Sometimes it can seem like any mention of “Central American” cigars is necessarily a reference to Nicaragua. Most of the region’s noteworthy factories are in Estelí. There are great cigars coming out of other countries in the region, though, and one of the hottest protagonists of Honduran cigars is Oscar Valladares.

His name recognition in the U.S. got a major bump from Leaf by Oscar, and he's now putting out consistently excellent cigars and some of the most inventive packaging of any boutique brand.

I sat with Oscar at last month’s IPCPR trade show to talk about his latest releases, the artist behind the design of some of his new packaging, and what it's like to helm a company that is decidedly Honduran.

Music in this episode:

"BossaBossa" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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