| It was 2001 and in the dawn of the new Millennium, the cigar industry was still shaking-off the jabs and uppercuts of the last few years; blows that included natural catastrophes in Nicaragua and the implosion of the cigar bubble worldwide. It was then that Joya de Nicaragua once again demonstrated its strong character and forged another of its monumental contributions to what would become the undisputable king of the tobacco world: the Nicaraguan cigar. This instance was sparked by the introduction of Antaño, an original Nicaraguan puro that transformed the appreciation and acclaim of Nicaraguan tobaccos forever; a blend that became popularly known as the “The Boldest Cigar out there.”Twenty years after the initial sweats and excitement during its release at the 2001 RTDA show, the legendary Antaño continues to be a cigar enthusiast’s favorite, driven by its unparalleled boldness. These traits result from Joya De Nicaragua’s doctrinal obsessions with quality and consistency, utilizing for more than two decades, without alteration, the same leaves from the same tobacco varietals grown in the same plots of land in northern Nicaragua; a composition that delivers on that unequivocal character loved by so many. It is for good reason that Antaño has become one of the company’s best-selling brands around the globe.Today, the Antaño family has expanded to encompass four sub-lines with more than 24 vitolas in total, all distinguished by the authentic Antaño lineage: the original Antaño 1970, the super full-bodied Antaño Dark Corojo, the award winning creamy Antaño CT and the smooth and elegant Antaño Gran Reserva.“When anybody thinks of Nicaraguan powerhouse cigars, they undoubtedly think of Antaño. This is the cigar on which cigar legends are inspired,” says Dr. Alejandro Martínez Cuenca, Chairman of Joya de Nicaragua and Master Blender of Antaño. “When we first tried the blend in progress, it was a bomb! Everybody in the room became so excited because it was exactly what we wanted: it was full-bodied and really hit your palate in all the places where we wanted it to hit … and we knew it was to become a game changer.” |
