Capitol Premium Nicaragua

The cigars from the brand Capitol were blended by Rafael Nodal. Rafael is known as a great music lover; his previous personal lines often had names from the music scene. According to "legend," while playing one of his beloved jazz records, he heard the incomparable Duke Ellington, whose music evoked images of the golden 1920s in his "mind's eye." This inspired the next planned premium line to be named Capitol, a homage to this fabulous, carefree decade at the beginning of the last century.

Made by Plasencia: Capitol Cigars from Nicaragua

Thanks to Rafael's very good connections with Nestor Plasencia (hey, we also have his cigars! ;-)), he was brought on board as the producer. Along with a creative name, one of the best and most renowned cigar producers in Nicaragua is now involved - nothing can really go wrong!

The cigars start soft and creamy, which already fits our requirements very well. Additionally, they deliver slightly earthy notes with a hint of sweetness. In the middle third, you are personally greeted by Nestor; here, the origin of the cigars is unmistakable: increasingly spicy and earthy, with some cedar added in the third and final third. All components of these three vitolas come from Nicaragua, and the strength is rated by the manufacturer as 3/5.

The description somehow reminds me of a Skelton, I will soon smoke the two in parallel to see if that could match!

Master Blender and Businessman: Rafael Nodal

Rafael Nodal is the mastermind behind numerous other boutique blends. The cigars of the brands Aging Room and La Bohème are particularly popular. In 2017, Tabacalera USA, the parent company of Tabacalera de Garcia, took over the distribution of his products, which are rolled by Jochi Blanco in the Tabacalera La Palma. As part of this deal, Rafael assumed a leading role at Tabacalera USA, which oversees the following subsidiaries:

• Altadis U.S.A. - Distributor for non-Cuban Montecristo and Romeo y Julieta in the USA
• Casa de Montecristo - Chain of exclusive tobacco shops and lounges
• JR Cigar - The second-largest online cigar retailer on this planet

I am reminded again that a colleague in the industry once told me that I should write these texts more for the aficionado and not so much as an industry service - I hope you find what is presented here just as interesting or perhaps even more interesting for that reason.... :-)