Don Benigno Cigars - Costa Rica

Hello Everyone,

On a recent trip to Costa Rica in July 2006 I visited Don Benigno Cigars. I took some pictures, and sampled some cigars, and thought I'd post them here for everyone to see.

Here is the website: http://www.donbenigno.com/home

The sales room looked as follows:





The cigars are hand rolled on site. Here are a few photos of the production area:







And here is a photo of me enjoying a smoke on the production floor.



I found the owner, Don Benigno, to be very friendly and knowledgeable. He's from Cuba and has been in Costa Rica for about 10 years. The website has a bio with the history. The place is a bit small but seems to be very well run with a high commitment to quality and customer service.

All in all, this tour capped off a good trip. The smokes were smooth and nicely constructed. I brought back some cigars that I have resting in the humidor... I will post a tasting review as a follow up if you guys are interested.

MythicBrew

here's a vid of someone rolling one of their cigars.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3...lling&hl=en

Nice pics, how do these smoke?

The cigar smoked surprisingly well. Thanks for sharing, Allan.

That guy in the first pic, I think he was in our shop a few months ago, trying to get the owner to pick up these cigars.
He gave me one of these cigars and its been sitting in my humidor ever since. I think I'll dig it out and set fire to it.

I didn't catch or don't remember the guy's name in the first picture. I think he is the owner's son though.

The person rolling the cigar in the video link is the owner, Don Benigno.

Also, I forgot to mention that they make the official US Embassy to Costa Rica cigars and also have one that carries the endorsement of opera singer Pavarotti (sp?). Both looked interesting although I didn't pick any up. I'll probably do that when I return in September and see about taking a picture to post as well.

MythicBrew