One of my favorite people to visit when I travel down south to cigar country is Nestor Plasencia, Jr. I don’t know whether it’s the greeting of a cigar and Cuban coffee when arriving to his Esteli factory, the bales-upon-bales (properly called “pilones”) of tobacco at his fabrica in Ocotal, or possibly the delicious feast his family puts on at his home outside of his Danli, Honduras facility. Either way, when meeting with Nestor, you will be well-nourished with cigars, Cuban coffee and tasty traditional cuisine.

I was told at one time, “If you ever want to get into the cigar industry, contact the Plasencia’s.” Well, if you’ve ever seen the amount of tobacco this generational tobacco growing family possesses, you would be flabbergasted. 

For us here at CI, Nestor Plasencia, Jr. has somewhat become the face of the 5 Vegas brand. Though 5 Vegas has a fairly diverse group of cigar-makers which comprise the brand as a whole, it is the Plasencia-made gems that have been the real heavy-hitters in recent years.

One of the newer Plasencia-comprised 5 Vegas blends that really impressed me is the 5 Vegas Gold Maduro. The Gold Maduro, a rich blend of perfectly aged tobaccos, has maduro fans grinning from ear-to-ear…full on Ross Perot size ears.  The 5 Vegas Gold Maduro is rich in taste, mellow to medium in body and skillfully produced by Plasencia.

What makes this puro stand out is the gorgeous maduro wrapper that is grown, not in the tropical fields of Central America, but, in the horse-and-buggy-laden landscape of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. The Pennsylvania broadleaf maduro wrapper, which is grown only corn fields away from a shoe-fly pie bakery, blends perfectly with the Cuban-Seed Nicaraguan and Honduran long filler tobaccos.  Plasencia has done it once again; this time captivating the lovers of dark, oily maduros.

<>The flavor profile of the 5 Vegas Gold Maduro: all-natural organic maple syrup on Bisquik buckwheat pancakes…oh wait, that was breakfast yesterday at Perkins. This tasty morsel, which is offered in 6 different sizes, smoothes into a nice flavor of rich coffee and cedar, with just a slight touch of pepper. It has taken 4 years of skillful blending and re-blending to master this cigar, but, just like the year 2012, it’s finally here.

 

Jason Brown, an enthusiast of the Gold Maduro and employee at the CI Super-Store, once told me, “The 5 Vegas Gold Maduro is leaving stores as fast as it’s being brought in. On a lighter note, did you know Amish buggies have turn signals?

 

A former fan of Macanudo Maduro, Mat Cook, commented to me once, “The masterful blending and aging of this cigar makes it my new go-to stick.  Out of the bowels of the Plasencia factory dropped a fine nugget of gold."

 

Plasencia, the creator of the 5 Vegas Gold Maduro, hails from numerous generations of tobacco farmers and operates out of Nicaraguan and Honduran rolling factories.  Cigars International is the first company to release his latest creation. Pick up plenty of these. I like the robusto.

Expert thought for the day: Just because you’re on a steady diet doesn’t mean you can’t look at the menu.