You can trace the Oliva Cigar Co.'s roots to 1886. This was when Melanio Oliva began growing tobacco in Cuba. In the early 1920s, his son Facundo took control of the operation, and things went fairly smooth until Castro's communists seized control of the country and began nationalizing cigar factories. Although not at the cigar factory stage yet, Facundo's son Gilberto saw that opportunity slipping away, so he pivoted to brokering tobacco until he could realize his dream of finding a country to recreate the uniqueness of Cuban cigars or come close to it. This dream was realized in the soils of Nicaragua, though the Sandinista revolution had other ideas in mind.
The Sandinista revolution forced the Olivas to leave Nicaragua in 1979. During this time, they grew tobacco in Mexico, Honduras, Panama, and the Philippines before returning to Nicaragua in 1995 to produce cigars under the Gilberto Oliva name, which they ultimately shortened to Oliva.
During the cigar boom of the 1990s, demand significantly outpaced production, and many of the newer companies either went under or used inferior tobacco to keep up. But not Oliva. They pulled through thanks to a large amount of tobacco Gilberto had grown and aged in Nicaragua.
The same resilience that the Olivas have displayed time and time again is seen in the Cain brand and Cain Habano cigars. Oliva was built on traditional cigar-making techniques, but they didn't hesitate to create the Cain brand, catering to newer generations and their lifestyles. The creator of the Cain brand, Sam Leccia, stated that the palates of smokers have matured, and many are looking for full-bodied cigars. His vision was to create a cigar produced from straight Ligero and then calm it down through a triple fermentation process.
Cain Habano cigars are Nicaraguan puros. The filler is straight Ligero from the Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa. The highest priming on a tobacco plant is called Ligero. These are the leaves most exposed to direct sunlight. They are strong and thick and chock-full of flavor and nicotine. A binder and Habano wrapper twist all this glorious Ligero up, and the stick is ready to smoke.
On the cold draw of one of our Cain Habano cigars, we detect leather, cedar, and earth. We light up and head into the first third. The first notes we get are light pepper, spice, cocoa, leather, and sweetness. It’s a crazy strong cigar, though we feel it’s just getting started. The second third shows us coffee, cream, and an increase in the pepper and spice. It’s during the last third of Cain Habano cigars that they seriously come alive. The spice and pepper are now large and in charge. This final third made us grateful for these plush chairs. With a buzz like this, we’ll probably need them a little longer before we get up.
Smoke Cain Habano cigars with Smoke Wagon Small Batch Bourbon. Smoke Wagon follows a similar trajectory as the Cain Habano. They’ll work well together.
