Corleone Cigars entering Nicaragua. The French brand, which was launched in 2018, has signed a partnership with Tabolisa Manufacturers from Nicaragua. Tabolisa is the factory of the Oliva Cigar Company, the premium longfiller brand owned by J. Cortes. Since the founding of Corleone Cigars, the cigars have been produced in Costa Rica.

Tabolisa will special and exclusive series that will be revealed throughout the year 2020. And part of the regular production will move to Esteli, Nicaragua too. Only about 5% of the production will remain in Costa Rica.

“This decision is part of my desire to accelerate the development of Corleone by increasing production significantly. It was also born from a meeting with local teams and a solid friendship with the Nicaraguan master blenders and production managers“, said Alex Elami, CEO and founder of Corleone Cigars, in a press release

Corleone Cigars

Alex Elami, the founder of Corleone cigars, is an avid cigar aficionado. He started with Cuban cigars, as most European aficionados do. And then he ventured out to Honduran, Nicaragua, Dominican and Costa Rican cigars. Where most puros couldn’t satisfy him, he sought the solution in blending tobacco. And when he found a factory in Costa Rica that could make the cigars he wanted, Corleone Cigars was born. For Elami it was important that the cigars are rolled in the classic Cuban entobado style.

The Corleone cigars are made with tobaccos from Peru, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic. The name comes from a small town in Sicily, Italy. That’s the birthplace of the mafia. And the mafia was the reason why the prohibition in the 1920s failed. The L in the logo is raised, to represent a middle finger. A finger raised at the legislators. The cigars are available in 15 countries. Corleone expects to enter the North American market later this year.