaragua’s tobacco industry.
For this family, the next step is to explore the Asian market, while boosting the markets in Europe and the United States, where the challenges are increasingly significant in terms of tobacco regulations and rising costs due to tariffs; challenges that do not diminish their importance but rather motivate the manufacturer in their interest to overcome them: “It is something we are working on, and we have strategies ready to face whatever may come.”
Proof of this is that starting this year, Barreda Cigars opened an office in Houston, Texas, U.S.A., carrying out the necessary licensing procedures to handle their own distribution and achieve total control of the production chain.
Furthermore, Jennifer explains, a sales team is being formed with the goal of strategically covering most of the U.S. territory, bringing the essence of the brand to every corner of the country.
At the end of this month, the new Lote Reservados Altagracia line –named after a municipality on Ometepe Island– will be launched in Spain. It is a medium-to-full profile blend presented in a 5.5-inch, 56-ring gauge size, with an Ecuador wrapper, a Honduras binder, and a medium filler from a special selection of Nicaragua tobaccos. Meanwhile, new projects are being prepared in the different markets for 2026.
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For Don Óscar and Jennifer, the past is nothing more than proof that dreams guided by faith and family effort can be transformed into a promising legacy.
As a growing brand, Barreda Cigars is currently actively participating in the boom that this sector is leading within the international tobacco industry. It is a one hundred percent Nicaraguan company that, in contrast to a short life, accumulates decades of experience in the hands of its employees and owners, who share the desire to exalt their homeland, their land, and their tobacco.
